Diane Sawyer

Media Millionaires: 6 Wealthy Journalists Whine about Income Inequality
By Sean Long | January 28, 2014 | 10:19 AM EST

If liberals have their way the State of the Union will be all about income inequality. That kind of speech would be cheered by many in the press, including several hypocritical millionaires who love to complain about the one percent.

The broadcast networks already took up this banner, promoting left-wing complaints about inequality and arguing for liberal solutions, in recent years. Well-paid, big name network news anchors, like Diane Sawyer and Brian Williams personally know a whole lot about wealth, since they make millions of dollars every year. At least two are worth $60 million each.

Within the past four years, these multi-millionaires have attacked the “mega-rich,” complained on air about “dangerous” income inequality, and promoted President Barack Obama’s “responsibility” to raise taxes and promote tax “fairness.”

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NBC Keeps Hammering Christie Scandal But Ignores Senate Spending Bill
By Matt Hadro | January 17, 2014 | 11:14 AM EST

NBC continued hitting the Christie scandal on Thursday evening while the CBS and ABC evening news casts have not reported it since Tuesday.

The NBC Nightly News has already given the story a good chunk more coverage than the other network evening news shows, and while it devoted a short segment to the bridge scandal it didn't even have time to report the Senate passing a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill that would avert a government shutdown – something both CBS and ABC reported on Thursday night.

Networks Play Up Robert Gates's 'Devastating Critique' of Obama, Biden
By Matthew Balan | January 8, 2014 | 7:36 PM EST

ABC, CBS, and NBC ballyhooed former Defense Secretary Robert Gates's attacks on President Obama and other high government officials on their Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning newscasts. NBC's Brian Williams and CBS's Norah O'Donnell also trumpeted the former Cabinet official's "devastating critique" of the President in his upcoming memoir. All three networks also played up Gates's self-identification as a Republican.

NBC's Today and CBS This Morning brought on former Obama administration officials on Wednesday morning. Both guests did their best to counter their former colleague. Matt Lauer touted David Axelrod's "important perspective" on the issue, and asked, "Did you get a sense that he was a guy who...was disgruntled in any way?" The CBS morning show turned to former chief of staff Bill Daley, who slammed Gates for going public: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

Diane Sawyer's Political Views a Mystery? She Claims Even Her Husband Doesn't Know Her Biases
By Tim Graham | January 7, 2014 | 10:14 PM EST

ABC “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer gave an interview to Ladies’ Home Journal magazine and drew this silly question, like she was completely objective on TV: “Do you let your own politics be known when you’re behind closed doors?” How naive do they think America's women are?

Sawyer replied: “My husband has said even he doesn't know my politics. In the nonromantic-compliment category, that's a good one.” In the same interview, Sawyer proclaimed she could never be as enthusiastic as that energetic Bill Clinton. She was asked about retirement rumors:

Year-End Awards: The Pantsuit Patrol Award, for Boosting Hillary Clinton
By Rich Noyes | December 25, 2013 | 9:36 AM EST

Today’s installment of the Media Research Center’s “Best Notable Quotables of 2013,” as selected by our distinguished panel of judges: The Pantsuit Patrol Award, for boosting Hillary Clinton.

Championing Hillary has been a media fixation for decades; 20 years ago, the Best Notable Quotables of 1993 featured the “I Am Woman” award, won that year by then-Time White House correspondent Margaret Carlson, who cooed in a May 10, 1993 article: “Hillary Rodham Clinton will define for women that magical spot where the important work of the world and love and children and an inner life all come together. Like Ginger Rogers, she will do everything her partner does, only backward and in high heels, and with what was missing in [Lee] Atwater — a lot of heart.”

This year’s winners and videos after the jump.

ABC Wants Dismissal of $1.2 Billion 'Pink Slime' Suit
By Julia A. Seymour | December 19, 2013 | 6:03 PM EST

A South Dakota circuit court judge heard arguments on Dec. 17 from both sides in the lawsuit by Beef Products Inc. (BPI) against ABC News over its coverage of lean finely textured beef in 2012.

Reuters reported that ABC’s lawyers asked for the $1.2 billion defamation suit to be dismissed “as the news outlet stood by its reports and cited free speech protections.” BPI, a South Dakota-based company, sued ABC after the news network aired a series of reports labeling its product “pink slime.” ABC used the term 137 times in four weeks, Reuters noted.

ABC, CBS Notice Obama's 'Lowest Ever' Approval Rating; NBC Out to Lunch
By Matthew Balan | November 13, 2013 | 6:48 PM EST

On Tuesday, ABC's World News and CBS Evening News both reported the latest poll numbers from the "respected" Quinnipiac University, as CBS's Scott Pelley labeled the institution, regarding President Obama's "lowest ever" approval rating, along with Americans' dim view of the politician's honesty. ABC's Diane Sawyer noted that "for the first time in his presidency, a majority of American voters – 52 percent...say President Obama is not honest and trustworthy."

