CBS's Axelrod on Walter Reed: 'Last Thing Administration Can Afford is
Checking in on Friday's CBS Evening News with how the administration is reacting to the Walter Reed scandal, White House correspondent Jim Axelrod gratuitously brought up Katrina as he asserted that “the White House is well aware of the PR nightmare that it faces. The last thing this administration can afford is another Katrina.”Following the lead story on how Secretary of Defense Gates forced…
Globe Column Against Preventive War Drags Butter Home on a Rope
Ever heard of the Wise Men of Chelm? They are the well-intentioned but foolish residents of an imaginary Jewish village, and the object of humor that stretches back 500 years. Here's one story. One of the "wise men" is sent to a neighboring village to bring back a horse. On the way home the horse wanders off and is lost. "Schlemiel!" remonstrate the townspeople with him. "Don't you know…
Walter Cronkite Forgets Saddam Hussein’s Name During Interview About
Former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite was in San Jose last week to give a speech at the Commonwealth Club. Before he did, he gave an interview to the local CBS affiliate’s Hank Plante (video available here).In fairness, Cronkite seemed very tired, and a little out of sorts. However, there were several moments during the interview when Cronkite forget simple things – like who the former tyrant and…
Entertainment Weekly Wonders: Why Are TV Conservatives so Liberal
Why is it that conservative characters on prime time television, what few of them there are, almost always end up "evolving" into fuzzy liberals? "Entertainment Weekly" columnist Mark Harris asked that very question in the current issue of the media magazine [Emphasis added]:
ABC's Joy Behar: Bush Administration 'Liars' and 'Murderers
Left wing inflammatory comments continue on The View. On the February 28th edition, co-host Joy Behar lashed out calling the American people "to really wake up and understand that they [the Bush administration] are liars and they are murderers."Token non-liberal Elisabeth Hasselbeck tried to insert some common sense and stated that "some fringe liberals are taking this to a place to where we’re…
GMA's Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell Segment Focuses on Sympathetic Story of One
It's a tried and true tactic of interest groups seeking to influence public opinion -- and legislative policy -- on a controversial issue. Find the most sympathetic individual case you can, and get the media to focus on that, rather than on the broaders merits of the matter. A prime example of the phenomenon was on display today at Good Morning America. Congressman Marty Meehan [D-MA] has…
’60 Minutes’ Iraq War Report Exaggerates Level of Military Dissens
As NewsBusters previewed here and here, CBS’s “60 Minutes” aired a segment Sunday dealing with a small group of American troops that have signed a petition called “Appeal For Redress.” Simply put, these soldiers want U.S. troops to come home from Iraq immediately.Unfortunately, the piece exaggerated the size of this group, while also misrepresenting military opinion of the war (video available…
