ABC

Networks Rush to Label Former Governor Bob McDonnell a Republican
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 22, 2014 | 10:53 AM EST

Less than 24-hours after former Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) was indicted on 14 charges including conspiracy and fraud, all three network morning shows immediately identified McDonnell as a Republican. While McDonnell’s potential crimes are serious, the media failed to uphold the same party ID standard when it involved a scandal plagued Democratic governor.

NBC led their January 22 coverage of the McDonnell scandal with Today host Savannah Guthrie introducing the segment by saying, “And now to that bombshell indictment of the former governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, a one-time rising star in the Republican Party.” ABC provided an on-screen graphic identifying McDonnell as a Republican and CBS This Morning’s Nancy Cordes said that “McDonnell was once considered a possible presidential contender for the GOP.”

PBS Star Tavis Smiley Argues Snowden's Historic Enough to End Up on a Postage Stamp
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 19, 2014 | 6:31 PM EST

Tavis Smiley is known for making extreme statements that make even his fellow liberals cringe in fear. Whether he is comparing the Tea Party to Jihad or saying Republicans only oppose ObamaCare because they hate the president, the PBS host never stops making inflammatory comments.

Appearing on This Week w/ George Stephanopoulos on January 19, Smiley asserted that, “I think very quickly that in the long run, Edward Snowden, we were joking earlier, Edward Snowden might be on a postage stamp somewhere down the road. How history is going to regard what Mr. Obama has done in this moment is an open question.” [See video after jump.]

Vladimir Putin Mocks Obama’s Love of Sports
By Jeffrey Meyer | January 19, 2014 | 3:34 PM EST

Everyone knows that President Obama loves to play golf. Since his inauguration in 2008, he has played over 100 rounds of golf, yet he received some unlikely criticism over his love of the game.

During an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked, if the president would “Care to make a friendly bet with President Obama on which country’s going to win more medals, the U.S. Or Russia?” [Click below to see Putin's response.]

Networks Miss 'Climate Change' Irony of Ship Stuck in 10 Feet of Antarctic Ice
By Jeffrey Meyer | December 30, 2013 | 12:55 PM EST

A Russian research vessel has been stuck in thick ice in the Antarctic since Christmas morning, and predictably the big three networks are enjoying the novelty of such an event. However, despite the obvious news story, ABC, CBS and NBC have all missed one great irony in their reporting.

On Monday December 30, all three networks covered the story, but only CBS even used the words “climate change” when discussing the trapped ship. All three failed to point out the irony that this event is an embarrassment for those pushing the liberal “climate change” narrative.

ABC to Air Gay-Rights Miniseries
By Lauren Enk | August 1, 2013 | 3:06 PM EDT

As though there weren’t enough gay on TV already, ABC just hired gay screenwriter and LGBT activist Dustin Lance Black to write a new gay rights miniseries based on his life. The Hollywood Reporter announced that the new show is planned to be a “semi-autobiographical” drama “based on and told from Black’s background and experiences as a gay rights activist.” 

Huffington Post picked up the story and reported that the miniseries “will be told from Black’s perspective about his life growing up gay in a Mormon household to becoming a leader in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement.”

Networks Give Three Times More Quotes to Supporters of Gay Scout Admittance Than Opponents
By Matt Hadro | May 24, 2013 | 4:52 PM EDT

Touting the Boy Scouts' "landmark" and "historic" decision to allow openly-gay members, CBS, ABC, and NBC gave supporters of the decision three times as many quotes as their opponents got on Friday morning's news stories.

The networks gave 10 soundbites to supporters of the new Scouts policy and only three to its opponents. Supporters included President Obama, gay scout Pascal Tessier, and former den leader Jennifer Tyrell.

