John Aravosis

CNN Panel Whitewashes Media Bias on Gay Marriage; 'In the Middle'
By Matt Hadro | April 2, 2013 | 5:20 PM EDT

Sunday's Reliable Sources was absurdly generous to the media for their coverage of the same-sex marriage debate, calling them "in the middle" and denying having seen any "rudeness" toward social conservatives.

Host Howard Kurtz teed up gay rights activist John Aravosis by asking, "Are the media waking up to the fact that this is a civil rights issue?" Meanwhile, Aravosis claimed the press is "still being objective and in the middle" on the issue while the Washington Post's "conservative" blogger Jennifer Rubin denied having seen any media "rudeness or abruptness" toward social conservatives.

Howard Kurtz Scolds Mika Brzezinski for Moderating White House Forum on Obama's Job Performance
By Noel Sheppard | April 9, 2012 | 12:29 AM EDT

As NewsBusters reported, President Obama praised Mika Brzezinski Friday after she participated in a White House forum regarding the President's performance on women's issues.

CNN's Howard Kurtz on Sunday's Reliable Sources took issue with this asking his guests, "Should an MSNBC anchor be moderating a White House event and talking about celebrating what the administration has accomplished?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Howard Kurtz Doesn't Know Why 'So-called Liberal Media' Ignore Left's Disappointment With Obama
By Noel Sheppard | April 17, 2011 | 6:42 PM EDT

CNN's Howard Kurtz is either astonishingly naive or so strongly in the tank for Barack Obama that he's willing to ignore the totally obvious to assist the President's reelection efforts.

On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," Kurtz actually discussed with far-left guests Joan Walsh of Salon and John Aravosis of Americablog.com - without ever disclosing the painfully inconvenient truth! - why the "so-called liberal media" don't report divisions within the Democrat Party especially left-wing disappointment with the current White House resident (video follows with transcript and lots of commentary):

CNN's Kurtz: Do Conservative Commentators Want a Successful Terrorist Attack?
By Noel Sheppard | May 9, 2010 | 1:50 PM EDT

Howard Kurtz on Sunday actually asked if right-wing pundits are hoping for another successful terrorist attack against our nation in order to harm President Obama politically?

Potentially even worse, this disgraceful question was posed to a far-left leaning blogger who certainly was going to say "Yes."

Discussing the media's coverage of the Times Square car bomb attempt with his guests on CNN's "Reliable Sources," Kurtz asked if conservative commentators risk "looking a little churlish if they complain about a bomb that didn't go off?"

What ensued will likely make a lot of those commentators as well as NewsBusters readers quite upset (video follows with transcript and commentary): 

Kurtz: Should Fox Personalities Like Glenn Beck Speak At CPAC?
By Noel Sheppard | February 21, 2010 | 6:05 PM EST

Howard Kurtz asked an interesting question on Sunday's "Reliable Sources": Is it appropriate for Fox News hosts and contributors to be making political speeches at events like this weekend's CPAC?

Given Saturday's extremely successful keynote address by Glenn Beck, as well as the controversial nature of the rising star, such a question seemed inevitable. 

But there was still something peculiar about this segment, for although Kurtz mentioned other FNC contributors that spoke at the event including Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and John Bolton, he failed to notice George Will of ABC News (video embedded below the fold with transcript):

Howard Kurtz Thinks The Press Is Too Soft On Republicans
By Noel Sheppard | February 21, 2010 | 4:50 PM EST

When this arrived at my e-mail inbox Sunday, I thought a usually reliable tipster was playing a joke on me.

But after reviewing the video and transcript of this morning's "Reliable Sources" on CNN, it's become apparent that Howard Kurtz really did ask two of his guests if the press is currently going soft on the Republican Party.

"Every day, every week the media -- and that includes this program -- focus on President Obama," Kurtz said.

"But what about the Republicans? Do they largely get a pass because they're in the minority?" (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript and commentary, h/t Story Balloon):

Obama Supports Defense of Marriage Act … but You Wouldn’t Know It
By Zoe Ortiz | June 17, 2009 | 10:47 AM EDT

The Obama Administration's Justice Department threw a curve ball at the same-sex marriage movement last week, filing a 54 page-brief on Thursday in support of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.

The Washington Times reported on June 16 that "Gay activists are fuming ... it represents a break in President Obama's campaign promise to repeal the 1996 legislation. The Justice brief upholding DOMA was filed in Smelt v. United States, a California lawsuit brought by Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer asking the federal government to give them the same benefits as heterosexual couples. The Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the ACLU and other gay rights groups issued a statement that said they were ‘very surprised and deeply disappointed' in the filing, and they unflatteringly compared it to actions taken by the former Bush Administration."

 This action dealt a heavy blow to "gay rights" activists and is in stark contrast to Obama's lofty campaign promises. Yet we have heard very little about it (even this report in the Washington Times was only a small item in the ‘Culture' section) and we have seen even less on the news. Why?

MSM Obsesses with Republican 'Attack Machine,' While Lefties Smear McCain
By Justin McCarthy | June 30, 2008 | 12:46 PM EDT

For months, the mainstream media has obsessed with the evils of the "right wing attack machine." Recently, CBS bizarrely labeled attacks on Obama’s campaign financing flip flop "swift boating." ABC’s George Stephanopoulos even defended the Obama campaign’s discrimination against Muslims to "combat the issue" of false rumors that Obama is a Muslim.While much of the mainstream media