Both evening newscasts reported these numbers as they led into their coverage of former President Clinton's recent word of advice to Obama on his health care law – that "the President should honor the commitment...[he] made to those people, and let them keep what they've got." NBC Nightly News also devoted air time to Clinton's remarks, but failed to mention the current President's drooping approval number. [MP3 audio from the ABC and CBS reports available here; video below the jump]

George Stephanopoulos Swoons Over Liberal NYC Mayor's Ad: 'Most Effective' Ever
By Scott Whitlock | November 7, 2013 | 6:13 PM EST

 

Journalist George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday praised the campaign commercial of New York City's very liberal mayor-elect as "the most effective political ad I've ever seen." Touting a spot that featured the son of Bill de Blasio, Stephanopoulos and World News anchor Diane Sawyer enthused over its brilliance.

The former Democratic operative for Bill Clinton described the commercial as "narrated by his son Dante who had this dramatic Afro." Stephanopoulos rhapsodized, " I think it's the most effective political ad I've ever seen." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Sawyer gushed, "Gangbusters. Modern American family there."

Chicago Tribune: ‘Hard-right Bloc Sticks to Its Guns’
By Mike Bates | October 8, 2013 | 4:42 PM EDT

In case you haven’t noticed, the government shutdown is all the GOP’s fault.  Today’s Chicago Tribune wanted to make sure readers knew that with a front-page headline titled “Hard-right bloc sticks to its guns: Shutdown stalemate continues as lawmakers in safe seats hold sway.” The article reports that some House Republicans “have chosen to defy Washington’s traditional norms of conversation and compromise.”  You know, those norms that have served America so well as we headed to a $17 trillion debt.

Viewers who watched last evening’s ABC World News with Diane Sawyer were told of a new ABC News/Washington Post poll “showing 70% of Americans disapprove of how Republicans in Congress are handling the negotiations.”  What they weren’t told is the same poll found 61% disapprove of how Democrats are handling the breakdown while another majority, 51%, disapproves of Obama’s approach.

MRC Study: Even Before Shutdown, Networks Dumped Most Blame on Conservatives
By Rich Noyes | October 2, 2013 | 1:47 PM EDT

On Monday morning, Time/MSNBC political analyst Mark Halperin explained an obvious political reality to his fellow Morning Joe panelists: “The White House does not have much incentive” to negotiate on the government shutdown, because Democrats expect the liberal news media to hand them a public relations victory. As Halperin put it: “The press is largely sympathetic to their arguments that it’s the House Republicans’ fault.”

In fact, as a new Media Research Center analysis of broadcast network evening news coverage shows, ABC, CBS and NBC spent the two weeks prior to the shutdown almost universally pinning the blame on congressional Republicans, especially conservative/Tea Party House Republicans. By the time the shutdown actually took place on October 1, news audiences had been repeatedly instructed to think about it as a GOP-generated crisis.

ABC 'World News' Spins For White House On Shutdown, ObamaCare
By Paul Bremmer | October 1, 2013 | 5:49 PM EDT

Monday night’s edition of ABC World News was a double dose of advocacy as Diane Sawyer and her team essentially served as a mouthpiece for President Obama’s position on the government shutdown and his health care law.

Sawyer led the broadcast, of course, with the government shutdown, which was then only a few hours away. She stated President Obama’s perspective on the matter: “The president expressed outrage that one faction in one house of Congress is ready to bring the entire federal government to a halt.” But rather than follow that up with a Republican viewpoint, Sawyer threw to chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl for a report on the shutdown. He began his package by playing a clip of Obama warning us all about the economic impact of a shutdown.

Big 3 Ignore Benghazi Victims' Parents, Marvel at Caroline Kennedy's 'Shining' Moment
By Matthew Balan | September 20, 2013 | 3:25 PM EDT

The Big Three broadcast networks made their slanted priorities clear on their Thursday evening newscasts, as they fawned over Caroline Kennedy's Senate confirmation hearing earlier that day, but failed to cover the emotional congressional testimony of Pat Smith. Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, who died in the 2012 Islamist attack on the U.S. post in Benghazi, Libya.

ABC's Martha Raddatz was awestruck over JFK's daughter: "For one brief shining moment, senators from both sides of the aisle seemed to harken back to the so-called Camelot days." NBC's Harry Smith gushed that "history and legacy were more important this morning than party or partisanship. The daughter of a president said she wanted to fulfill her father's wish." [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]