Olbermann-O'Reilly Feud Halted by Murdoch and Immelt

Although the ongoing feud between Fox News's Bill O'Reilly and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann was apparently good for ratings -- likely more for the latter than the former, of course -- the heads of the parent companies of both networks stepped in recently to end the on-air squabble.Not only that, but News Corporation's Rupert Murdoch and General Electric's Jeffrey Immelt were apparently coaxed into…
Noel Sheppard

Open Thread

NB Staff

Like Obama, Bill Clinton Also Idolized on Time Covers, But Not GOP Pre

So how unusual is it for a new President to be featured seven times on Time’s cover, as Barack Obama has been (with First Lady Michelle Obama snagging her own solo appearance)? A look back at Time’s covers finds Bill Clinton matched Obama’s celebrity in 1993 — seven covers for himself, one for Hillary. But the last three Republican Presidents — Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush…
Rich Noyes

NPR's Nina Totenberg: Insurance Companies Have Us By The...(Can't Say

Tim Graham

Bozell Column: MTV Acts Responsibly

Brent Bozell

ABC’s Stossel Slams Socialized Medicine, Finds Obama Expressed Inter

On Friday’s 20/20 on ABC, co-anchor John Stossel exposed the flaws in the Canadian and British government-run health care systems, and even showed viewers a clip of President Obama as he once expressed a belief that single-payer health care would be an acceptable system, even while taking the position that he would not pursue it, during one of the Democratic party presidential debates in 2008.…
Brad Wilmouth

AP Still Avoids Dem ID of Corrupt PA Judges After Briefly Doing So, Th

Here's a particularly noteworthy "Name That Party" follow-up.In a February post ("AP’s ‘Name That Party’ Twist: Disgraced PA Judges’ Dem Party ID Disappears After Initial Inclusion"; at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), I noted that the Associated Press had originally identified the party of two Democratic judges involved in a shocking scheme that pushed thousands of juvenile offenders into detention…
Tom Blumer

CBS Buries Democrat Label in Chris Dodd/Kent Conrad Countrywide Scanda

On Friday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Sharyl Attkisson filed a report recounting mortgage company Countrywide Financial’s history of offering special deals on loans to government officials – including figures with connections to President Clinton, President Bush, and President Obama. But, while the two most prominent figures currently still in government who are implicated in the scandal…
Brad Wilmouth

Beck Exposes 'Cash for Clunkers' Language Giving Feds Authority to Tak

Say what you want about the Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck and his antics, but to give credit where credit is due, he exposed some disturbing language from the Obama administration's "Cash for Clunker" program Web site Cars.gov. Beck on his July 31 program hosted a segment about the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) Web site, also known as "Cash for Clunkers" and demonstrated what a Web browser…
Jeff Poor

Year Ago GDP Jump 'Disappointing'; This Year Negative GDP: 'Whole Lot

A year ago, when the government reported second quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) doubled from the first quarter to 1.9 percent, the CBS Evening News centered a story around what Katie Couric described as “disappointing” news while ABC and NBC didn't utter a syllable about the GDP jump. But Friday night, with a different President in office, Couric crowed a one percent decline in the 2009…
Brent Baker

CNN's Costello: States' Rights is Like 'Asking the Children to be the

CNN correspondent Carol Costello aired a fair report on Friday’s American Morning about the several states which passed resolutions that asserted their rights under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and asked for viewer responses on the issue, but later stated that her “favorite [viewer] comment so far...‘asking for states’ rights is asking, you know, the children to be the parents…
Matthew Balan

MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch Slams Rush as a ‘Moron’ and a ‘Putz

MSNBC News Live substitute host Donny Deutsch frothed about "right-wing racism" on Thursday and trashed Rush Limbaugh as a both a "moron" and a "putz" and Glenn Beck as a "super moron." The former CNBC anchor talked with liberal journalist Joan Walsh about her Salon.com column and quoted her asserting that "Limbaugh and Beck continue to ratchet up their alarming and increasingly racist hatred for…
Scott Whitlock

See Kos for Clunkers: Grover Norquist Has More Media Clout Than Gore

The media is so dramatically conservative in Washington, D.C. that Grover Norquist outranks former Democrat presidents, vice presidents, and presidential candidates in the booking order. So claimed the Daily Kos blogger known as "Dengre" in a post on "The bias we fight." Be amazed: And as we fight we need to know that we start every round of every battle at a disadvantage. If you are a liberal or…
Tim Graham

Snyderman Not the Doctor to Trust With Your Daughter’s Health

The mainstream media dropped the ball in the past when it came to Gardasil, and they haven’t improved with time. The “Today” Show featured Dr. Nancy Snyderman, NBC’s chief medical editor and a longtime advocate for the vaccine, and Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, somewhat of a skeptic. But the report was by no means balanced. Dr. Snyderman began promoting the vaccine right out of the gate, saying:
Catherine Maggio