The NewsBusters Weekly Recap: February 3 to
This week, Chris Matthews' anti-Bush bigotry spilled over into a profanity laden rant. The "Hardball" host dropped the F-bomb during a live interview with Don Imus. Meanwhile, CNN’s Paula Zahn connected opposition of illegal immigration to, you guessed it, the Ku Klux Klan. This is the same network, however, that tried to downplay proven religious bigotry by a blogger for the John Edwards…
Meat and Sugar Scarce in Venezuelan Markets as Prices Explode, Will Me
While the media fawn over despots like Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, they rarely report on the horrors of life for most under such rule. With that in mind, it seems safe to assume that a current meat and sugar shortage in Venezuela that appears to be caused by government price controls is likely to go mostly unnoticed.As reported by the Associated Press (emphasis mine…
Jon Stewart Lauds Allegedly Always-Right Ralph Nader; Attacks Reagan
On Wednesday, Ralph Nader continued his media adulation tour, this time stopping by "The Daily Show." Just as with his appearance on "Late Edition," the only tough questioning Nader received was on the issue of the 2000 election and whether he placed George Bush in the White House. Stewart once again made clear exactly why conservatives view him as a not a political humorist, but a partisan,…
Newsweek: Hunger Stalks the Suburbs
Is hunger stalking the suburbs? Yes, according to Newsweek's February 12 story "Poor Among Plenty -- For the first time, poverty shifts to the U.S. suburbs," by Peg Tyre and Matthew Philips. (How Newsweek managed to obtain a photo of the inside of my freezer is another story entirely.)"Six years ago, Brian Lavelle moved out of the city of Cleveland to the nearby suburb of Lakewood for what he…
On CNN, Ralph Nader Again Promotes Moyers for President; Blitzer Gushe
On Sunday’s "Late Edition," CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer conducted a syrupy interview with consumer advocate and frequent presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Blitzer allowed the former Green Party standard-bearer to once again promote left-wing PBS host Bill Moyers for President in 2008. The CNN anchor also gushed over Nader’s new work of non-fiction, "The 17 Traditions," a liberal tome about rasing…
LA Times Gives Readers One-Sided Budget Story, Leaves Out Source's Par
It's budget time again, kids. And you know what that means. News stories that hype liberal talking points about President Bush being stingy with our tax dollars.Were that the case, many fiscal conservatives might say, but you won't find any attention paid them in Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar's February 5 article. The Times staff writer cited complaints from Democratic Rep. Pete Stark (D), and of…
Comprehensive 'Annual Revision' to the Employment Numbers Goes Largely
Yesterday's Employment Situation Summary from the Bureaus of Labor Statistics told us that reports 111,000 net new jobs were added in January. Additionally, significant upward revisions were made to the previously reported job-increase figures from November (up 42,000 to 196,000 from last month’s revised 154,000) and December (up 39,000 to 206,000 from last month’s originally reported 167,000).…
GMA to America: Be More Socialist With Paid Time Off
On Friday’s "Good Morning America," reporter Elizabeth Vargas openly lobbied for the passage of legislation that would require employers to offer six weeks of paid time off to workers for maternity, illness, or the care of a loved one. In addition, the ABC correspondent bashed America for not having "flexible, family friendly polices." According to Vargas, a new Harvard University study places…
NY Times Buries Good Economic News, Emphasizes Hypothetical Bad News
Economic gloomsayer (and New York Times reporter) Vikas Bajaj has made something of a specialty in finding dark clouds in economic silver linings, and Thursday's hypothetical hand-wringing on the front-page of the Business section is no different ("What Could Bog Down the Bull -- Slowing Earnings Threaten to Turn the Easy Going Into a Slog Through Mud")."Stocks surged yesterday afternoon, sending…
Economy Stronger Than Expected in 4th Quarter, Will Media Notice
The nation’s gross domestic product grew at a much faster than expected rate in the fourth quarter as wages increased and inflationary pressures decreased. Will the media care, or figure out a way to tie consumer enthusiasm to the Democrats taking back Congress?Before you place your bets, let’s look at the facts as reported by Bloomberg (emphasis mine throughout):The U.S. economy grew at a faster…
