Friday's World News Tonight on ABC failed to mention that 37 out of 1,000 of Hillary Clinton's e-mails from her private e-mail server, which were released earlier in the day, contained information that is considered "confidential." Substitute anchor Elizabeth Vargas did give a 28-second news brief on the "flood of documents from the Hillary Clinton campaign" that include tax forms from between 2007 and 2014, as well as a statement from her doctor that she is apparently "fit to serve as president."
Scott Pelley
By Curtis Houck | July 30, 2015 | 9:50 PM EDT
After almost nine days of silence on the Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal, CBS and NBC ended their coverage blackout with full stories following the release of a fourth horrifying video from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) while ABC and Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Univision ignored it. However, the stories on the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News were anything but impressive as the duo largely played defense for the abortion providers in bemoaning the defunding “attack in Congress.”
By Curtis Houck | July 27, 2015 | 9:51 PM EDT
The “big three” networks of ABC, CBS and NBC gleefully promoted on Monday evening President Obama’s “scolding” of 2016 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee over his criticism of the Iran deal and his “scathing words” for the GOP field as candidates “are trying to out-trump [Donald] Trump.” Not surprisingly, the networks also sided with then-candidate Obama on May 15, 2008 when the same three networks chided then-President George W. Bush and fellow Republicans for a “two-pronged Republican attack” on Obama.
By Curtis Houck | July 16, 2015 | 12:39 AM EDT
The major broadcast networks continued their defense on Wednesday night of the Iranian nuclear arms agreement and specifically President Obama’s press conference from hours before, ruling that the President was “on offense” in providing “a spirited defense” of the “history-making deal.” While all three network anchors interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it was CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley who hounded Netanyahu on the deal and encouraged him "to talk things over" with Iranian President Rouhani in Tel Aviv.
By Curtis Houck | July 15, 2015 | 9:22 PM EDT
Following a censorship on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning of video showing Planned Parenthood senior director of medical services Dr. Deborah Nucatola discussing the selling of body parts from aborted babies, ABC and CBS ended their blackouts on Wednesday night with coverage on their evening newscasts, but made sure to hype the Center for Medical Progress (CMP) as “anti-abortion activists.” On the Spanish-language networks, however, MundoFox, Telemundo, and Univision all continued their refusal to even acknowledge the video.
By Curtis Houck | July 14, 2015 | 11:38 PM EDT
On Tuesday night, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC continued heaping praise on the “historic” nuclear arms deal between the United States, its allies, and Iran with the negotiators being labeled “jubilant” as President Obama “chart[s] a new course” with Secretary of State John Kerry creating “a moment of history.” CBS's Scott Pelley wrapped up three reports and a brief on the deal by gushing over a picture from July 11 of Kerry “writing his closing argument to the Iranians” that he deemed “a moment of history”:
By Curtis Houck | July 7, 2015 | 10:37 PM EDT
Following the lead of ABC’s Good Morning America, the Tuesday edition of the CBS Evening News offered a full report on the growing support among Democratic presidential primary voters for socialist and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who was described by anchor Scott Pelley as “coming up fast” in Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s “rear-view mirror.” Correspondent Julianna Goldman began by touting the crowd for a Sanders rally Monday night in Portland, Maine as “another full house” where “he made his populist pitch to 7, 500 supporters.”
By Curtis Houck | July 6, 2015 | 9:48 PM EDT
Monday’s network evening newscasts offered continuing coverage on the July 1 murder of a San Francisco woman allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant, but it was NBC Nightly News that shamelessly used the occasion to blast "the new Todd Akin" in Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for having “seized upon” the story to promote his stance on illegal immigration as the GOP is “desperate to win Latino voters.”
By Curtis Houck | July 2, 2015 | 10:20 PM EDT
All three major broadcast networks covered on their Thursday evening newscasts the June 2015 jobs report, but it was ABC’s World News Tonight that neglected provide any further details and/or context beyond the unemployment rate and number of jobs added and omitted how hourly wages remained flat and the labor force participation rate sunk to its lowest level in 38 years. While CBS and NBC chronicled the numerous pitfalls to varying degrees, neither chose to look at why the numbers remained sluggish or assign blame for the state of the economy.
By Curtis Houck | July 1, 2015 | 9:54 PM EDT
On the heels of President Barack Obama’s announcement on Wednesday that the United States and Cuba will soon open respective embassies in Havana and Washington, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC covered the story on their evening newscasts with ABC and NBC expressing particular enthusiasm at the move and little to no criticism of the President’s Cuba policy. In addition, the networks failed to label Cuba’s government as communist with ABC and NBC further declining to bring up the authoritarian nature of the Cuban government.
By Curtis Houck | June 30, 2015 | 2:22 AM EDT
While all three networks covered the decision by NBC Universal on Monday to cut ties with 2016 Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, it was the CBS Evening News that chose to veer off and portray the ongoing battle as “a problem” for the GOP as its “trying to develop Hispanic support.” In addition, the network touted Democrats as “determined to keep Hispanics in their camp” and declined to provide a party label when airing a soundbite from a Democratic state legislator from Arizona.
By Curtis Houck | June 29, 2015 | 11:25 PM EDT
In their coverage Monday night of the debt crisis in Greece, ABC and NBC refused to label the current Greek government as socialist, far-left, or even left-wing with ABC neglecting to even explain why Greece has found itself in such a precarious position as they stand to possibly default on their billions of dollars in debt and/or leave the Eurozone. In contrast to both networks, the CBS Evening News offered both the most comprehensive coverage and the only label for the Greek government.