George Stephanopoulos Tells Oprah: 'Impossible' Not to be Excited by O

November 10th, 2008 12:59 PM
Former top Democratic aide-turned journalist George Stephanopoulos appeared on Friday's edition of the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and agreed with the host that it was "impossible" not to feel exuberant when Barack Obama was declared the winner on election night. Stephanopoulos also repeatedly admitted that he fervently believed all along the Democratic candidate would defeat Senator John McCain.…

Scarborough Apologizes For Accidental F-Bomb

November 10th, 2008 9:23 AM
Whoops. It's turning into quite the morning for gaffes on the NBC/MSNBC family of networks.  As noted here, during the Today opening, Meredith Vieira stumbled onto the sensitive subject of Matt Lauer's marital history.  Then, during Morning Joe's 8 AM hour, Joe Scarborough accidentally dropped an f-bomb, provoking a protracted apolog-a-thon. [H/t reader P.C.].During a break, Time's Jay Carney had…

Obama Spokesman Says 'Obama Ready to RULE on Day

November 10th, 2008 2:02 AM
**Video Below the Fold** The co-chair of Barack Obama's Transition Team, Valerie Jarrett, appeared on Meet the Press this weekend and used, shall we say, an interesting word to described what she thinks Barack Obama will be doing in January when he's officially sworn into office. She told Tom Brokaw that Obama will be ready to "rule" on day one. It's a word that reflects the worst fears that…

Reuters Laugher: 'Media Bias Largely Unseen in Presidential Race

November 9th, 2008 11:13 PM
File under: Don't believe your lying eyes and ears. Barely two weeks after a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press survey determined that “by a margin of 70%-9%, Americans say most journalists want to see Obama, not John McCain, win on Nov. 4,” as even 62 percent of Democrats recognized how journalists hoped Obama would be victorious, Reuters set out to prove any and all favorable…

Media's Road to Recovery: 'The First Step Is Admitting The Problem

November 9th, 2008 7:10 PM
As NewsBusters previously reported, the Washington Post's ombudsman admitted Sunday that her paper's coverage of this year's presidential campaign was clearly biased towards Barack Obama.Although that shouldn't surprise any sane person in this country, such a mea culpa is just good marketing unless the entity confessing the inappropriate behavior plans on doing something to correct it.Jennifer…

Economic Ignorance: Tucker Blames Financial Crisis On Bush

November 9th, 2008 1:07 PM
For years NewsBusters and its affiliate the Business & Media Institute have agonized over the astounding economic ignorance of many press members who despite their lack of financial acumen have the gall to offer their unqualified opinions to the public.No finer example of a media member who should understand her limitations and keep her mouth shut during economic discussions was the Atlanta…

Obama's Change.gov Site Undergoes Severe Scrubbing; $40/Hr. College Se

November 9th, 2008 11:42 AM
Well, this is change you can really see. Yesterday, verbiage at the "Service" Section of Barack Obama's Change.gov site (specifically the URL "http://change.gov/agenda/service/") served as source material for yesterday's post (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog) entitled "Obama’s 'Service in College' Program at Change.gov Promises $40 an Hour." The page was entitled "Barack Obama and Joe Biden's Plan…

Chris Matthews 'Needs to See a Neurologist' About His Obamamania

November 9th, 2008 11:04 AM
In response to Chris Matthews' claim that his job is to make the Barack Obama presidency a success, the Los Angeles Times Washington bureau chief Doyle McManus suggested the MSNBC host needs to see a neurologist.Although I agree that Matthews clearly has a fixation that needs attention, I'm not sure it's physiological rather than purely psychological.Regardless of the cause, the symptom was the…

Media and Academia, Historical Illiterates du Jour

November 9th, 2008 8:26 AM
To show how foolishly hyperbolic the Old Media and the ignorati in our universities are, the Associated Press issued a dire report that breathlessly informed us all that Barack Obama is facing a "nation in crisis" and it's all "just like Lincoln and FDR." The AP even gets an historically illiterate university professor to sonorously declare how Obama is "one step away" from Lincoln and FDR. But…

Have Fun For Now, Frank

November 9th, 2008 6:51 AM
I don't begrudge Obama supporters a celebration.  After eight years in the presidential wilderness and an election that was, yes, historic, it's natural to whoop it up.Even so, if Frank Rich were an NFL player [willing suspension of disbelief required], his end-zone dance of a column today would earn him a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.Annotated excerpts:

CBS News: Obama Must 'Win Over' Media? Is CBS Joking Here

November 9th, 2008 5:18 AM
To answer the question of my headline, no CBS isn't joking. CBS is actually pretending that the Old Media must be "won over" by a President Obama. It makes one wonder just how much more the press can be in love with The One? As multiple studies have shown, the Old Media has been far more in Obama’s corner than not yet now CBS wants to pretend they are skeptical of Obama? Now CBS wants to act as…

NYT Displeased With Gracious GOP Congratulations To Obama

November 8th, 2008 7:56 PM
Is there anything a Republican can do that would please the folks at the New York Times short of losing an election, resigning from office, or getting caught in a career-ending scandal?You would think the gracious, post-election comments expressed towards president-elect Obama by folks such as John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-Minn.) would have been greeted with joy by…

O'Donnell Tells Buchanan Republican Party 'Celebrates Ignorance

November 8th, 2008 12:36 PM
The post-election unity was on full display Friday evening when MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell told syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan that the Republican Party celebrates ignorance.This set off a fiery exchange on the new "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" that included O'Donnell claiming the GOP forbids members to accept the theory of evolution, and Buchanan countering that he would…

Washington Post Admits Bias Towards Obama

November 8th, 2008 11:07 AM
The media's post-election truth leaks are in full swing now as the Washington Post will publish an admission from its ombudsman Sunday that it was clearly biased towards Barack Obama in its coverage of the just-concluded presidential campaign.Isn't the truth great when it doesn't hurt your agenda?Although Deborah Howell's piece "An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage" will appear in Sunday's print…