20/20

Stossel Blasts the 'Socialist Media' for View of Capitalism
By Jeff Poor | March 5, 2008 | 4:40 PM EST

The media have seemed to have forgotten what has made this country prosperous according to ABC's John Stossel.

Stossel told an audience at the Heartland Institute's 2008 International Conference on Climate Change on March 4 in New York that the media propagate an anti-capitalist sentiment.

"The socialist media - maybe they will just never get it," Stossel said. "Their world view is anti-capitalist. [Ludwig] von Mises wrote about it in 1972 and it's just very hard to change. I would also argue the scientific community is as well."

'20/20' Channels Lewis Black's Anger at God and Bush
By Tim Graham | February 1, 2008 | 4:58 PM EST

I just stumbled across this from last Friday's (January 25) edition of ABC's "20/20," which devoted most of the show to Anger in America. From the entertainment world, they brought in angry liberal comedian Lewis Black. In between Black joking about how he loves to be angry, they plopped in clips from his stand-up routine that bowl them over at ABC:

For the Democrats not to be able to find somebody who could've defeated George Bush is beyond belief. It's stunning! It would be like finding a normal person who would lose in the Special Olympics.

This came right after anchor Elizabeth Vargas tried to note "You, in your act, take on both sides of the aisle. They both make you mad. Fair?"

When Does the Kathleen Willey Book Tour Media Blitz Begin?
By Noel Sheppard | November 9, 2007 | 2:26 PM EST

In the past six years, any time someone wrote a tell-all book about George W. Bush or a member of his administration, they were given the royal treatment by the press with lavish interviews offering them the perfect platform to market their work as well as their politically charged opinions.

Consider for example all the attention given to Valerie Plame Wilson just recently when her book "Fair Game" was released, or the focus on George Tenet and his "At the Center of the Storm" exposé back in April.

With this in mind, if a former female White House aide published a new book implicating a former president -- whose wife just so happens to be the frontrunner for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2008 -- in rape and other possible crimes, shouldn't she be welcomed with open arms by evening television magazines like "60 Minutes" and morning shows like "Today?"

After all, given Kathleen Willey's shocking statements about her new book "Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton" to WOR radio's Steve Malzberg Thursday, one would think such programs would be all over this like white on rice, assuming of course their goal was journalism and not political activism (audio in two parts available here and here, highlights of the interview follow):

John Stossel: ‘Don’t Look to Government to Cool Down the Planet’
By Noel Sheppard | November 7, 2007 | 10:24 AM EST

As NewsBusters reported, ABC's John Stossel bravely presented a skeptical view of manmade global warming on the October 19 installment of "20/20."

CNN's O'Brien Talks to Gore Critic, Hints Doubters are 'In the Dark'
By Brad Wilmouth | October 20, 2007 | 11:38 PM EDT

On Friday night, CNN viewers were treated to the special "Keeping Them Honest: The Truth About Global Warming," which took time to examine nine "alleged inconsistencies or exaggerations" in Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," as enumerated in a ruling by a British judge.

ABC's Stossel Takes on Gore Movie, Talks to Dissenting Scientists
By Brad Wilmouth | October 20, 2007 | 1:26 PM EDT

On Friday's "20/20," ABC's John Stossel presented the views of scientists who dissent from the Al Gore view of global warming, including two former members of the IPCC – the committee which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Gore. These scientists disagreed with the selection process of the committee's members and some of its conclusions.

Media Ignore 'Hannity & Colmes' Expose on Awful Cuban Health Care
By Lynn Davidson | October 19, 2007 | 6:29 PM EDT

What's rarer than Al Gore flying commercial? An honest media discussion about Cuba's devastating problems, especially the barely functional medical system.

In the week since the October 10 “Hannity & Colmes” (video Pt. 1 & Pt. 2), other than some conservative blogs, the media ignored the disturbing images that revealed the truth about Cuba's much-vaunted health care system. 

The hosts interviewed Cuban expat George Utset and showed pictures from his website The Real Cuba as well as the exclusive footage that he obtained from Cuban physician Darsi Ferrer Ramirez.

The images showed dilapidated and crumbling hospitals with patients covered in flies, broken windows, laundry hanging from open windows, filthy bathrooms with holes in the floor and insect-infested rooms (view footage here). Since this disgrace is hidden behind the Castro Curtain, the media don't seem to care.

ABC’s John Stossel Provides Welcome Change to Usual Health Care Spin
By Scott Whitlock | September 14, 2007 | 1:40 PM EDT

On Friday’s "Good Morning America," token conservative reporter John Stossel told portly filmmaker Michael Moore, "Forgive me. More of us look like you" and that obesity explains why Canadians live longer than Americans, not universal health care. Stossel appeared on the morning show to promote his program debunking the myth of "free," government-run health care. His "20/20" special, which will air September 14 on ABC, includes a quarrel with the left-wing director.

Stossel’s appearance on GMA, and his conservative take, also strongly contrasts with the morning show’s own coverage of government controlled health care. In June, Moore appeared on the program to promote "Sicko," his movie bashing the United States system of private care. Back then, GMA co-host Chris Cuomo mildly questioned the filmmaker’s trip to Cuba to lavish praise on the communist country’s health system. After the director noisily objected to this offense, Cuomo backed down, saying, "Look, I like the stunt."

Stossel: Cuba Called ABC News for 'Questioning' After Health Care Expose
By Lynn Davidson | September 14, 2007 | 1:29 PM EDT
Hospital room in CubaHospital bed in Cuba (from The Real Cuba)

Is Cuba threatening ABC News? Why won't the media report that ABC's John Stossel stated the Cuban government's Central Committee “called members of the ABC Cuban bureau in for questioning?” (emphasis mine throughout)

ABC Suggests Rural Areas to Blame for Philadelphia's Murder Rate
By Brad Wilmouth | July 8, 2007 | 8:47 PM EDT

ABC's World News Sunday presented a sympathetic look at Philadelphia city officials who are threatening to sue the Pennsylvania state government, "dominated by rural lawmakers" from hunting country, for blocking the city's push for more gun regulation in the face of a high murder rate. Correspondent David Kerley suggested a link between New York City's gun control laws and its lower murder rate.

Despite Thuggery, Hugo Chavez Still the 'Friendly' Darling of Network News
By Julia A. Seymour | May 16, 2007 | 4:03 PM EDT

"Dignified." "Warm." "Friendly." Those are not exactly words you'd expect to hear an American journalist use to refer to a Latin American dictator who has been seizing American-owned property this month. Yet Barbara Walters used all three to describe Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, in various ABC broadcasts on March 16.Even though Chavez has recently assumed "control" of oil fields that were run by Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, ABC, NBC and CBS haven't even reported it.

Bozell Column: Celebrity Media, Heal Thyself
By Brent Bozell | May 11, 2007 | 11:51 AM EDT

Anyone whose remote control wandered past an ABC, CBS, or NBC morning "news" show on May 5 probably found the "news" hounds barking enthusiastically over this supposed "news" scoop: Paris Hilton was sentenced to Los Angeles County jail for 45 days. She violated parole after repeated episodes of reckless driving. This was news of national concern.