All three broadcast networks Tuesday morning seized on a pharmaceutical company hiking the price of a prescription drug in order to promote Hillary Clinton’s call for new government regulation of the industry. At the top of NBC’s Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: “5,000% hike?! The young drug company CEO under fire for raising the cost of a life-saving pill overnight....The controversial decision making it all the way to the campaign trail.”
Don Dahler
By Matthew Balan | June 8, 2015 | 6:39 PM EDT
NBC News censored itself on Sunday, after it broadcast the "have a nice day" message left by two prison escapees from New York State on Today. The Post-It note included a caricature of an East Asian man with slanted eyes, a bucktooth grin, and wearing a stereotypical conical hat. Hours later, when NBC Nightly News covered the manhunt for the fugitives, the newscast blurred out the "racially-offensive Post-it note," as John Yang labeled it, three separate times during the correspondent's report.
By Scott Whitlock | March 2, 2015 | 4:12 PM EST
CBS This Morning on Monday exposed the difficulty of firing derelict government employees, even ones who watch porn while on the job. Journalist Don Dahler also highlighted the bullying, harassing individual who threatened coworkers, but hasn't been terminated. Dahler began by observing, "In the private sector, if you're caught viewing porn on company time or intimidating a co-worker, you'd probably be fired immediately."
By Jeffrey Meyer | February 11, 2015 | 11:58 AM EST
On Tuesday night, liberal comedian Jon Stewart announced that he was stepping down as host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show after 16 years and on Wednesday, the “big three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) morning shows eagerly praised Stewart's tenure. NBC’s Matt Lauer introduced Today by declaring “Stewart Stunner..The announcement that’s rocking Hollywood, Washington and his millions of fans” and ABC’s Lara Spencer proclaimed Stewart’s show to be a “comedy cultural juggernaut.”
By Curtis Houck | December 16, 2014 | 12:24 AM EST
On Monday night, ABC and CBS covered the news that families of ten people who lost their lives in the deadly school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 were filing a lawsuit against gun manufacturer Bushmaster as it was maker of the rifle used by Adam Lanza in his horrific rampage.
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir mentioned it in a news brief while CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley had a full segment that, surprisingly, featured CBS News correspondent Don Dahler presenting a balanced report on the issue that included him pushing back multiple times against the attorney representing the ten families.
By Matthew Balan | September 15, 2014 | 3:50 PM EDT
On Monday's CBS This Morning, Don Dahler played up how Pope Francis presiding at the wedding of 20 couples in St. Peter's Basilica is "yet another example of just how progressive [he] has been." Dahler zeroed in on how "according to the Church, some of these couples are technically living in sin. Many have been living together prior to getting married, which is forbidden in Catholicism. Some even have children." The correspondent failed to mention, however, that the Pope used part of his sermon during the wedding to defend the Church's longstanding teaching that marriage is between one man and one woman
By Scott Whitlock | May 19, 2014 | 12:30 PM EDT
The journalists at CBS This Morning on Monday actually showcased the growing problem of suppression of speech on college campuses, in this case at commencement addresses. Reporter Don Dahler even featured a representative from a conservative group fighting for open dialogue. However, the segment avoided hinting that this is primarily a problem on the left. Dahler featured former Princeton President William Bowen. While speaking at Haverford, he lectured those students for pressuring another speaker to withdrawal.
Bowen complained, "I regard this outcome as a defeat, pure and simple, for Haverford. No victory for anyone who believes, as I think most of us do, in openness to many points of view and mutual respect." He added, "In my view they would have encouraged him to come and engage in a serious discussion." Regarding the cancellation of other speakers, Greg Lukianoff from the Foundation of Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) worried, "It's reaching the point where these purity tests are so strict that it's hard to imagine who will allowed to speak on the campus in the future." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
By Scott Whitlock | April 30, 2014 | 4:55 PM EDT
Ten days after touting the best marijuana in Colorado, CBS This Morning journalists woke up to some potential dangers for the state's decision to legalize pot. Gayle King on Wednesday informed viewers, "Colorado is rethinking the rules for pot-infused food this morning after two recent deaths." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Journalist Don Dahler explained, "Last month, a 19-year-old student jumped to his death off a Denver hotel balcony after friends said he ate a single marijuana cookie." Autopsy reports cited "marijuana intoxication" as a significant contributing factor. He added, "In another case just this month, woman called 911 to say her husband had eaten pot candy and was hallucinating." The man later shot his wife. This type of coverage is a far cry from previous CBS This Morning stories.
By Scott Whitlock | March 4, 2014 | 3:41 PM EST
Of the three networks, only CBS has investigated the "outrage" of Mayor Bill de Blasio's "attacks" against charter schools in New York City. CBS This Morning journalist Don Dahler on Tuesday revealed, "Thousands of concerned parents are traveling to New York's state capitol Albany this morning, looking to draw attention to the plight of the charter school movement." Dahler referred to this movement as one parents believe "is now under attack." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
After showing one New York mother who praised the impact charter schools had on her children, the journalist informed, "But plans to expand their schools have been repealed by New York's New York City's new mayor, Bill de Blasio." A CBS graphic surprisingly challenged the liberal politician: "Charter School Showdown: Outrage Over NYC Mayor's Anti-Charter Policies."
By Scott Whitlock | February 27, 2014 | 4:57 PM EST
In another attempt to promote global warming activism, CBS This Morning journalists on Thursday warned viewers that climate change could lead to the end of snow and skiing. Co-host Charlie Rose informed viewers that "the author of a controversial book believes winter sports could be doomed." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
Yet, if there was much "controversy" in the notions pushed by writer Porter Fox, they hardly made it onto the CBS segment. Instead, reporter Don Dahler tossed this softball to Fox: "If thousands of scientists agree that this is happening why are there elements who resist it so much?" The author of "Deep: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow," responded by lecturing, "I think there's a long history of doubting science when it goes against the grain of what you want to happen."