Media coverage of food has become as tough to swallow as a piece of gristle. Cholesterol, food dyes, salt and more dominate headlines -- even though news stories often can’t decide if those things are good or bad for us. Now the Obama administration is moving to practically ban trans fat, an ingredient once promoted as a “health product.”
NBC News
By Joseph Rossell | February 27, 2015 | 12:48 PM EST
The latest social media phenomenon to "break the Internet" was more important to the broadcast news networks than the federal decision to regulate the Internet which could cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) passed Internet regulations on Feb. 26, that reclassified the Internet as a public utility. In spite of the significance, the broadcast news networks evening shows (February 26) and morning shows (February 27) spent only four minutes and 10 seconds on the issue. What NBC's Today labeled "the great dress debate" got more than three times that coverage (13 minutes six seconds).
By Randy Hall | February 23, 2015 | 8:14 PM EST
Seth Meyers, host of the Late Night program on NBC, was a guest on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show on Monday, when he described Brian Williams -- the suspended NBC Nightly News anchor -- as “very friendly” and “a great storyteller” who has a tendency to “embellish” his experiences in an effort to be “entertaining.”
Stern began the segment by noting: “The other day, you did something interesting. You went down to the 'Y.' I don't know why it's at the 'Y,' but you interviewed Allison Williams, the daughter of Brian Williams.”
By Joseph Rossell | February 18, 2015 | 11:54 AM EST
Obamacare has increased the tax burden on taxpayers and companies, a fact ignored in recent broadcast news reports.
Obamacare created or hiked at least 13 taxes, Forbes reported February 17. Forbes contributor and tax lawyer Robert Wood said that for the average American, “it’s easy to be overwhelmed” by all the new taxes and forms that come with Obamacare.
By Randy Hall | February 10, 2015 | 6:13 PM EST
During the Tuesday edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe program, co-host Joe Scarborough slammed the judges in his home state of Alabama who are refusing to obey a U.S. Supreme Court order to begin issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples.
He referred to the judges who are “ignoring the Constitution of the United States” -- led by Roy Moore, Alabama's chief justice, who declared that the January ruling in favor of gay marriage by U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade should be disregarded -- as an “embarrassment” to the state “I love and adore.”
By Joseph Rossell | February 9, 2015 | 3:53 PM EST
It has been nearly three months since President Barack Obama spoke out in favor of Internet regulation, calling for “net neutrality” and a “free and open Internet.” In spite of the massive impact such regulations could have on Americans, the broadcast networks have given the issue short shrift.
Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Tom Wheeler said on February 4 that he backed Obama’s plan to reclassify the Internet as a public utility under the government agency’s Title II authority. FCC commissioner Ajit Pai said in a press release on February 6 that the plan "marks a monumental shift toward government control of the Internet." Even a liberal think tank predicted that these regulations could cost American households $156 in new fees.
By Jack Coleman | February 5, 2015 | 4:38 PM EST
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams has been an all too frequent presence in entertainment and talk show media -- "slow jamming" the news with Jimmy Fallon, rubbing elbows with Jon Stewart, hosting Saturday Night Live, yukking it up with David Letterman more than a dozen times.
When he appeared on Alec Baldwin's WNYC radio show Here's the Thing in March 2013, Williams called these his "extracurricular activities." And in the wake of his acknowledged whopper of a claim that he was on a military helicopter shot down by enemy fire during the invasion of Iraq, I'm guessing that Williams will be a tad more reticent about schmoozing with his buddies in the media.
By Joseph Rossell | February 2, 2015 | 2:30 PM EST
The dramatic collapse of gas prices is one story the news media didn’t see coming. In fact, as recently as June 2014, network news anchors and reporters were still talking about the prospect of $5 gasoline.
It turns out the media aren’t very good fortune tellers, and when it comes to gas prices they were wrong this time, just as many new outlets had gotten it wrong years earlier.
By Randy Hall | January 12, 2015 | 7:22 PM EST
Not long after 12 cartoonists and editors were murdered at the Paris office of the Charlie Hebdo magazine last Wednesday, news outlets around the world faced a difficult dilemma: produce images of satirical cartoons of Mohammed from the weekly publication and face the possibility of being attacked by other terrorists; or play it safe by using other pictures instead.
One organization that wrestled with the problem was National Public Radio, which debated whether or not to post such illustrations on its website, according to Mark Memmott, the company's standards and practices editor.
By Joseph Rossell | December 22, 2014 | 2:32 PM EST
Subtracting state and federal taxes and fees on gasoline, the price of a gallon of gas would fall below $2 in 29 states, according to data published by the American Petroleum Institute in October 2014, and by AAA. AAA said the national average for gas dropped to $2.394 per gallon on Dec. 22. while the average state and federal gas taxes and fees averaged a whopping 49.28 cents-per-gallon, or more than 20 percent of the total price.
Those gas taxes, which are hidden by being incorporated into the pump price of gasoline, also went unmentioned by the broadcast network evening shows from Sept. 29 to Dec. 21.
By Joseph Rossell | December 11, 2014 | 1:05 PM EST
Thanks in part to the widespread use of technologies like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, global oil prices plummeted in 2014. Energy experts even predicted the U.S. could be the top oil producer in the next several years.
While even President Barack Obama recently hinted at his support for hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, the broadcast networks often portrayed it negatively. Between Sept. 29 and Dec. 8, the networks’ evening news shows stories about oil and gas largely ignored fracking’s contribution to lower prices
By Joseph Rossell | December 5, 2014 | 10:56 AM EST
New and expensive federal regulations stemming from Obamacare that will require many restaurants publish calorie counts probably won’t have much impact on patrons’ food choices, experts told The Huffington Post.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on November 25 that “chain restaurants, similar retail food establishments and vending machines with 20 or more locations” must post calorie counts on their menus or menu boards. The new rules were required by a provision in the Affordable Care Act.