Latest Blogs
Couric: Nefarious Talking Point Coordination from McClellan Critics
The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts, naturally, all led Wednesday night with Scott McClellan's attacks on the Bush White House, but CBS anchor Katie Couric inaccurately reported McClellan was “forced out” of his Press Secretary position “last year” (he left in early 2006) and, interviewing McClellan's predecessor Ari Fleischer, she tried to discredit White House defenders by demanding to know…
Flashback: Press Didn't Like Tell-all Books About President Clinton
As media gush over Scott McClellan's latest tell-all book about the Bush adminstration, a 1999 article by Margaret Carlson depicted a much less-pleased press corps when George Stephanopoulos's "All Too Human: A Political Education" cast an unfavorable light on then President Bill Clinton.In fact, according to the former Time magazine columnist, people in the media referred to Stephanopoulos as a…
Matthews's Motor-Mouth Leaves Guests Grimacing
I haven't seen Chris Matthews this excited since a Barack Obama speech sent a certain sensation skyward.
The Hardball host is in an absolute frenzy over Scott McClellan's allegations. So much so that guests on this evening's show are having a hard time expressing themselves as Matthews expounds at length. Ari Fleischer finally called Chris on it. And while David Gregory didn't express his ire…
CBS’s Glor: Woman Trades Blood for Gasoline
On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show" co-host Julie Chen introduced a segment on rising gas prices and what people are doing to ease the cost: "This morning in our series 'Running on Empty' the news gets worse about gas prices. They jumped 15 cents in one week to a national average of $3.94 a gallon, according to the Energy Department. That is a record price. And it's forcing some drivers to take…
Washington Post Declares 'Human-Generated Carbon Dioxide Emissions' Al
Article quotes four experts and a study from one side but offers no counterpoint.
Big 3 Evening News Anchors Wring Hands Over McClellan Charges on 'Toda
All "Big Three" network evening news anchors appeared on Wednesday's "Today" show to promote a simulcast to fight cancer but ended up wringing their hands about Scott McClellan's charges that the press was too soft on the White House in the run up to the Iraq War. "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric accused the White House of "strong arm tactics," and complained, "There was such a significant…
Brian Williams: 'Conservative' Local Newspapers Don't Mention Cancer
In what may rank as one of the oddest non sequiturs of the year, "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams appeared on Wednesday's "Good Morning America" to proclaim "some conservative local newspapers" won't report a cause of death when it's cancer. [audio available here]Williams stopped by, along with CBS and ABC anchors Katie Couric and Charles Gibson, as part of a new anti-cancer initiative. …
Across the Board, Networks 'Cherry-Pick' Housing Data
As of late, the networks just can't get enough of bad housing news, seizing each opportunity to make a point how bad the American economy is. Each of the network news broadcasts on May 27 - ABC, CBS and NBC - took the news that home prices fell 14 percent in the first quarter of 2008, despite the news that new home sales rose an unexpected 3.3 percent in April from March, to portray the…
Revolving Door: Seattle News Anchor Joins Liberal Mayor's Staff
It's sort of like Linda Douglass but on the local level, I guess. I'll have to ask our Seattle-area readers to note in the comments section if KING's Robert Mak repeatedly displayed a penchant for gauzy coverage of liberal Mayor Greg Nickels (D). The 10-time local Emmy-winning reporter is leaving TV news for a job that pays $10,000 more a year than his new boss.From the Seattle Times (emphasis…
NYT's SCOTUS Contrast: McCain's Conservative 'Fealty' vs. Obama's Non
New York Times legal reporter Neil Lewis's Wednesday filing was headlined "Stark Contrasts Between McCain and Obama in Judicial Wars." But the truly "stark contrast" was how Lewis treated the respective camps with regard to their hypothetical Supreme Court nominations. Lewis painted an uninvolved McCain as paying "fealty" to "the conservative faithful," while an engaged Obama would be merely…
ABC's Diane Sawyer Implores Carville: Obama Will Win, Right
On Wednesday's "Good Morning America," co-host Diane Sawyer appeared worried about the upcoming presidential election and repeatedly grilled Democratic strategist and Clinton supporter James Carville about whether Barack Obama will be able to overcome a tough primary and defeat John McCain in November. Asking a question she would ultimately repeat four times, Sawyer fretted, "Should he be the…
What Happens When the Ex-Press Secretary Doesn’t Trash His Boss
Before Scott McClellan was President Bush’s Press Secretary, there was Ari Fleischer, and when Fleischer left the White House he wrote his own book, “Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House.” Unlike McClellan, Fleischer did not take pot shots at his former employer, but did include some telling examples of the liberal bias of press.Perhaps not surprisingly, then,…