Maximize the Good News, Minimize the Bad: An Object Lesson From CNN's

The past three weeks in the stock market have gone as follows: Week ended July 22 -- Pretty good; week ended July 29 -- Really bad; week just ended -- Absolutely awful. After I received a remarkably vague e-mail from CNN just after 4 p.m. today, I thought I'd go back and see how it handled its closing-bell emails during the previous two weeks. It was quite revealing. The three emails follow…
Tom Blumer
August 5th, 2011 5:16 PM

Time's Sullivan: 'Did Austerity Politics Kill Compassionate Conservati

While the liberal media scoffed at George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism" in 1999 and 2000 as gimmicky and insufficient compared to traditional big government social welfare spending binges, they're starting to miss it now. Just ask Time's Amy Sullivan:
Ken Shepherd
August 5th, 2011 5:02 PM

Producers Pick Lesbian Kiss, R-Rated Movies as Teen Choice Award Nomin

A girl-on-girl lip lock, a movie in which a bulldog masturbates, and a marijuana-smoking middle school teacher are among the nominees for the 2011 Teen Choice Awards. Yes that’s right, an awards show specifically aimed at 13-19 year olds will be featuring inappropriate content more suited for the panel of adults that chose the nominees. This year, teens will vote for their favorites, ranging…
Erin R. Brown
August 5th, 2011 4:17 PM

MSNBC Misrepresents US News Article on Same-Sex Marriage

MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts harangued Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage on today's "MSNBC Live". "Why do you feel [gays] are less than you and don't deserve equal rights?" asked Roberts. [VIDEO BELOW THE FOLD]
Eric Ames
August 5th, 2011 3:43 PM

The Long War and the Budget

We are engaged in a long war — actually two long wars. The first and most commonly accepted of our wars is the long war against Islamofascists. It is not a war against vast armies. Comparatively speaking, it is just a war against a handful of thugs, but they want to strike at our heart, wherever we are ill-prepared, and if they can they will cause incalculable destruction. This we discovered on…
R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
August 5th, 2011 2:55 PM

NYT Downplays Own Poll Showing More Think Spending Cuts Didn't Go Far

The New York Times on Friday downplayed results in its own poll that found 44 percent of respondents think the cuts in the debt deal didn't go far enough, versus only 15 percent who said "too far." In an article starting on the front page, writers Michael Cooper and Megan Thee-Brenan didn't mention this fact until the ninth paragraph of page A-14.
Scott Whitlock
August 5th, 2011 2:44 PM

CNBC's Santelli Corrects Ezra Klein's Economics

CNBC's Rick Santelli had to explain the economy to MSNBC contributor Ezra Klein on today's Morning Joe (h/t Hot Air). Klein argued that another recession would "move money around in ways that are unfair." An exasperated Santelli concisely described what was wrong with Klein's characterization of what recession does to an economy:
Eric Ames
August 5th, 2011 1:56 PM

Andrea Mitchell: 'Everyone Is Feeling A Lack Of Hope

If Barack Obama has lost Andrea Mitchell, has he lost the MSM? Surveying the economy on her MSNBC show his afternoon, Mitchell gloomily observed: "it just seems as though everyone is feeling a lack of hope." The White House needn't fear too much.  Mitchell might have wandered somewhat off script. But Andrea has surely not abandoned the ranks of the Obama-loving media.  She fretted that…
Mark Finkelstein
August 5th, 2011 1:44 PM

Early Show, NYT Report What CBS Evening News Ignored: Own Poll Showing

While CBS's Early Show and the New York Times both highlighted their own poll showing support for further spending cuts, the CBS Evening News ignored it. Americans three-to-one believe the spending cuts in the debt ceiling deal were too small rather than too big, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll. As NewsBusters reported, Thursday's CBS Evening News ignored the support for cuts…
Matt Hadro
August 5th, 2011 1:30 PM

Harry Smith Makes His NBC News Debut With a Birthday Love Letter to Ob

At the end of Thursday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Harry Smith, formerly of CBS, made his first appearance on the network with a fawning birthday message to President Obama: "Happy birthday, Mr. President. Once upon a time, when you were a young man, all you had to do was show up and teeming throngs of people would gather to cheer you on....They even wrote songs about you." [Audio…
Kyle Drennen
August 5th, 2011 12:35 PM

Twitter's 'Who to Follow' List Overwhelmingly Promotes Liberal Pundits

Over the past few days, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has been the subject of criticism due to his unusually high number of Twitter followers. Some say a large number of his followers were manufactured by a Twitter account generator to falsely boost his online clout. His campaign contends his follower count came from other means, explaining instead his early adoption of the…
Aubrey Vaughan
August 5th, 2011 12:05 PM

Sen. Kerry Asks Media to Stop Giving 'Equal Time or Equal Balance' to

Last week, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman said conservative views about the debt ceiling should be censored from news reports. On Friday's "Morning Joe," Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) took this a step further calling on media to stop giving "equal time or equal balance" to Tea Party ideas that people like him consider "absurd" and "not factual" (video follows with transcript and…
Noel Sheppard
August 5th, 2011 11:44 AM

Media Mash: Tea Party 'Terrorists' Edition

"During the Clinton years, there was great discipline in the Democratic ranks where they could all speak on-message. There continues to be the same great discipline in liberal ranks, but they've just torqued it up ten degrees now," NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell told Fox News viewers on the August 4 "Hannity." The Media Research Center founder made that argument after host Sean Hannity…
NB Staff
August 5th, 2011 11:07 AM

Open Thread: Taxpayers Still Stand to Lose a Bundle on GM Stock

Despite the media hype, American taxpayers still stand to lose a bundle from the government takeover of General Motors, thanks in large measure to the lack of credibility the company's Obama-mandated obsession with the unpopular Chevrolet Volt: GM announced earnings this morning and the numbers appeared to be good on the surface. Media friends of GM trumpeted the good news but the…
NB Staff
August 5th, 2011 10:50 AM