Thursday’s CBS Evening News led with the severe weather threatening those in the Midwest, but in addition to looking at the storm track and damage thus far, the storms were hyped as a consequence of global warming. Anchor Scott Pelley ruled in an opening tease that “[t]ornadoes in Texas” struck “on the same day that a new study blames climate change for a surge in severe storms and wildfires.”
Ben Tracy
By Curtis Houck | August 19, 2015 | 12:59 AM EDT
On Tuesday, the CBS Evening News happened to stumble upon and offer up a solid report on one of the newest chapters in the illegal immigration fight as the city council of Huntington Park, California took the step earlier this month to appoint two illegal immigrants to posts on the city’s advisory commission.
By Scott Whitlock | May 7, 2015 | 12:23 PM EDT
CBS This Morning on Thursday lauded the "help" of California's "drought shamers" for turning in their neighbors. Nowhere in the segment did the journalists discuss the cause of the problem or whether the state's liberal policies could be blamed. Instead, a CBS graphic touted, "Drought Shaming: People in CA Exposing Others' Excessive Water Use."
By Curtis Houck | November 20, 2014 | 10:38 PM EST
Ahead of President Obama’s speech on immigration on Thursday night, the major broadcast networks all did their parts to push the arguments in favor of his executive amnesty ranging from a whole segment devoted to a family that would benefit from the President’s executive order to promoting one pro-amnesty group.
On the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, over two minutes was spent on segment promoting a family of children born in the U.S. with an illegal immigrant mother, who currently is in an Arizona detention center, but now could be allowed to be freed and apply to become a U.S. resident under the President’s executive amnesty.
By Jeffrey Meyer | October 2, 2014 | 10:27 AM EDT
Following a Wednesday morning report in which the hosts of CBS This Morning celebrated California’s ban on plastic bags, on Thursday morning the hosts promoted a Seattle law that fines citizens for failing to compost properly. While co-host Norah O’Donnell skeptically argued that “garbage trucks may start to feel more like police cars” reporter Ben Tracy began his report by suggesting the fine for not composting didn’t go far enough and wondered “if you're really trying to incentivize people to do this, why is the fine only a buck?”
By Kyle Drennen | August 22, 2014 | 12:17 PM EDT
During a report on Friday's CBS This Morning about some of the "backlash" against the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, correspondent Ben Tracy highlighted Michigan Democratic Congressman John Dingell bashing Republicans who took part in the effort to raise research money for Lou Gehrig's Disease. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Tracy declared that Dingell "accuses some Republicans of de-funding ALS research while taking the ice bucket challenge. He tweeted, 'Since 2011, House Republicans have cut National Institutes of Health funding by billions. And you thought dumping ice water on your head was cold.'" Footage ran of Congressman Paul Ryan getting doused with ice water as Tracy recited Dingell's attack.
By Jeffrey Meyer | August 20, 2014 | 2:59 PM EDT
On Wednesday, August 20, CBS This Morning promoted a new ad campaign by the National Rifle Association “going after former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg” a major gun control advocate.
During the news brief, CBS’s Ben Tracy played up how one ad is “getting personal. An NRA official called him an arrogant hypocrite who thinks knows what is best for people and their lives.” While the CBS reporter made sure to play up how the NRA was supposedly “getting personal”, he ignored his own network’s repeated promotion of Bloomberg’s liberal agenda. [See video below.]
By Connor Williams | August 1, 2014 | 11:40 AM EDT
CBS This Morning stood out as the lone network morning newscast to cover the growing corruption scandal surrounding New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, devoting 2 minutes and 32 seconds to the story. The program cited a New York Times report that the Governor hired a criminal defense attorney in preparation for possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering charges.
Meanwhile, the CNN, NBC and ABC morning shows all passed on covering the new developments of the scandal. Since the story broke on July 23, CNN – who employs Andrew Cuomo’s brother, Chris, as the co-host of New Day – has not mentioned the story even one time on their network, despite regular coverage from other cable networks. [MP3 audio here; video below]
By Scott Whitlock | April 2, 2014 | 12:00 PM EDT
CBS This Morning reporter Ben Tracy offered a one-sided take on liberal outrage against an internet browser's CEO and his support for traditional marriage. Brendan Eich is the new head of Mozilla, the company behind Firefox. Eich's crime? Tracy informed, "Six years ago, he personally donated a thousand dollars to support Proposition 8, the California initiative banning same-sex marriage." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
The journalist brought on Peter LaMotte, a business executive to lecture that "any public statement by a corporation needs to factor in how it represents the firm as a whole and how it's going to affect the brand for years to come." This prompted Tracy to chide, "Which is why Firefox is now in a firestorm of bad PR." The reporter featured no clips of anyone supporting Eich or questioning whether the suppression of dissenting ideas is a good thing.
By Matthew Balan | January 7, 2014 | 3:36 PM EST
Ben Tracy boosted former Minnesota Vikings player Chris Kluwe on Tuesday's CBS This Morning for his activism in favor of same-sex "marriage." Tracy hyped that "Kluwe was one of the best punters the Minnesota Vikings ever had", and that despite being let go from the football team, "Kluwe continues his advocacy, wearing an anti-bigotry hat."
The correspondent slanted towards Kluwe by featuring soundbites from the athlete-turned-activist exclusively, and did little to question his allegation that his former coaches are anti-homosexual "bigots." However, Tracy also hinted that Kluwe could have done more for his left-wing cause by speaking up while he was still with the Vikings: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]
By Matthew Balan | July 23, 2013 | 12:10 PM EDT
On Tuesday, neither ABC's Good Morning America nor CBS This Morning mentioned San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's Democratic affiliation, as they reported on the new sexual harassment lawsuit against the former congressman. The CBS morning show devoted a full report to the latest development in the sex scandal, while the ABC broadcast only devoted a news brief to the story.
NBC's Today has yet to devote even a news brief to the ongoing controversy surrounding the liberal politician. The only mention so far on the morning newscast was when correspondent Mike Taibbi made a 13-second reference to Filner during a July 13, 2013 report on Eliot Spitzer's run for New York City comptroller. By contrast, Today devoted a three-plus minute report to the massive Comic Con convention in San Diego on Sunday.
CBS Trumpets 'Long Night of Celebrating' Over Prop 8 Ruling; Spotlights Same-Sex Couple's Ring Ceremony
By Matthew Balan | June 27, 2013 | 2:20 PM EDT
CBS This Morning led its Thursday broadcast with overwhelmingly slanted coverage on the Supreme Court's pro-same-sex "marriage" rulings. Ben Tracy played up the "long night of celebrating in West Hollywood", after the Court paved the way for the termination of California's Proposition 8. Tracy also prominently featured a homosexual couple's informal ring ceremony, who "after being blocked by Proposition 8...will now get re-married in their home state."
The morning newscast loaded its reporting with six soundbites of the liberal plaintiffs and lawyers in the case, along with their supporters, and only included two clips from conservatives decrying the decisions. [audio available here; video below the jump]