Overnight Spin Cycle: AP Trims Initial 8-Graf Report on Shutdown Avoid
April 9th, 2011 12:11 AM
And while we sleep, it will probably be spun around in quite a variety of ways.
What appears to have been the very first Associated Press report at 11:05 p.m. on the final-hour deal that averted a threatened government shutdown came from David Espo at the Associated Press (Espo's byline appeared at the AP's main site, but that report was supplanted by a second one to be discussed shortly;…
AP Failing to Update Prosser-Kloppenburg Election Tally, Claiming Mora
April 8th, 2011 9:09 PM
It may be laziness, or it may be failure to recognize reality, but the Associated Press's official tally of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race carried at JSOnline (but note the AP-based URL) still shows Democrat JoAnne Kloppenburg with a 204-vote lead over incumbent David Prosser, and hasn't been updated since Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.
This failure to update has occurred despite the following…
NBC's Gregory Asks Rep. Hoyer About Dem Strategy to 'Cast Republicans
April 8th, 2011 12:54 PM
In an interview with Democratic Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer on NBC's Today, Meet the Press host David Gregory, filling in for Matt Lauer, asked: "I wonder, as a Democratic leader, whether part of the strategy here is to cast Republicans as extremists and ultimately get a lot more of a winning political hand for the Democrats through this process."
With that setup, Hoyer proclaimed: "…
ABC Still Gushing Over Kennedys, Including 'Senate Lion' Teddy, 'Obvio
April 8th, 2011 12:51 PM
Good Morning America on Friday continued to demonstrate a fascination with the Kennedy family, highlighting Ted Kennedy and his "critical" role as a "politician and a leader." Co-host George Stephanopoulos introduced the piece by recycling, "They called Ted Kennedy the lion of the Senate."
Correspondent Claire Shipman caught up with Vicki Kennedy and recapped the current status of the famous…
In Story on Town Hall Meeting About Shutdown, WaPo Reporter Buries Com
April 8th, 2011 12:14 PM
Update (14:30 EDT): Joe Schoffstall of NewsBusters sister site MRCTV.org has video of Moran berated a 27-year military veteran who asked Moran questions at last night's townhall. Click here to access the video.
In his 20-paragraph April 8 article* on a congressional townhall hosted by liberal Democrat Jim Moran (D-Va.), reporter Ben Pershing buried in the very last paragraph the complaint of…
On MSNBC, Dem Sanchez Tries To Drown Out Republican With 'Broke Becaus
April 8th, 2011 12:03 PM
Loretta Sanchez would need to double her maturity quotient to qualify as juvenile . .
During an interview on MSNBC this morning on the subject of the budget and possible government shutdown, the Dem congresswoman from California tried to drown out her Republican colleague from New York, Michael Grimm, by chanting "broke because of Bush."
Ironically, her infantile display came moments…
NPR Leans Toward Democrats 7 to 3 on Federal Budget Showdown
April 7th, 2011 7:18 PM
NPR's Ari Shapiro slanted towards President Obama and two of his Democratic allies in Congress on Thursday's Morning Edition on the continuing battle over the federal budget, playing seven sound bites from them versus only three from Republican House Speaker John Boehner.
Shapiro highlighted the late night negotiations over the budget on Wednesday during his report, playing three clips from…
O'Reilly to Lauer: Have A 'Telethon on the Today Show' If You Want Fun
April 7th, 2011 5:41 PM
During his Talking Points Memo at the top of Wednesday's O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, host Bill O'Reilly called out NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer for denouncing Republican efforts to cut spending on things like "climate control": "Are you kidding me, Lauer? Funding for climate control? Nobody can control the climate but God. So give a little extra at mass or services."
As NewsBusters reported…
For Second Day, NBC Touts Democrats Blaming Tea Party for Budget Fight
April 7th, 2011 4:12 PM
After NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer joined Senator Chuck Schumer on Wednesday in labeling the Tea Party as the cause of the budget stalemate in Congress, on Thursday, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell again provided a platform for Democratic talking points in an interview with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
O'Donnell, who spoke with Reid Wednesday night, began with a challenge: "…
AP Report on Obamacare 1099 Repeal Ignores How It Came About, Downplay
April 7th, 2011 3:14 PM
The repeal of Obamacare's nightmarish 1099 requirement has passed both chambers of Congress and is on its way to the President for his expected signature.
In reporting Tuesday on the repeal bill's progress, the Associated Press's headline writers assured readers that the original requirement in Obamacare was a "small" component of it. The AP's Stephen Ohlemacher also misstated current 1099…
MSNBC's Luke Russert: 'Democrats Are for Women's Health
April 7th, 2011 12:16 PM
In a live stand-up via satellite from the U.S. Capitol shortly after 11 a.m. EDT today, MSNBC's Luke Russert insisted that Senate Democrats were holding up approval of spending bills to fund the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year because they were pro-environment and for "women's health," the latter of course being code for the controversial issue of federal funding for…
NPR's Block Hounds 'Intransigent' Freshman GOP Congressman
April 6th, 2011 7:51 PM
On Tuesday's All Things Considered, NPR's Melissa Block grilled Congressman Joe Walsh, a newly-elected member of the House Tea Party Caucus, on the impasse over the federal budget. Block questioned Rep. Walsh if there was any "middle ground" on the issue, and pressed him with the Democratic caucus's label that the Republicans' budget proposals are "out of whack and unreasonable."
The host…
NBC Doesn't Object to Dem Calling GOP Budget a 'Death Trap,' But Was O
April 6th, 2011 6:06 PM
On Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, a report on the Republican 2012 budget proposal included a sound bite from Democratic Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who decried the plan and ranted: "Medicare would become little more than a discount card. This plan would literally be a death trap for some seniors."
Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell setup the outrageous quote by…
Chuck Schumer Thrilled by Matt Lauer's Tea Party Bashing
April 6th, 2011 11:30 AM
In a softball interview with New York Senator Chuck Schumer on NBC's Today on Wednesday, co-host Matt Lauer recited Democratic talking points on the budget fight perfectly: "[For] the Tea Party and others on the far right....does it seem to you, Senator, that this is less about a fiscal debate or an economic policy debate and they are making an ideological stand here?" [Audio available here…