JuJu Chang

Wherever 14 Leftists Gather to Get Arrested, It's National News?
By Tim Graham | May 14, 2010 | 7:48 AM EDT

Pardon my harping, but it's perpetually amazing to me that tens of thousands of people can assemble every January in the nation's capital for the March for Life, and draw not a second of network TV attention. But 14 illegal-alien advocates blocked traffic in Los Angeles, and both ABC and NBC acknowledged them on the morning of May 7:

JUJU CHANG, ABC: Well, police in Los Angeles have arrested more than a dozen protesters, who chained themselves together on a downtown street, to protest the new immigration law in Arizona. 14 activists locked themselves in a circle in front of an immigration detention center, blocking traffic for about four hours.

ANN CURRY, NBC: And at least 14 people are under arrest in Los Angeles after blocking traffic for about four hours on Thursday. They chained themselves together to protest Arizona's new immigration law.

Do the networks understand that they're instructing protesters to get arrested before they get noticed, no matter how many thousands of them peacefully assemble? At the very least, ABC and NBC could have offered a few choice words from the drivers who were blocked by these protesters.

GMA Reports Laura Bush's Criticism of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid
By Noel Sheppard | April 28, 2010 | 3:18 PM EDT

Former first Lady Laura Bush has some harsh words for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) in her upcoming memoir "Spoken From The Heart."

On Tuesday, ABC's "Good Morning America" logged a report featuring excerpts from the book recently published by the New York Times.

Astonishingly, these included Mrs. Bush criticizing Pelosi and Reid for calling her husband "an incompetent leader " and a "loser...liar" respectively.

"The comments were uncalled for and graceless," GMA's Juju Chang surprisingly quoted the first lady with text on the screen.

"These particular words revealed the petty and parochial nature of some who serve in Congress" (video follows with partial transcript and commentary, h/t HotAirPundit): 

CBS 'Early Show' Ignores Astronaut Criticism of Obama's Space Program Cuts
By Kyle Drennen | April 14, 2010 | 12:11 PM EDT
On Wednesday's CBS Early Show, fill-in news reader Betty Nguyen reported on President Obama's new plan to cut back America's space program, but failed to mention sharp criticism by astronauts Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Eugene Cernan in a signed letter sent to the White House.

Nguyen noted: "President Obama unveils a revamped plan for America's manned space program....reviving part of a plan he canceled earlier this year. NASA will begin development of a crew capsule called Orion....[it] won't go to the moon, but will be used as an emergency vehicle on the space station."

In contrast, on ABC's Good Morning America, anchor Juju Chang began a news brief on the same topic this way: "President Obama under fire, accused by the first man to set foot on the moon of leading the U.S. space program down a path of, quote, 'mediocrity.'" Correspondent Jake Tapper followed: "Armstrong and two other former astronauts wrote that it was a terrible decision. They called it 'a misguided proposal that forces NASA out of the human space operations for the foreseeable future.'"

NBC's Today also covered the criticism, as anchor Natalie Morales explained how: "three Apollo astronauts call the changes devastating. In a letter, Neil Armstrong, James Lovell and Eugene Cernan write, 'The President's plan destines our nation to become one of second, or even third-rate stature.'"
'Immigration Reform' Rally Gets Major Diss from TV Networks
By Tim Graham | March 26, 2010 | 4:39 PM EDT

Left-wing protests for "immigration reform" (amnesty) used to be a huge TV-news story. MRC's 2006 special report Election in the Streets counted 309 stories in little more than two months. So it's a little surprising that Sunday's "pro-immigrant" protest received just a few seconds of attention.

It's better measured with a word count than a story count. ABC, CBS, and NBC combined gave it 239 words (or less than 80 words per network). NBC had 34 words, ABC 84, and CBS 141 (half a story).

This is 239 words more than the 2010 March for Life. Obviously, the timing was terrible, with the final vote on health "reform" scheduled. But you would think it would draw more than this. Perhaps the plugged-in Democrats like Stephanopoulos got a signal that focus on this issue wasn't helpful when voters are already angry with Democrats about health care. 

Only ABC Highlights Biden's Gaffe About 'Dead' Mother of Irish PM, Stephanopoulos Lauds VP's 'Smile'
By Scott Whitlock | March 18, 2010 | 10:50 AM EDT

Only Good Morning America on Thursday played the cringe-inducing clip of Joe Biden incorrectly asserting that the mother of Ireland's Prime Minister is dead. Speaking at a St. Patrick's Day event, Wednesday, the Vice President ad-libbed, "His mom lived in Long Island for ten years or so. God rest her soul. And- although, she's- wait- your mom's still- your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul." [Audio available here.]

However, the ABC hosts then attempted to cover for Biden. News anchor Juju Chang lauded the Vice President's "quick recovery." Co-anchor George Stephanopoulos excused, "And that smile takes him a long way as well." Chang agreed, "Exactly. I think it gets a lot of forgiveness."

