NBC Puffs Al Franken with Softball Questions to New Senator

July 2nd, 2009 5:44 PM
On Thursday's Today, Meredith Vieira tossed mostly softballs to Senator-elect Al Franken, offering no hard questions about the disputed 2008 election, instead fawning, "...Are you more worried about becoming a target for the GOP or a target for Saturday Night Live, your old stomping ground?" In regards to the post-election wrangling for the Minnesota Senate seat, the best Vieira could do is to…

CNN Bashes Conservative Ads With 'Industry Insider,' Omits His Far Lef

July 2nd, 2009 2:18 PM

CNN's John Roberts Omits Guest's Past Resignation Due to Scandal

July 1st, 2009 5:56 PM
During an interview of Brookings Institution senior fellow Kevin Casas-Zamora on Wednesday’s American Morning, CNN anchor John Roberts not only failed to mention the liberal political leanings of the fellow’s organization, but omitted any mention of the scandal which led to Casa-Zamora’s resignation from the vice presidency of Costa Rica.Roberts brought on Casas-Zamora to discuss the recent…

CNN's Kyra Phillips Brings Out Kid Gloves for Homosexual Colonel

June 30th, 2009 7:14 PM
[Update, 8 pm Eastern: Screen capture, video link to interview added.] CNN anchor Kyra Phillips sympathized with an outed homosexual army officer on Tuesday’s Newsroom program. Phillips questioned Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach about his recent meeting with President Obama, and asked, “What else did you tell him, because I know this has weighed heavily on your heart for a very long time....What…

CBS on Anniversary of Gay Protest: ‘A New Day for Human Rights

June 30th, 2009 2:39 PM
Marking the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York City on Sunday, CBS’s Anthony Mason declared: "A night of violence that led to a new day for human rights... Stonewall triggered the modern gay rights movement." Filling in for Sunday Morning host Charles Osgood, Mason explained: "...it was around 2:00 that morning that young gay patrons started fighting back against police raiding a…

CBS’s Smith Calls Middle America-hating Megan Fox a ‘Nice Person

June 30th, 2009 12:01 PM
Teasing an upcoming interview with actress Megan Fox on Tuesday’s Early Show, co-host Harry Smith gushed: "...this woman has jumped from virtual unknown to Hollywood A-lister. It doesn’t hurt she is one of the most beautiful women on the planet...And a very nice young person." Smith failed to make any mention of the "Transformers" star’s controversial comments in a June 5 interview, in which she…

CBS’s Schieffer: Should Republicans ‘Shift’ Away From Social Iss

June 29th, 2009 6:09 PM
In an interview with Republican Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on Sunday, CBS’s Bob Schieffer wondered: "Do you think that Republicans now should sort of shift the emphasis, though, from stressing social and family values and shift to more – to economic issues and be a party of economic conservatives rather than putting so much emphasis on these social issues?"Schieffer began the Face the…

CNN's Toobin: 'Five Conservatives' on Court Ruled for Firefighters

June 29th, 2009 5:55 PM
On Monday’s Newsroom program, CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin couldn’t find a consistent argument about the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of New Haven firefighters who accused their city of reverse discrimination. Toobin first reported that Justice Kennedy, “the swing vote in this case, as in so many others,” wrote the decision, but minutes later, he labeled it as a ruling by “the five conservatives on…

Eliot Spitzer on MSNBC: Dems Only Appoint Moderates to Supreme Court

June 29th, 2009 12:41 PM
While discussing the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court on MSNBC Monday, guest Eliot Spitzer made a startling observation: "Democratic presidents nominate very centrist justices to the Supreme Court. The Republican presidents over the past 10-15 years have nominated very extremely conservative justices and that’s why the court has eschewed to the right."[audio available here]…

CNN Completely Omits Democrats' Sex Scandals, Zeroes in on GOP

June 25th, 2009 5:34 PM
CNN’s Ali Velshi, during a segment on Thursday’s Newsroom program, ignored all the past sex scandals involving Democrats in recent years as he focused on “another sex scandal involving a leading Republican.” When his guest, Tony Blankley, tried to counter with how these scandals are being used to try to get the GOP to abandon social issues, Velshi tried hard to brush this aside.The segment with…

NBC, CBS, and ABC Highlight Sanford’s GOP Label; Downplayed Label Fo

June 25th, 2009 12:38 PM
In the wake of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s admission to having an affair, evening and morning newscasts on NBC, CBS, and ABC all immediately identified him as a Republican. In contrast, in March of last year, the networks rarely identified disgraced New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as a Democrat in the wake of his affair with a prostitute. In a 2008 study of evening and morning network…

Maddow and Guest Indignant That Bush Dares Not Speak Glowingly of Dear

June 24th, 2009 11:12 PM
This must be what it's like to listen to pundits in a country with state-run media.Former president George W. Bush offers what barely passes as criticism of his successor and Obama's media apologists rush to his defense, as if to stanch a wound.Here's Rachel Maddow and Dallas Morning News political reporter Wayne Slater on Maddow's MSNBC show June 18. In the first portion transcribed below,…

MRC's Tim Graham Discusses Obama Treatment by WH Press Corps on 'O'Rei

June 24th, 2009 11:54 AM
While  network news anchors such as CBS's Harry Smith are still gooey in love with President Obama, the White House correspondents for the networks are a little tougher on the chief executive, MRC's Tim Graham told Fox News's Bill O'Reilly on his June 23 program. [audio available here]TIM GRAHAM: I think there's always been a difference between the guys in the White House press room who are…

CBS’s Schieffer: Media Bias ‘Irrelevant,’ Can Get News ‘Anyway

June 23rd, 2009 6:14 PM
Appearing on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal Tuesday, CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer dismissed the notion of liberal media bias: "...there is so much media out there now that the idea of bias in the media, it’s almost become irrelevant. I mean, we’re in this age of opinion journalism, where you can get the news served up almost anyway you want it."Schieffer went on to compare biased media…