Beyonce

Lapdog ABC: Trip to Cuba By Obama Donors Beyonce and Jay-Z Is 'Much Ado About Nothing'
By Scott Whitlock | April 9, 2013 | 5:10 PM EDT

Lapdog journalist Josh Elliott on Tuesday offered no skepticism about a controversial trip Beyonce and Jay-Z took to Cuba. The Good Morning America news reader insisted that there was nothing troubling about the fact that the music power couple, who raised over $4 million dollars for Barack Obama's reelection, received special permission to visit the communist country of Cuba. (American tourists are barred from traveling there.)

Elliott reassured, "Meanwhile, an uproar over Beyonce and Jay-Z's trip to Cuba may be much ado about nothing." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] After noting that the visit drew "criticism," he insisted that no laws were violated and added, "The trip was reportedly approved by the Treasury Department as a cultural visit." Elliott never mentioned the financial help Beyonce and Jay Z provided Obama, nor did he ask why the vacation was approved. In contrast, Hoda Kotb on NBC's Today deemed the trip "controversial." NBC reporter Natalie Morales offered far more skepticism: "New questions and outrage from lawmakers this morning following Beyonce and Jay-Z's trip to Cuba."

CNN Gives 8 Times More Coverage to Beyoncé Lip Sync Than Obama Sequester Lie
By Matt Hadro | March 7, 2013 | 11:47 AM EST

CNN gave over eight times more coverage to Beyonce lip synching the national anthem than it did to President Obama's falsehood on the sequester last Friday.

After the President claimed in last Friday's presser that Capitol Hill janitors and police would receive a pay cut because of the sequester, CNN correspondent Dana Bash fact-checked it and found it not to be the case. Her report aired twice that day and two more times over last weekend. She covered the matter for 45 seconds in each report, so CNN's coverage totaled three minutes.

Network Morning Shows Ignore 10th Anniversary of Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
By Matthew Balan | February 1, 2013 | 2:34 PM EST

On February 1, 2003, seven astronauts on board Space Shuttle Columbia died during re-entry as they returned to Earth from the STS-107 mission. Friday was the 10th anniversary of the disaster, but none of the Big Three networks morning newscasts marked this somber occasion.

ABC's Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, and NBC's Today understandably devoted considerable broadcast time to the upcoming Super Bowl on Sunday. However, this coverage contained segments to frivolous, celebrity-driven stories that could have been whittled down to air even a mere brief on the anniversary of the tragedy. Here are examples from each morning show:

CNN's Breaking News: Beyonce Lip-Synced National Anthem
By Mike Bates | January 23, 2013 | 11:59 PM EST

After CNN televised Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Congressional testimony on the Benghazi attack, on the 5 pm segment of The Situation Room Wolf Blitzer provided some analysis, including an interview with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).  Then Blitzer announced there was breaking news.  He turned to CNN national correspondent Jim Acosta, who reported that Beyonce had - hold onto your remote here - lip-synced "The Star Spangled Banner" at President Obama's inauguration Monday:

NPR's Shameless Plug for Michelle Obama's 'Workout Mix'
By Tim Graham | June 8, 2012 | 5:46 AM EDT

Don’t think National Public Radio isn’t on the bandwagon of “state-run media” that run oozy profiles that make the Obamas more “friendly and personable” than the Republicans. On Thursday’s Morning Edition, NPR anchor Renee Montagne shared with the country the First Lady’s “Workout Mix” – since she’s the national fitness nanny.

The three songs recommended weren’t the story – some Beyonce, some Stevie Wonder, and for some reason Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair.” The story, based on an NPR interview in the White House garden,  was all about promoting her “Let’s Move” publicity campaign and how it’s amazing the First Lady finds time for fitness in her fabulous life:

Beyoncé, Diddy and Russell Simmons Design Fashions to Support Obama's Reelection
By Noel Sheppard | January 13, 2012 | 4:02 PM EST

Entertainers like Beyoncé, Diddy, and Rap producer Russell Simmons have joined some of the nation's top fashion designers to create merchandise whose sales will support Barack Obama's reelection.

As MTV.com reported Friday (bags pictured by Diane Von Furstenberg):