NBC's Brian Williams Ignores Rangel Corruption Charges
By Geoffrey Dickens | February 26, 2010 | 11:43 AM EST

After the Democrats regained control of the House in 2006, Nancy Pelosi promised NBC's Brian Williams that she would "drain the swamp" and "turn this Congress into the most honest and open Congress in history." So when news broke that a House Ethics committee found that long time New York Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel accepted corporate money for trips to the Carribean one would think Williams would be all over the story – he wasn't.

On Thursday's NBC Nightly News Williams completely ignored the charges, as did ABC's World News Tonight. Of the three broadcast network evening news shows, only Williams' competitors at CBS Evening News covered the Rangel scandal as Katie Couric reported Rangel "broke House rules," and Nancy Cordes told viewers he could be "censured," but didn't tell them that he was a Democrat.

[UPDATE, 7:30 PM EST Friday, February 26: ABC's World News caught up with Rangel on Friday night as anchor Diane Sawyer identified him as a Democrat and the Friday NBC Nightly News rolled Rangel into a “Democrats' Disarray” story with Desiree Rogers and David Paterson.]

Williams' NBC News colleague Amy Robach did mention the investigation into Rangel's wrongdoing, the next morning on the Today show, but omitted Rangel's party affiliation in the one and only story aired on the morning show:

ABC Gushes Over the 'Genuine Love and Respect' of 'True Valentines' Joe and Jill Biden
By Scott Whitlock | February 12, 2010 | 12:11 PM EST

Two years after fawning over the romance of John and Elizabeth Edwards, Good Morning America found another Democratic couple to tout. As the song Everlasting Love played in the background, news anchor Juju Chang profiled Joe and Jill Biden and their "famous Washington love story." [Audio available here.]

An ABC graphic touted the Vice President and his wife as "true Valentines" in honor of the holiday and Chang declared, "But, the Bidens have a genuine love and respect for each other that's easy to see." In case viewers didn't get the point of the interview, Chang reiterated, "Yours is not only a strong marriage but a true love affair." Co-host Robin Roberts wondered how the two "keep the romance alive."

An Emotional George Stephanopoulos Coos: Murtha Made Congress ‘Work,’ Skips Smear on Marines
By Scott Whitlock | February 9, 2010 | 10:52 AM EST

Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday became emotional over the passing of John Murtha, named by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington as one of Congress’ most corrupt politicians. He lauded the Democrat as "one of those guys who make the [House of Representatives] work." [Audio available here.]

Neither Stephanopoulos, nor Juju Chang, who filed a news brief on Murtha, mentioned his 2006 smear that U.S. Marines killed Iraqi civilians "in cold blood." Stephanopoulos, a former Democratic operative, reminisced as he tried to maintain control: "I’m going to get a little choked up. I miss him already. You know, I went to Capitol Hill as an aide almost 30 years ago."

He cooed, "And he did it with such a sense of joy and fun and he taught me an awful lot." Stephanopoulos skipped the following quote from Murtha in May of 2006 about a supposed massacre in Haditha, Iraq: "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

GMA Criticizes Heidi Montag’s 10 Plastic Surgeries, Calls Her ‘Sad’ and ‘Confused’
By Carolyn Plocher | January 20, 2010 | 11:00 AM EST

If you haven't heard much about Heidi Montag before, that's probably going to change. MTV's pseudo reality star has become a cautionary tale, and is facing a firestorm of critics after going under the knife for a staggering 10 different cosmetic procedures in a single sitting. The list ranged from a mini brow lift to a chin reduction to pinning her ears back to the predictable breast augmentation (her second).

"For the past three years, I've thought about what to have done," Montag told People magazine last week. "I'm beyond obsessed."

And she finally revealed her new look yesterday, appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America." But she wasn't exactly met by a cheering crowd. Kudos to GMA for being properly revolted by Montag's butchery.

Reporter Deborah Roberts, for example, called Montag's surgeries "frightening" and co-anchor George Stephanopoulos felt sorry for her.

ABC's George Stephanopoulos Can't Stop Giggling at Sarah Palin
By Scott Whitlock | December 17, 2009 | 3:09 PM EST

New Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos and the rest of the morning show crew couldn’t help laughing at Sarah Palin on Thursday. News anchor Juju Chang highlighted a story broken by the tabloid TMZ that the former vice presidential candidate was seen at a Hawaii beach wearing a blacked out McCain visor. [Audio available here.]

After Chang noted that Palin said she was simply trying to be "incognito," Stephanopoulos, the former Democratic operative, started giggling and scoffed, "Trying to be incognito? Okay. That’ll do it." Joining in, Chang, who is also new to the show, joked, "Apparently there were no other hats to be found."

Global warming alarmist Sam Champion piled on as he began the weather report: "Every shop on the beach in Hawaii sells visors for about $5.99...Just in case no one knew." Co-host Robin Roberts marveled, "Now, that’s truly going rogue. That’s truly going rogue."

Hasselbeck Jokes About Clinton Baby Bond in ABC Interview
By Kristen Fyfe | January 9, 2008 | 10:45 AM EST

Anyone who has given birth to a child knows that post-partum hormones can really cloud your thinking. But your political views? Apparently, when you are a conservative, or thought to be a conservative, reporters think you might move left after you give birth.