Christie Upsets PBS Types by Suggesting State-Owned Broadcasting Seems

Liberals who love public broadcasting are angry at Gov. Chris Christie for moving to fold the state’s public broadcaster, but let its operations be taken over by other public TV and radio entities in the area. Christie told interviewer Bob Hennelly on WNYC public radio that “state-owned operation of media ended with the Soviet Union,” even if that’s not really an end to public broadcasting in…
Tim Graham
July 5th, 2011 7:07 AM

Not Funny: Hackers of FNC Twitter Feed Announce Fake Obama Assassinati

Some Fox News-haters celebrated the Fourth of July by hacking the Fox News politics Twitter feed and posting six tweets announcing the assassination of President Obama, including two shots at an Iowa restaurant to the pelvis and neck. Washington Post reporter William Wan found the suspected hackers think the entire concept of Fox News is a joke: In the @foxnewspolitics Twitter feed, an online…
Tim Graham
July 5th, 2011 6:45 AM

Tim Rutten of LA Times Blames Halperin Ban on...Roger Ailes and Fox Ne

Is someone really going to blame the Mark Halperin remark-and-suspension on....Roger Ailes and Fox News? Yes, Los Angeles Times media reporter Tim Rutten did on Saturday:  Ever since Roger Ailes created Fox News as a low-budget, ideologically conservative televised version of right-wing talk radio — and swept the ratings table in the process — CNN and MSNBC have been consciously counter-…
Tim Graham
July 4th, 2011 11:40 AM

Happy Independence Day

NewsBusters wishes all of its readers a Happy Independence Day. In honor of the event, the following is from HBO's docudrama "John Adams":
NB Staff
July 4th, 2011 10:16 AM

WaPo Reporter Lectured Bachmann She Can't Play 'Cannabis and Cold Beer

Washington Post reporter Anne Hull went after Michele Bachmann on Saturday for trying to play a Tom Petty song at her campaign rallies, since Tom Petty is a memory of her marijuana-baked teen years: How does a tea party candidate who owns a Christian counseling service on the side go to Iowa, crank up the Alpines and blast Tom Petty as a rallying call to conservative values?  
Tim Graham
July 4th, 2011 8:14 AM

Comedian Whacks Bachmann for Planned Parenthood

“Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winsted is going on tour to fund Planned Parenthood, and Lucas Kavner of the Huffington Post insisted that this is somehow not leftist: While her comedy has always been inherently political – and she's not backing down from her own personal affiliations – this tour is not aimed at those on the right or left. It's merely to raise awareness and support for an…
Tim Graham
July 4th, 2011 7:47 AM

Video: Reagan Statue Unveiled in Budapest and Street Named for Him in

Two eastern European nations last week debuted commemorations to thank former President Ronald Reagan for playing an instrumental role in freeing them from communism. I only found sparse television coverage of the two “Reagan Centennial” events in Hungary and the Czech Republic, but thought I’d share what I located since the events didn’t earn much air time. The accompanying video first…
Brent Baker
July 4th, 2011 1:10 AM

In Coverage of Cain's Candidacy, AP's Haines Has Strange Definitions o

Yesterday, Tim Graham at NewsBusters did an excellent job of addressing a key aspect of a report submitted by Associated Press reporter Errin Haines, who is African-American, of the presidential campaign of Herman Cain, who is also African-American. Haines questioned "voters' ability to look past his skin color and perceive him as a serious candidate." Herman Cain attended the We The People…
Tom Blumer
July 3rd, 2011 11:55 PM

Daily Kos Week in Review: Fearing Zombie Reagan

As much as Kossacks would like to believe that Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are peas in a right-wing pod, deep down they realize that their usual knee-jerk insults for Palin -- ditz, quitter, greedy egomaniac -- wouldn't stick to Bachmann. Therefore, they have to come up with more elaborate attacks on the Minnesota congresswoman, and this past week they did just that, perhaps motivated by a…
Tom Johnson
July 3rd, 2011 11:40 PM

ABC Highlights Study Linking July 4 Parade Attendance to Voting Republ

 On Friday's World News on ABC, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi detailed findings of a Harvard study which claims a correlation between attending July 4 parades and voting for Republicans. Substitute host David Muir introduced the story: "And tonight, a provocative new study suggests the simple act of taking your child to see the parade shapes not only their patriotism but their politics. Who…
Brad Wilmouth
July 3rd, 2011 9:38 PM

Columbus Dispatch Reporter, 'Surprised' That Tea Party Is Not in GOP L

Maybe we ought to nickname him Rip Van Geier. In his coverage of this weekend's We The People Convention in Columbus, Ohio early Saturday morning, Columbus Dispatch reporter Ben Geier found it "surprising" that many attendees would "go after the Republican Party and House Speaker John Boehner" in expressing their opinions relating to developments in Washington. It's as if he's totally unaware…
Tom Blumer
July 3rd, 2011 8:36 PM

Pat Buchanan and John McLaughlin Finally Silence Eleanor Clift: 'Hold

There was a truly delicious moment on this weekend's "McLaughlin Group" that's guaranteed to please conservatives from coast to coast. During a heated discussion about President Obama's call to end tax breaks for corporate jet purchases, Pat Buchanan and John McLaughlin literally silenced Newsweek's Eleanor Clift much to her dismay (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
July 3rd, 2011 7:18 PM

CBS's David Edelstein Lauds ‘No Redeeming Social Value’ in Raunchy

 On CBS's Sunday Morning program, as he reviewed the film Bad Teacher, starring Cameron Diaz, film critic David Edelstein applauded the raunchy film for having "no redeeming social value" as he derided "all the hypocritical moralists out there." The film critic - who also contributes to New York magazine and NPR - recounted that Diaz’s character is "a conniving, druggy, drunken middle school…
Brad Wilmouth
July 3rd, 2011 6:44 PM

Fareed Zakaria: Ending Bush Tax Cuts Would Solve Budget Deficit

There are times when the idiocy oozing from the mouths of America's television commentators sickens me. Consider Fareed Zakaria, who after telling NPR Friday, "CNN is getting smarter," actually said on the program bearing his name two days later that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire "would provide the federal government with $3.9 trillion in revenues over the next decade and basically…
Noel Sheppard
July 3rd, 2011 5:50 PM