ABC's Nightline, a program that can barely be bothered to cover the 2016 presidential election, on Wednesday night devoted over seven minutes to a hippie commune in Virginia where residents are given an allowance and children are raised by everyone. Touting this socialistic paradise, co-anchor Byron Pitts enthused, "the people you're about to meet are taking it pretty literally on a commune where they share child-rearing, housing, even their incomes."
Byron Pitts
By Scott Whitlock | August 19, 2015 | 12:16 PM EDT
The increasingly vapid Nightline on Tuesday night actually covered the 2016 presidential race, but only because Donald Trump is feuding with a supermodel. This is just the show's second story on the election in the last month. Byron Pitts sarcastically opened the show: "Famously beautiful person Donald Trump says Heidi Klum at 42 is no longer a perfect ten." Sounding like a clickbait headline, he added, "The super model's hilarious response tonight as she joins the growing list of women insulted by the Republican presidential candidate front-runner."
By Matthew Balan | October 23, 2014 | 4:47 PM EDT
On the early Wednesday edition of Nightline, ABC's Byron Pitts zeroed in on how Adam Daniels, the organizer of a Satanic ritual in Oklahoma City, claims to be a "religious leader," and is yet a "convicted sex offender." The correspondent bluntly turned to Daniels and said, "You get how, for most people, those two things don't line up." Pitts also pointed out another controversy that the Satanic leader is involved in: his plan to build an altar to Satan that incorporates debris from the Oklahoma City bombing.
ABC Hypes Potential Gitmo Closing: ‘Allegations of Waterboarding...Have Turned This Place Into A Terrorist Recruiters Dream’
By Jeffrey Meyer | June 8, 2014 | 3:14 PM EDT With the exchange of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl for the release of five Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo Bay complete, ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos used the opportunity to promote the possibility of Gitmo closing its doors.
On Sunday, June 8, Byron Pitts, ABC’s Chief National Correspondent peddled the line that “700 men have come through Gitmo since the beginning of the war on terror when these pictures of shackled and hooded men shock the world. Some say past allegations of waterboarding and hunger strikes have turned this place into a terrorist recruiters dream.” [See video below.]
By Scott Whitlock | January 18, 2014 | 11:23 AM EST
In January of 2013, Nightline was demoted to the TV wasteland of 12:35 in the morning. Since then, the ABC program has become increasingly superficial, shedding hard news in favor of crime and celebrity stories. On Thursday, the program got even weirder, spending 30 minutes on white and black racists and mediating a discussion between the two on a supposed coming race war. It all played out like some racist reality TV show.
Byron Pitts profiled Matt Heimbach, a 22-year-old white supremacist who hates Jews, African Americans and gays. ABC took Heimbach to meet a "black national, now an ordained minister who's running for a seat in the U.S. Congress and warns that a race war is coming." Pitts marveled, "The two find common cause in a common enemy, corporate America." Heimbach enthused, "Why don't we hang a couple of bankers instead of random white people?" Mmoja Ajabu agreed, "Well, I think we're finding common ground." [See video montage below. MP3 audio here.]
By Brent Baker | November 18, 2013 | 8:32 AM EST
Lee Harvey Oswald was far-left defector to the Soviet Union, but you’d never know that from Sunday’s ABC This Week which focused on Dallas as a cauldron of segregationist hate for President Kennedy without any mention of the political orientation of the actual assassin.
Using Dan Rather as his expert, ex-CBS and current ABC reporter Byron Pitts perpetuated the myth that right-wing hate was somehow responsible for what occurred in Dallas: “Nowhere in Texas did the jagged edge of segregation cut deeper, anti-Kennedy sentiment spew any stronger. This flyer [“Wanted for Treason”] greeted the President when he arrived.”
By Scott Whitlock | August 5, 2013 | 4:59 PM EDT
Imagine if controversial, conservative radio host Michael Savage also ran a charity supporting poor, urban youths. Would ABC ignore the inflammatory things he has said and only focus on the positive? Not likely. Yet, World News guest anchor Byron Pitts on Sunday lauded hard-left Catholic Priest Father Pfleger as a "Chicago hope" who is in a "league of his own."
This is the same Father Pfleger who, during the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries, defended Barack Obama by excoriating, "America has been raping people of color and America has to pay the price for the rape!" This is the same Pfleger who threatened to "snuff" out a Chicago gun owner. World News journalists mentioned none of this. Instead, Pitts introduced, "Finally tonight, a story that reminds us all about the power of hope."
By Erin R. Brown | January 21, 2009 | 2:20 PM EST
The inauguration of the first African-American president is an historic affair, one that should be properly celebrated by all. But when the so-called "objective" network anchors begin comparing a routine political ceremony to a spiritual awakening, have they gone too far?
"Sacred." "Majesty." "Sacrament." "Pilgrimage." These are words loaded with religious and spiritual meaning. And they're words used to describe the inauguration of President Barack Obama by CBS, NBC and ABC anchors on their evening and mornings news shows.
