CNN's 7 pm Eastern hour program John King USA was the only program on Monday and the following morning on Tuesday that mentioned the March for Life in Washington, DC. Anchor John King devoted only 11 seconds to the pro-life demonstration, and omitted crowd numbers and footage from the March. CNN.com's write-up on the annual event downplayed the number of attendees as merely in the "thousands."
King led his evening program with a brief about an Illinois court ruling that former Obama aide Rahm Emanuel was ineligible to run for Chicago mayor. After playing a sound bite from Emanuel, the CNN personality then gave moved on to the March for Life, and added illegal immigration to it as an "emotional issue:"
John King USA
By Matthew Balan | January 25, 2011 | 4:08 PM EST
By Matthew Balan | January 19, 2011 | 12:37 PM EST
On Tuesday's John King USA, CNN's John King issued a prompt on-air apology minutes after a guest on his program used the term "crosshairs" during a segment: "We're trying to get away from using that kind of language" (audio available here). This action stands in stark contrast to an incident over a year earlier where former anchor Rick Sanchez took four days to apologize for using a unconfirmed quote attributed to Rush Limbaugh.
The firearms term appeared during a panel discussion about the race for Chicago mayor with CNN contributor Roland Martin and former journalist Andy Shaw, who is currently the executive director of the Better Government Association, a watchdog group involved in Illinois politics. Twenty-four minutes into the 7 pm Eastern hour, King asked Shaw about former Senator and mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun's claim that she was the most qualified candidate in the race: "Can she make the case- you can say Rahm Emanuel- you don't want him as mayor, but he's been a congressman. He's been a White House chief of staff. He's been a White House aide. Carol Moseley Braun- have more experience, more credentials?"
Shaw underlined his point that the Braun and the other mayoral candidates were going after Emanuel by using the sniping term:
[Video embedded below the page break]
By Noel Sheppard | January 6, 2011 | 1:05 AM EST
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Cali.) said Wednesday that CNN doesn't understand the meaning of the word "corrupt."
Having gotten much attention for accusing the Obama administration on Sunday's "State of the Union" of being the most corrupt in history, the outspoken Congressman was forced to explain what he meant on "John King USA" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
By Noel Sheppard | December 16, 2010 | 8:57 AM EST
Is CNN becoming irrelevant?
According to TVByTheNumbers.com, the self-proclaimed most trusted name in news's prime time ratings this year are the lowest since at least 1997:
By NB Staff | December 2, 2010 | 10:37 AM EST
"Look, if you like depictions of sadomasochism... if you like homoerotic art.... if you're into religious bigotry... if you like that, fine," but don't expect taxpayers to subsidize such an exhibit at a Smithsonian museum, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell argued in a debate segment on last night's edition of "John King USA" on CNN.
The Media Research Center (MRC) founder and president appeared opposite Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik, who defended the controversial art display "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture" featured at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
You may recall that on Tuesday Bozell called for Congress to investigate the taxpayer-funded Smithsonian for showcasing the abhorrent and sacrilegious display.