MSNBC’s Scarborough Flips, Suddenly Defends CPAC Attendees

It’s hard to know what goes through Joe Scarborough’s head these days.  One day he’s trashing CPAC as a conference full of hate, the next he’s defending the conservative confab, saying its attendees are his friends.  The latest example of Scarborough’s schizophrenia came March 18 on Morning Joe when he shot down National Journal’s Ron Fournier for calling CPAC attendees "wacko birds" -- a…
Jeffrey Meyer
March 18th, 2013 12:35 PM

ABC Lets Obama Off Easy For Ending White House Tours, Ignores Contradi

Good Morning America's Reena Ninan on Saturday let Barack Obama off easy. The ABC reporter allowed the President to escape blame for the sad story of a group of Iowa sixth graders who had their White House tour cancelled. Ninan blandly explained, "The tour canceled the result of automatic spending cuts brought on by the sequester." Parroting Obama, she reminded, " In an interview with ABC…
Scott Whitlock
March 18th, 2013 12:32 PM

History Channel’s Devil Character Looks Like President Obama

The devil, you say. Actually, the devil, they say. Sunday night’s episode of the hit series “The Bible” on the History Channel featured an appearance by Satan, who as, depicted, looked familiar to many viewers. Feel free to judge for yourself. Spoiler alert: Barack Obama is the one on the right. The MailOnline reports that “Twitter exploded into life during the airing of the episode.” Among…
Howard Portnoy
March 18th, 2013 11:53 AM

NB's Noyes: A True 'Watchdog Press' Would Hold Obama to Account for Bu

A true "watchdog press would be all over" President Obama's "moving the goalposts" on the federal budget, NewsBusters senior editor Rich Noyes told Fox Business Network's Stuart Varney on Monday's Varney & Co. Instead, the media are falling down on the job, failing to note how the president has broken promise after promise on federal spending, both from his 2008 campaign and subsequently…
NB Staff
March 18th, 2013 11:45 AM

NBC Hypes 'Republican Infighting' at CPAC for GOP 'Trying to Rehabilit

On Monday's NBC Today, news reader Natalie Morales hyped how "Republican infighting broke out this weekend at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference." In the report that followed, political director Chuck Todd bolstered the meme: "...the party is trying to rehabilitate its image, solve an identity crisis, and it means that feuds are breaking out all over..." [Listen to the audio or…
Kyle Drennen
March 18th, 2013 10:59 AM

Pew: 85% of MSNBC's Reporting Is Opinion

Liberals love to make the case that MSNBC is the left-wing version of Fox News. Not according to a new Pew Research Center study that found MSNBC to be by far the most opinionated cable news channel in America:
Noel Sheppard
March 18th, 2013 10:47 AM

Network Evening Shows Attack Gun Industry 3 Times More Than Defending

Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook, the media have come out with guns blazing against firearms and the business that sell or produce them. The broadcast networks’ coverage of the gun industry has been no exception. Between Dec. 14, 2012, and Feb. 22, 2013, the evening news shows on all three networks attacked the gun industry and gun businesses three times as often as they defended them.…
Liz Thatcher
March 18th, 2013 10:33 AM

Piers Morgan: I'm Not Part of the Liberal Media

CNN's Piers Morgan said something Friday that will leave readers rolling on the floor laughing their rear ends off. During a Piers Morgan Live discussion about gun control, Morgan said - with a straight face no less - "I'm not saying I'm the liberal media. I don't park myself in liberal or right-wing at all" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
March 18th, 2013 10:06 AM

Pew 'State of the Media' Study Bemoans Weakening 'Filter,' 'Shrinking

The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism has released its 2013 pity party -- er, annual report -- on the State of the News Media (home page; full overview). Two things struck me in my initial scan-through: First, the whining about newsroom cutbacks, which are largely related to pervasive bias and misplaced priorities; second, the characterization of newsmakers' improved…
Tom Blumer
March 18th, 2013 8:45 AM

Not News: Biden Staffer Forces Press-Credentialed Student to Delete Ph

Concerning a Wednesday incident which would surely have received much wider play if it had involved former Vice President Dick Cheney during the George W. Bush administration, Capital News Service reported that one of its reporters was forced by an aide to Vice President Joe Biden to delete photos he had taken at an event in Rockville, Maryland. Based on a Google News search on "Biden Maryland…

Tom Blumer
March 17th, 2013 4:39 PM

WaPo's Sally Quinn: Pope Francis 'Could Possibly Have Been Involved in

Sally Quinn sure has a low opinion of the Catholic Church for someone that edits the Washington Post's "On Faith" blog. Having claimed last week on CBS's Face the Nation that "so many priests are gay," Quinn this Sunday on CNN's Reliable Sources said the lack of media vetting and background checks of Cardinals meant Pope Francis "could possibly have been involved in a scandal" (video follows…
Noel Sheppard
March 17th, 2013 2:57 PM

Wires Downplay or Fail to Mention Feb. Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date

There's a reason why Media Research Center sister site CNS News had to put out a story about how much the government has spent so far this year -- $1.505 tillion -- after Wednesday's release of the February Monthly Treasury Statement: Two of the three major wire services failed to report that obviously important number, and the third saved it for their writeup's final sentence. What follows…
Tom Blumer
March 17th, 2013 1:29 PM

George Will Trashes New York Times Coverage of CPAC

The liberal media have for days been trashing virtually every speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. On ABC's This Week Sunday, George Will exposed the hypocrisy particularly at the New York Times (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
March 17th, 2013 1:09 PM

George Will: 'Any Charm Offensive Labeled a Charm Offensive Loses Some

George Will on Sunday took a swipe at the media's love affair with Barack Obama. Appearing on ABC's This Week, Will marvelously said, "Any charm offensive that is labeled a charm offensive thereby loses some of its charm" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
March 17th, 2013 12:40 PM