By Tim Graham | November 7, 2008 | 7:36 AM EST
ABC's Steve Osunsami wasn't the only black reporter to get emotional and swoon over an Obama victory on Election Night. Ron Allen of NBC and Byron Pitts of CBS also let their pro-Obama feelings loose on election night.
In the 11 pm hour on MSNBC, as anchor David Gregory proclaimed, "We want to keep soaking up the moment from Grant Park," he turned to Allen for his emotional reaction to the win. He said America opened its eyes and its heart and accepted Obama's skills and talents:
I've heard so many people in the African-American community say that they wish that there was a father, a mother, a relative who had lived to see this day. It's something so many people have said.
I also feel the same thing.
By Brent Baker | November 5, 2008 | 10:11 PM EST 
The broadcast network evening newscasts on Wednesday night all marked Barack Obama's victory with stories on celebrations around the world, the joy expressed by African-Americans and how newspapers sold out as people cheered in the streets. NBC anchor Brian Williams hailed: “As one columnist put it, America matured in 2008 by choosing Barack Obama.” CBS, however, aired the most triumphant story. Though Ronald Reagan earned nearly 59 percent of the vote in 1984 and George Bush captured more than 53 percent four years later, an awed Byron Pitts began by proposing about Obama's win with 52 percent: “When was the last time our nation cheered this much?”
Pitts proceeded to cite anecdotes about several people, black and white, who saw vindication in Obama's victory, including two women at “a suburban home in Iowa. Iowa, the state that first bought into Obama's audacious hopes and where a life-long Democrat like Deb Tekippe and a life long Republican like Brenda Myer made a toast with champagne.” He concluded:
The broadcast network evening newscasts on Wednesday night all marked Barack Obama's victory with stories on celebrations around the world, the joy expressed by African-Americans and how newspapers sold out as people cheered in the streets. NBC anchor Brian Williams hailed: “As one columnist put it, America matured in 2008 by choosing Barack Obama.” CBS, however, aired the most triumphant story. Though Ronald Reagan earned nearly 59 percent of the vote in 1984 and George Bush captured more than 53 percent four years later, an awed Byron Pitts began by proposing about Obama's win with 52 percent: “When was the last time our nation cheered this much?” Pitts proceeded to cite anecdotes about several people, black and white, who saw vindication in Obama's victory, including two women at “a suburban home in Iowa. Iowa, the state that first bought into Obama's audacious hopes and where a life-long Democrat like Deb Tekippe and a life long Republican like Brenda Myer made a toast with champagne.” He concluded:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union.” That's what the Constitution says. Last night, all across America for so many people, that's how it felt. A more perfect union.
By Brent Baker | September 27, 2008 | 2:37 AM EDT
In the 20 minutes of post-debate analysis before the broadcast networks ended coverage and the cable channels moved on to other shows Friday night, on MSNBC Chris Matthews and Andrea Mitchell fretted that Barack Obama wasn't tough enough in attacking John McCain on the economy as Mitchell also hailed Obama -- “But, boy, he did show a command of foreign policy in terms of the nuts and bolts of it” -- and regretted Obama didn't do more to tie McCain to George Bush, a theme echoed on NBC by Tom Brokaw who “was surprised he didn't work harder at pinning John McCain to the eight years of the Bush administration.”
CBS featured only one citizen reaction, a man who touted Obama and compared McCain to Nixon, before ending with a quickie poll (neither ABC or NBC had one) that found twice as many “uncommitted voters” thought Obama won (40 percent) than McCain (22 percent).
Interviewing ABC News reporter turned Obama operative Linda Douglass, Matthews pleaded: “Why did your candidate agree so much -- openly and relentlessly -- with his opponent tonight?” He followed up with an impassioned lecture about Obama's missed opportunities to pound McCain:
Why didn't he talk more about the terrible state of the economy, the jobless rate, unemployment, the degree of deficit we're in right now, the degree of national debt, all of those issues out there that effect the average person, the number of foreclosures? He let his opponent talk about taxes and earmarking, his specialties. He seemed to lose control of the economic topic.
By Brent Baker | June 9, 2008 | 11:42 AM EDT 
On Sunday's Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz played a clip of CBS reporter Byron Pitts on Wednesday's CBS Evening News hailing Barack Obama's Democratic nomination victory as proof “one of America's oldest and ugliest color lines has been broken, and there is a new bridge for a new generation,” then proposed: “You obviously are paid to be an objective journalist, but some part of you must be excited that Barack Obama won this nomination.” Pitts confirmed his excitement:
On Sunday's Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz played a clip of CBS reporter Byron Pitts on Wednesday's CBS Evening News hailing Barack Obama's Democratic nomination victory as proof “one of America's oldest and ugliest color lines has been broken, and there is a new bridge for a new generation,” then proposed: “You obviously are paid to be an objective journalist, but some part of you must be excited that Barack Obama won this nomination.” Pitts confirmed his excitement: Well, certainly. I mean, as an African-American man, this is significant. I mean, look, for my entire life I've been able to, as a man, dream of doing great things. But a dream I could never have was being President of the United States. Now, for instance, my sons, my nephew, they can have that dream. And I think those kinds of images are important.