Savannah Guthrie

NBC NN, ABC’s WNT Address Brian Williams Decision, Promotion of Lester Holt
By Curtis Houck | June 18, 2015 | 9:15 PM EDT

Hours after NBC News officially announced that Brian Williams will not return to anchoring NBC Nightly News following his six-month suspension, Thursday’s editions of NBC Nightly News and ABC’s World News Tonight gave news briefs to this decision as well as the move by the network to promote weekend anchor Lester Holt to the permanent weekday spot. It should be noted that while the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley did not cover this story on Thursday, CBS This Morning devoted a 23-second brief to the story by fill-in co-host Anthony Mason.

 

NBC Guest Uses Charleston Shooting to Launch Anti-Gun Rant
By Kyle Drennen | June 18, 2015 | 10:32 AM EDT

While being interviewed by Today co-host Savannah Guthrie on Thursday, Charleston pastor John Paul Brown used the horrific shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. church to condemn America’s gun culture: “America has this great love affair with guns and anybody can get them, whether they're mentally disturbed, whether they're crazy, whether they’re part of a hate group. Just give them a gun, everybody has a gun and nobody wants to police it or rein it in.”

Variety Blasts NBC for Going ‘Way Too Easy’ on Rachel Dolezal
By Kyle Drennen | June 17, 2015 | 2:58 PM EDT

In a Tuesday article, Variety’s co-editor-in-chief Andrew Wallenstein slammed NBC for its series of exclusive interviews with ex-NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal: “...the most absurd aspect of NBC News’ Dolezal Day was how straight-faced its interviewers sat as their subject grew loonier the more she spoke.”

Liberal Networks Largely Welcome Jeb Bush to 2016 Race; Tout Jabs at Clinton, GOP Opponents
By Curtis Houck | June 15, 2015 | 11:45 PM EDT

The “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC largely greeted Jeb Bush’s entry into the 2016 Republican presidential field on Monday night with full reports that highlighted his announcement speech and jabs he leveled at Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and his fellow GOP candidates. Across the three network evening newscasts, Bush was described as “fiery,” “a doer” who wants “19 million new jobs” and “[came] out swinging against” his 2016 opponents.

Nets Hailed Jenner Switching Gender; Critical of NAACP Leader Switching Race
By Kyle Drennen | June 12, 2015 | 4:42 PM EDT

While all three broadcast networks hailed Bruce Jenner for choosing to switch genders and become Caitlyn Jenner just one week ago – devoting 48 minutes to the story in three days – on Friday, those same networks were aghast that Spokane, Washington NAACP leader Rachel Dolezal had chosen to identify herself as black despite being white.

Nets Notice IRS Hacking; Punt on Holding Obama Admin. Accountable
By Matthew Balan | May 28, 2015 | 3:54 PM EDT

The Big Three's morning newscasts on Wednesday and Thursday all covered the breach of an online IRS system by hackers that compromised the personal information of 100,000 taxpayers. However, none of the programs mentioned President Obama by name during their reporting, nor did they revisit any of the other problems or scandals involving the agency in recent years. CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News have yet to cover the IRS hacking, as of Wednesday evening.

Slamming Santorum: The Media’s Worst Attacks on the Former GOP Senator
By Geoffrey Dickens | May 27, 2015 | 10:49 AM EDT

Social conservative-haters in the liberal media are sharpening their knives today as Rick Santorum is set to announce his 2016 presidential ambitions. From his arrival to the Senate in 1995 through his 2012 presidential run the media have attacked the former Pennsylvania Republican Senator as a “terrifying” “theocrat” who wants to impose a “Christian version of Sharia law.”

CBS and NBC Continue to Tout President Obama Joining Twitter
By Jeffrey Meyer | May 19, 2015 | 10:49 AM EDT

On Tuesday, CBS This Morning and NBC’s Today continued to promote President Obama officially joining Twitter and featured numerous fawning segments highlighting the “Breaking News.” After CBS and NBC both touted Obama’s new Twitter handle on their Monday night broadcasts, their respective morning shows provided 4 minutes and 35 seconds of free promotion for the new @POTUS account.

CBS and NBC Hype GOP Candidates 'Struggling With Iraq'
By Kyle Drennen | May 18, 2015 | 3:20 PM EDT

On Monday, both CBS This Morning and NBC's Today seized on the same talking point that 2016 Republican candidates were "struggling" with questions about the Iraq war and that the issue "keeps tripping everybody up."

NBC: Jeb Bush 'Grapples With the Shadow of His Brother's Iraq War Policy'
By Kyle Drennen | May 15, 2015 | 1:03 PM EDT

Keeping up NBC's extensive coverage of Jeb Bush answering questions about the Iraq war, on Friday's Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: "And it's been a rocky week for all-but-declared presidential hopeful Jeb Bush as he grapples with the shadow of his brother's Iraq war policy. During a town hall in Arizona, he clarified his position for the fourth time this week on the question, 'Would he have taken the country to war?'"

NBC Touts Left-Wing Activist Ranting at Jeb Bush: 'Your Brother Created ISIS'
By Kyle Drennen | May 14, 2015 | 11:18 AM EDT

After NBC spent Tuesday hyping likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush having his "first interview fail" and being in "damage control," on Thursday's Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie piled on: "Things getting off to a rocky start on the campaign trail for likely Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush. He has repeatedly faced sharp questions in recent days about his support for the Iraq war and his brother's legacy in foreign policy."

In Wake of Amtrak Crash, Networks Push 'Infrastructure Investment'
By Kyle Drennen | May 13, 2015 | 11:56 AM EDT

Without any evidence of what caused the crash of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia Tuesday night, all three network morning shows on Wednesday had no hesitation in suggesting a lack of government infrastructure spending was to blame. NBC's Guthrie:  "And another issue people have raised is that because this is such a heavily traveled section of track that there are also infrastructure issues....Is this something else that investigators will look hard at?"