Audie Cornish
On Friday night's week in review on the PBS NewsHour, the taxpayer-funded network's dynamic duo of pundits upset the hardcore left by agreeing "the steam went out" of impeachment. But when it came to Joe Biden mangling the facts of a medal ceremony honoring a military hero, New York Times columnist David Brooks came rushing to Biden's defense, that unlike the president, he's not "mendacious" or "irresponsible" with the facts.
Top Obama aide Valerie Jarrett is plugging a new memoir, and in 12 minutes and two interview segments on All Things Considered, NPR had just one challenging question for her: what about this touchy-Biden issue? When they turned to the wider stage of Campaign 2020, it sounded like a Democrat precinct chat, and NPR anchor Audie Cornish seemed to worry that none of the contenders would match the wondrous appeal of Obama, who was... "an idea," not just a person:
Conservative attorney Gayle Trotter was invited to sit in the "conservative" analyst seat in NPR's Week in Politics segment on Friday's All Things Considered, and shocked anchor Audie Cornish by identifying socialist Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as part of the "Venezuelan wing of the Democratic Party." Cornish said she had to "pause for that," and then laughed at her. It wasn't an "objective" laugh.
Obama’s director of national intelligence James Clapper went on a tour of Very Supportive Liberal Networks on Wednesday, starting with the PBS NewsHour. Judy Woodruff threw marshmallows like “The president, as you know, has been just constantly critical of the intelligence community since he’s been in office….What is the effect of these cumulative comments by the president?” And “Is the intelligence community destined to be undermined, misunderstood, not appreciated?”
The back page of the New York Times magazine typically features a liberal journalist (often Audie Cornish of NPR) interviewing a liberal hero. This Sunday it was April Ryan, the Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks and analyst for CNN, notorious for her anti-Trump attacks in the White House press room, and her denial of certain realities, in “April Ryan Asks Political Questions No One Else Will.” No matter how ridiculous, ideologically charged, or conspiratorial they may be.
Carrying on the tradition of celebrating a leftist with a softball interview, the latest “Talk” page at the back of the New York Times Sunday magazine showcased Christiane Amanpour, CNN international correspondent and leftist host of Amanpour, in “Christiane Amanpour Wants More Local News.”
Tuesday's All Things Considered on NPR played up the long-term effect of the anti-ObamaCare "death panel" talking point and labeled this phrase "fake news." Don Gonyea let President Obama; Anita Dunn, his former communications director; and a talking head from the left-wing Center for American Progress decry the "dishonest" message from ObamaCare opponents and lament the "lasting negative effect" of the "early disinformation campaign" against the law. He touted that "the false claims of death panels would be named the lie of the year by the fact-checking organization PolitiFact."
Macklemore is the stage name of a white rapper from Seattle named Ben Haggerty. He and his publicists are currently trying to convince the hip-hop press and the music media to notice the greatness of his new nine-minute song “White Privilege II.”
He raps: “White supremacy isn't just a white dude in Idaho. White supremacy protects the privilege I hold. White supremacy is the soil, the foundation, the cement and the flag that flies outside of my home. White supremacy is our country's lineage, designed for us to be indifferent.”
Count NPR as one of those national media outlets that just can’t really grasp the notion that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Washington Post have ruined the narrative that “gentle giant” Michael Brown never wrestled police officer Darren Wilson for his gun. The finding of burns on the thumb “supports the fact that this guy is reaching for the gun, if he has gunpowder particulate material in the wound.” But NPR blurred over the inconvienent news.
It seems as though National Public Radio has joined the ranks of the liberal media championing illegal immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas following his arrest on Tuesday, July 15 for attempting to board a plane without proper documentation.
That evening, NPR’s All Things Considered did its best to promote Vargas, with co-host Audie Cornish and media correspondent David Folkenflik engaging in a cheerleading session for the illegal immigrant. Cornish began the segment by lamenting how Vargas is “a Filipino without legal status in the U.S., though he has lived in this country for more than 20 years.” [Click here to listen to the MP3 audio.]
Jay Carney is doing a round of interviews fresh out of the White House. In The New York Times Magazine, Jim Rutenberg threw briefing-room softballs like this: “Do people in the first row like to showboat?”
Carney said yes: “If you look at the difference in tenor between the on-camera briefings and the on-the-record-but-off-camera gaggles, it’s night and day.” That’s not just due to the TV audience, it’s due to the idea that gaggles are more designed to set up the briefing and the day’s coverage. In this and other interviews, Carney tries sneakily to dismiss the idea that Obama didn’t live up to hise pledge to be transparent.
Sen. Rand Paul sat down with NPR anchor Audie Cornish on the January 29th All Things Considered, and from the moment the interview began, NPR’s listeners knew the likely outcome: a one-sided attack job.
Anchor Robert Siegel explained that while Cathy McMorris Rodgers gave the official GOP response, Sen. Mike Lee had a Tea Party response, and Paul had an online video response. Cornish began the interview by asking, “How do you convince the independent voter out there who sees this kind of mishmash of responses from various Republicans and no definitive agenda?”