NBC Hypes 'Damage' to GOP in Shutdown, Ignores Obama Approval at 37 Pe

Wrapping up a report on the government shutdown for Thursday's NBC Today, White House correspondent Peter Alexander eagerly promoted negative political fallout for Republicans: "Both parties are taking a hit in their approval ratings as a result these days. But the damage to the Republican brand appears to be proving to be much worse. A new Gallup poll...shows only 28% of Americans say they have…
Kyle Drennen
October 10th, 2013 4:05 PM

Obama's Latest Moves to Close Gitmo A Mere Blip On Networks' Radar

Charlie Rose's 18-second news brief on Thursday's CBS This Morning is the sole Big Three network mention so far of the Obama administration's decision to review the cases of dozens of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay in preparation for the possible release. Both ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today ignored this latest development in the ongoing controversy over the Islamist detainees at…
Matthew Balan
October 10th, 2013 3:50 PM

Networks Tout Fed Nominee Yellen’s ‘Brilliance

President Obama nominated Janet Yellen, Fed vice chair, to head the Federal Reserve on Oct. 9. If confirmed, she will take on Ben Bernanke’s role as chairman and be the first woman in that role. Networks lauded her nomination that evening, after having paid little attention to her liberal policies in recent months. Broadcast network evening and morning shows were giddy at the nomination of…
Sean Long
October 10th, 2013 3:47 PM

AP Limits Iowa Obamacare Sign-ups Story to State Feed, Headlines 'At L

This post follows up on Noel Sheppard's item this morning on the progress of ObamaCare enrollment in Iowa, wherein we learn that there have been a "Hardy Handful" of five sign-ups thus far, with no identified press coverage outside of the Hawkeye State. A search on "Iowa insurance" (not in quotes) at the national web site of the Associated Press done at 1:30 p.m. returned nothing recent. AP…
Tom Blumer
October 10th, 2013 1:53 PM

WSJ Notes Benefit of Shutdown: New Federal Regulations Slow to a Trick

So here's an angle on the federal government shutdown that you're not getting from the liberal broadcast media. With non-essential personnel furloughed, federal regulators have not been at work, which is a huge blessing to an overregulated American economy, the Wall Street Journal's editorial board noted today. Indeed, new regulations published in the Federal Register have slowed to a trickle…
Ken Shepherd
October 10th, 2013 12:57 PM

AP Buries Its Own 37 Percent Approval Number for Obama; When It Found

The big talk in conservative radio on Thursday is Barack Obama’s 37 percent approval rating in the latest AP poll. Hosts are also making fun of how AP announced this number: buried in paragraph eight of a story headlined “Poll: No Heroes In Shutdown, GOP Gets Most Blame.” Guess what? Brent Baker reported when an AP poll found President Bush's approval rating hit a new low of 37 percent on…
Tim Graham
October 10th, 2013 12:36 PM

IRS Official May Have Traded Confidential Taxpayer Info with White Hou

On October 9 The Blaze reported the following: “Sarah Hall Ingram, the Internal Revenue Service official who used to head the office directly involved in the targeting of conservative groups, may have shared confidential taxpayer information with White House officials, according to 2012 emails uncovered by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Ingram, who now heads the IRS’s…
Geoffrey Dickens
October 10th, 2013 12:35 PM

After Highlighting Outrage Over Military Death Benefits, ABC Barely No

  ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday rightly highlighted the "outrage" over the delay of death benefits to the families of fallen U.S. soldiers. A day later, the program's hosts barely had time for the story, allowing a mere 28 seconds (within a larger report). Reporter Jon Karl briefly referred to the "disaster on military benefits," but he didn't explain that a private charity had stepped…
Scott Whitlock
October 10th, 2013 11:41 AM

Former NYT Public Editor Says Majority of Workload Involved Krugman's

NewsBusters readers are well-aware that one of our problems with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman - besides his perilously liberal bias, of course! - is how he plays fast and loose with facts to support his agenda. On MSNBC's Morning Joe Thursday, co-host Joe Scarborough said, "One of the public editors of the New York Times told me off the record after my debate that their biggest…
Noel Sheppard
October 10th, 2013 11:33 AM

Digital Trends Writer Blames 'Bunch We Have in Congress at the Moment

Andrew Couts at Digital Trends is apparently the one who has broken the story (link is in original) that "The exact cost to build Healthcare.gov, according to U.S. government records, appears to have been $634,320,919, which we paid to a company you probably never heard of: CGI Federal." Without getting into minutiae, some of that amount may not be directly related to HealthCare.gov, but…
Tom Blumer
October 10th, 2013 11:17 AM

Katie Couric Show 'Teetering on the Verge of Cancellation

There’s trouble in Katie Land. Alex Ben Block at The Hollywood Reporter warns her show is “teetering on the verge of cancellation,” that “soft ratings, a huge budget and ‘disdain’ for her female audience — Q Scores report only 10 percent of women view Couric favorably — have the host's Disney/ABC talk show in jeopardy as a renewal decision nears.” The third season just began with a publicity…
Tim Graham
October 10th, 2013 11:03 AM

Only 5 Iowans Have Signed Up For ObamaCare, Will Media Report

With all eyes on how many people have actually signed up for ObamaCare, it will be interesting to see how honest the media will be concerning this matter if the numbers are disappointing. For example, it was reported by Cedar Rapids, Iowa's ABC affiliate KCRG Wednesday that only five Iowans have actually been successful (video follows with partial transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
October 10th, 2013 10:48 AM

Open Thread Thursday

Discuss the news of the day and anything else you'd like...
NB Staff
October 10th, 2013 10:21 AM

My Failed Attempt to Create An Obamacare Account: Can Site Really Be T

Can you tell that "Bulgarian," "Sunbeam," and "Vladivostok" are different words?  Congratulations: you're smarter than the Obamacare website!  Just for fun, I tried to create an Obamacare account at Healthcare.gov this morning.  At 6:48 AM CDT, I had no trouble getting in. Things were going swimmingly . . . until it came time to choose security questions and provide answers.   As you'll see…
Mark Finkelstein
October 10th, 2013 8:24 AM