Pants on Fire? Despite Media Outcry, Romney's 'Lie of the Year' Was True
By Matt Hadro | January 18, 2013 | 6:21 PM EST

It turns out that the Romney campaign was right to claim that Fiat, who owns Chrysler, would be making Jeeps in China instead of America, even though the media disparaged that case at the time with PolitiFact going so far as to declare the ad "Lie of the Year." According to PolitiFact, the campaign falsely implied the jobs would be outsourced, among other claims.

As Reuters reported yesterday, "Fiat (FIA.MI) and its U.S. unit Chrysler expect to roll out at least 100,000 Jeeps in China when production starts in 2014 as they seek to catch up with rivals in the world's biggest car market."

GMA Fawns Over 'Most Traveled' Secretary Clinton; Once Again No Mention of Benghazi
By Jeffrey Meyer | December 18, 2012 | 11:31 AM EST

Following Hillary Clinton’s illness last week, which prompted a fainting spell and a mild concussion, Good Morning America on Tuesday morning hyped the busy career of Ms. Clinton, proudly dubbing her the “Most Traveled Secretary of State.”  The story began with GMA co-host George Stephanopoulos, a former President Clinton operative, mentioning that Ms. Clinton is, “On the mend now" although "she may be still out of action for most of her remaining time as Secretary of State."

ABC News Correspondent Reena Ninan described in detail the accident Ms. Clinton experienced, as this was the second time in eight years the Secretary has fainted because of a stomach bug.  While Ninan and Stephanopoulos both emphasized the rest Mrs. Clinton requires, neither mention the fact that as a result the Secretary will miss the December 20 hearing scheduled to receive her testimony on the September 11 terrorist strike on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. You may recall that Clinton's State Department received numerous complaints from the late Amb. Chris Stevens about insufficient security on the ground in Libya.  [See video below page break.  MP3 audio here.] 

MSNBC's Toure Slams Barbara Walters From the Left for Sexist Interview with Hillary Clinton
By Jeffrey Meyer | December 14, 2012 | 1:32 PM EST

Barbara Walters is known for asking ridiculous questions during her famous interviews, but this time it appears she has gone too far, annoying even the liberal co-hosts of MSNBC’s The Cycle.

The day after Barbara Walters’ annual Most Fascinating People Special Wednesday night, the cast of The Cycle, most notably co-host Toure, savaged Ms. Walters for her “embarrassing, dereliction of duty” interviews with Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie.  [See video below page break.  MP3 audio here.]

Instead of Asking Hillary Clinton About Benghazi, Barbara Walters Pushes Her to Run for President
By Jeffrey Meyer | December 13, 2012 | 1:10 PM EST

Add Barbara Walters to the list of journalists pushing for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run for President in 2016.  For the third time now, Ms. Clinton has been featured on Barbara Walters’s annual 10 Most Fascinating People special.

Given that Ms. Walters  had a one-on-one sit-down interview with Clinton, it would seem logical that the topic of the Benghazi fiasco would come up.  It didn't, despite the fact that, as Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton oversees all U.S. Embassies, and is directly responsible for protecting our diplomats around the world, especially in troubled regions where security threats are more acute.  [See video below break.  MP3 audio here.] 

'Robin Hood Tax' Gains Support of Soros, Moyers, Tides and Media
By Mike Ciandella | October 31, 2012 | 2:26 PM EDT

Proudly claiming the legendary outlaw Robin Hood as their inspiration, liberal groups and past Occupy Wall Street supporters are pushing for a “Robin Hood Tax” on corporate transactions. George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, Bill Moyers’s Schumann Center for Media and Democracy and the liberal Tides Foundation and Proteus Fund have given over $4 million to organizations that support the tax, according to the official Robin Hood Tax website.

Support for The Robin Hood Tax has come from both Europe and the United States. Although they haven’t gotten specific about which corporate transactions would be taxed, advocates claim such a tax would raise hundreds of billions of dollars, which could then be used to promote social programs or climate change prevention initiatives. Many of its proponents also have ties to the Occupy Wall Street movement.