AP Does All it Can to Offset Good Retail Sales News
Yesterday, the Associated Press, in its ongoing campaign to make sure that readers get and stay downbeat about the economy, made sure that its story on January's retail sales had can't-miss gloom and doom in it: Retail sales posted a surprising rebound in January following a dismal December, although much of the strength reflected rising gasoline prices. Economists saw the increase as a temporary…
Couric’s Economic Savior: Stamps
Fear not, ye economically downtrodden: Katie Couric is looking out for you. The "CBS Evening News" broadcasts over the last few months have found a multitude of ways to frame the U.S. economy in the worst possible ways, so much so that Couric compared CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason to the grim reaper on a recent newscast. But Couric offered a solution to the pending doom and gloom you…
Cuomo Outraged: Business Tries to Make Money From Customers
Putting all those things together, it does seem to suggest that your industry is looking to make more money off its credit card holders. Do you deny that? -- Chris Cuomo to banking industry representative, GMA, Feb. 12, 2008.This year's Media Research Center DisHonor Awards haven't been distributed yet, but we might already have a candidate for next year's competition . . . Give banking industry…
'GMA' Warns Recession Fears Are Causing Arsons
Just when you thought the economic doom and gloom couldn't get any worse in the news, "Good Morning America" has determined recession is now causing arson. "We have news this morning on the home foreclosure front, word that cash-strapped homeowners are taking desperate measures," ABC co-host Diane Sawyer said. The February 11 "GMA" has determined "cash-strapped homeowners" are taking "…
Yahoo Used Ground Zero Photos to Score Points on Waterboarding, Econom
A Yahoo photo slideshow of Ground Zero perfectly demonstrates the bias news agencies frequently insert into captions. Instead of just describing the photo, Yahoo included captions with partisan cheap shots unrelated to the image to score typical anti-War On Terror points (h/t NB reader Larry Jordan). Out-of-place comments about waterboarding, the downturn in the economy and a criticism of Rudy…
Today's Unbalanced 'Real-People' Panel
Call it Today's homage to John Lennon: imagine there're no conservatives. The NBC show so much enjoyed the conservative-free citizens panel it hosted back in November that it brought it back this morning.As I wrote about at the time, two timid Republicans were pitted against two partisan Dems. In November, one of the "Republicans," Susie O'Neil, claimed that the country is in decline due to the…
Bob, People Have the Big Ideas, Not Government
Admission: over the course of my NewsBusting, I've actually developed a certain admiration for Bob Herbert. Not that I agree with virtually anything the NY Times columnist has to say, but that I appreciate his directness and the absence in his work of the superfluous sarcasm that marks that of a number of his colleagues.That said, I offer up Herbert's lament of this morning, "Where Are the Big…
Evil Republicans Try to Block Economic Aid
The fate of a so-called economic stimulus bill is currently bogged down in the Senate as Republicans and Democrats disagree on how much to spend.Both sides are playing to the crowd trying to take credit for helping prop up the economy and accuse the other side of trying to block economic aide. It's classic political theater in that way but also in another--left-leaning reporters just can't help…
Buchanan: McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi
Former Nixon and Reagan aide-turned media pundit Pat Buchanan has a unique take on the Sen. John McCain's success in running for the Republican presidential nomination. What does Buchanan think will happen if McCain succeeds as the GOP nominee for the upcoming 2008 presidential election? "He will make Cheney look like Gandhi," Buchanan said. Buchanan participated in a panel with former Bill…
Bartiromo Warns Bad Economy Talk 'Begets More Weakness
You reap what you sow. Nothing could be truer when it comes to the American economy. According to CNBC "Closing Bell" host Maria Bartiromo, if the media continue to push doom-and-gloom economy stories, they will make the economy worse. "[T]he truth is, ["Today" co-anchor] Meredith [Vieira], it doesn't matter if we're in a recession," Bartiromo said on NBC's February 6 "Today." "We can talk…
Newsweek: McCain Tolls End of Bush Tax Cuts
"Bush's Tax Cuts Are Dead," declared Newsweek Senior Editor Daniel Gross one day after Super Tuesday. What's more, 'twas "McCain's victory [that] dooms them." Gross's February 6 story was the third in a slideshow lineup on the magazine's front page today (see screencap at right). But far from merely offering a prognosis on the Bush tax cuts, Gross weaved in his own opinion about how a President…
USA Today Pits Two Liberals to One Conservative in Budget Story
In the February 4 USA Today, Richard Wolf treated news of Bush's last budget proposal by alternating between liberal Democrats attacking the president and Wolf's own stark language in characterizing the spending blueprint. What's more, Wolf cited two Democrats attacking the spending plan, compared to one Republican depending reductions in spending in the final Bush budget.An excerpt follows (…
