Couric & Williams Paint Obama as 'Culture of Washington' Victim

February 3rd, 2009 9:06 PM
All of the broadcast and cable network anchors challenged President Barack Obama in some questions during their Tuesday afternoon Oval Office interview sessions, but CBS's Katie Couric and NBC's Brian Williams also painted Obama as a victim of Washington's culture which forced HHS Secretary nominee Tom Daschle's withdrawal. “You campaigned to change the culture in Washington, to change the…

Andrea Mitchell: Public Will Blame the GOP for Bringing Down Daschle

February 3rd, 2009 4:16 PM
During MSNBC's live coverage on Tuesday of the sudden resignation of Health and Human Services nominee Tom Daschle, reporter Andrea Mitchell suggested to Republican Senator Jim DeMint that the American public will see this as the GOP having "brought him [Daschle] down." The Democratic nominee resigned over a growing controversy which revealed that the former Senate majority leader owed $140,000…

Public Pans Obama’s Abortion Action

February 3rd, 2009 3:56 PM
New numbers are out about President Obama's performance and they show that, while most Americans favor the majority of actions he has taken, two of his more controversial decisions are highly unpopular. One of the disputed actions, the closing of the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has long been a high-profile issue the media can hardly dodge. But the other, reversing the “Mexico City”…

CNN's Blitzer and Vanity Fair's Orth Fawn Over Obama and His Team

February 3rd, 2009 2:41 PM
Anchor Wolf Blitzer and Vanity Fair correspondent Maureen Orth raved about the core members of the Obama administration and their pictures taken by photographer Annie Liebovitz during a segment on CNN’s Situation Room on Monday. Their conversation sounded as if the two were suddenly back in high school browsing a new yearbook. Blitzer gushed over the photos of President Obama and his wife…

Lauer Empathizes with Obama Over 'Sobering' Intel Briefings

February 1st, 2009 6:30 PM
Matt Lauer started his live interview with President Barack Obama, from the White House during NBC's Super Bowl pre-game show, on a light note, “So let me ask you the question that's on everyone's mind right now: How's it going living with your mother-in-law?” And he wondered if Obama now gets to read a story to his daughters “at night, tuck them in bed?” But the member of a press corps which…

Daschle's Tax Dodging: (Of Course) There's Even More Than Originally R

January 31st, 2009 10:03 AM
Sleep a little, miss a lot. As noted Friday evening (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), Jake Tapper at ABC's Political Punch blog revealed that former South Dakota senator Tom Daschle, Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, had failed to pay over $100,000 in federal income taxes for 2005, 2006, and 2007, because he did not originally report the "the services of (a free)…

Driving Mr. Daschle: HHS Nominee Has $100,000 'Geithner Problem

January 30th, 2009 11:41 PM
Former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle (picture at right is part of a Getty Images pic at a related New York Times story) has just upped the ante in Washington's tax-avoiding/evading game of "Can you top this?" Whereas recently confirmed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner "only" $40,000 in back taxes and interest, principally relating to unpaid Social Security and Medicare taxes (with a dash of…

Obama Puff Pieces Let Some Embarrassing Truth Through

January 30th, 2009 2:20 PM
The mainstream media hasn't bothered to hide its infatuation with President Obama. They get physical thrills at the sound of his voice. His inauguration caused them to reach for religious imagery. Now that he's in the White House, they want us to know us what a breath of cultural fresh air he is - more informal, healthier and family-centered. Unwittingly, though, they're also showing a man who…

Obama's WH Chief of Staff Holds Daily, Secret Calls With Pals in Media

January 29th, 2009 3:43 AM
Politico reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel holds daily chit chat sessions with several Old Media pals every morning to start his day. Apparently Emanuel has for years been involved with daily bull sessions to plan media coverage and ideological strategy with CNN's James Carville and Paul Begala, as well as ABC's George Stephanopoulos, with the occasional participation of…

Time Mag Photographer Works as Both a 'Journalist' AND Team Obama Empl

January 28th, 2009 2:48 AM
The old joke about CNN in the 1990s was that it stood for the Clinton News Network. The current joke about the anti-Israel Associated Press is that AP stands for Allah Press. In the 70s, people joked that NBC really meant National Broadcasting for Communists. We've all heard the various joke acronyms before, of course. But, the presumed sentiment of the individuals working for these news agencies…

Obama 'Shifting Power From Traditional Cabinet Posts'; Will Media Comp

January 25th, 2009 1:19 PM
I guess President Josiah Bartlet, the mythical president in The West Wing television series, would have been pleased. Jonathan Martin at Politico.com reports that the Obama Administration is concentrating lots of power at the top (bolds are mine):West Wing on steroids in Obama W.H. President Barack Obama is taking far-reaching steps to centralize decision-making inside the White House,…

Hannity's Inauguration 'Media Mash' with MRC's Tim Graham

January 24th, 2009 10:10 AM
Sean Hannity debuted his “Media Mash” segment Friday night on his FNC show with NewsBusters Senior Editor Tim Graham as the guest expert to comment on a series of clips, most familiar to NB readers, of the most sycophantic inaugural coverage. Under the “Morning Bias” heading, Hannity ran a bunch of sappy pro-Obama clips from Tuesday coverage, all of which NewsBusters has showcased: ABC Enthuses…

Obama Delivers 'Sweeping Change' at 'Warp Speed,' Now 'We Will Practic

January 23rd, 2009 10:22 PM
ABC and CBS on Friday night delivered glowing assessments of President Barack Obama's first three days in office, with ABC's George Stephanopoulos declaring “this first week was disciplined and strategic” enabling “sweeping change.” Fill-in anchor Diane Sawyer pronounced: “Change the tone and change it at warp speed.” CBS's Bob Schieffer relayed how “I think he's off to a very good start” and…

CNN's Brown Scolds Limbaugh for 'Outrageous...Foul'; Halperin: 'Off Ke

January 22nd, 2009 10:26 PM
CNN's Campbell Brown on Thursday night framed a panel segment around Rush Limbaugh's comment that he wishes President Obama will fail if success means implementing socialist policies, a remark she characterized as matching his usual “outrageous” outbursts and which “has a lot of people crying foul out there.” Guest Mark Halperin, editor-at-large and senior political analyst for Time magazine and…