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.
Gio Benitez
By Curtis Houck | April 2, 2015 | 12:20 AM EDT
Following five straight days where the network evening newscasts slammed Indiana for passing its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), Arkansas joined the barrage of criticism on Wednesday after Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson requested the legislature make changes to its own version. The CBS Evening News failed to mention how a small Indiana pizza parlor has been forced to at least temporarily shutter after receiving violent threats while NBC Nightly News only said that the shop closed after “so much criticism online.”
By Jeffrey Meyer | April 1, 2015 | 11:47 AM EDT
On Wednesday morning, the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks implemented a new tactic in its effort to smear Indiana’s religious freedom law by hyping a similar law that just made its way through the Arkansas legislature and its opposition from the CEO of Walmart.
By Curtis Houck | April 1, 2015 | 12:33 AM EDT
For the fifth straight night, the major broadcast networks used their evening newscasts to blast the State of Indiana on Tuesday for sparking an “uproar” and “national outcry” over its Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) while also choosing to heavily promote the arguments of opponents.
By Scott Whitlock | March 31, 2015 | 5:11 PM EDT
All three networks on Tuesday morning continued to pile on Governor Mike Pence and his state's religious freedom law. ABC, NBC and CBS focused almost exclusively on the critics of the law and pushed the idea that the legislation was bigoted. On Good Morning America, Gio Benitez acted as a prosecutor against the law. Talking to Indiana legislators, he demanded, "You're going to directly add into that law that it cannot be used to discriminate against anyone."
By Curtis Houck | March 30, 2015 | 10:35 PM EDT
On their Monday evening newscasts, the major broadcast networks kept up their attacks on the State of Indiana for having enacted a religious freedom law that aims to protect individuals from government infringement based on their religious beliefs. While ABC, CBS, and NBC mentioned that there are those supporting the law, their coverage continued to veer off in a slanted direction against the law by painting Republicans as being “in damage control mode” while the “avalanche of criticism” continues to grow.
By Jeffrey Meyer | March 30, 2015 | 12:56 PM EDT
On Thursday, March 26 Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Act into law, aimed at protecting private businesses from government infringement on their religious beliefs. Ever since, the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks have done their best to promote the bill’s opponents, who insist that the bill will lead to discrimination against gays and lesbians. From March 27 through the morning of March 30, the networks promoted the opponents of the law over its supporters at a rate of 2:1 through the use of soundbites, quotes and arguments criticizing the religious freedom law.
By Scott Whitlock | March 30, 2015 | 11:25 AM EDT
ABC on Monday continued to assail Indiana's religious freedom law, hyping the "firestorm" over a law that "many" say could "legalize discrimination." Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts trumpeted "growing calls to move the men's Final Four and boycott the state over the new law that many say legalizes discrimination."
ABC Cheers Belgian Woman's Modeling Contract, Ignores That It Was Revoked After 'Hunting Americans' Joke
By Scott Whitlock | July 11, 2014 | 11:47 AM EDT The hosts of Good Morning America, the superficial ABC morning show, on Friday gushed over a beautiful woman who was spotted at a World Cup match and given a modeling contract by L'Oreal. Yet, Robin Roberts and reporter Gio Benitez somehow managed to ignore the important part of the story: Axelle Despiegelaere has already been fired by the company after joking about "hunting Americans."
Completely avoiding the resolution, Roberts enthused, "For one woman, [the World Cup] offered her a chance of a lifetime." Benitez hyped Despiegelaere and her "golden ticket." He raved, "As the world's attention was on the soccer field, World Cup photographers had their lenses focused on one beautiful face in the crowd." [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Giving half the story, Benitez continued, "She came out a winner. L'oreal offering mod gig in this beauty tutorial for their hair products." The journalist didn't tell viewers about what Despiegelaere said on her Facebook page.
By Matthew Balan | July 1, 2014 | 3:44 PM EDT
NBC and ABC omitted covering the Supreme Court's final two rulings from their Tuesday morning newscasts, despite the fact that the decisions came down after their Monday episodes aired. Only CBS This Morning set aside air time for the ruling in the Hobby Lobby case, which upheld the religious liberty rights of closely held corporations.
Viewers of ABC's Good Morning America might have guessed that the Supreme Court handed down some decisions, as the morning show devoted a full segment to the "running of the interns," where the summer interns of media outlets run copies of Court's "big rulings" to the journalists outside. GMA even held their own intern race, where the competitors run cups of iced coffee to the anchors inside the studio: [video below the jump]