Sotomayor Flashback #3 of 3: Cloaked as 'Both Sides,' Nets Pushed 'Abo

Re-post from Thursday night, May 28, 2009: NBC and ABC on Thursday night framed stories around concerns of “abortion rights” advocates who want proof Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is on their side, but both cloaked their pieces around the proposition “both sides” of the debate are equally worried. With “Where Does She Stand?” as the on-screen heading, as if there is genuine belief…
Brent Baker
May 10th, 2010 1:12 PM

CBS's Schieffer: Elena Kagan 'Eminently Qualified,' But 'Nasty' GOP Wi

During live CBS News coverage on Monday of President Obama's nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer argued that the Senate confirmation process would be "nasty....Not because of Elena Kagan....she is eminently qualified" but because Republicans are "very wary of what the right part of their party is thinking about them." As evidence of…
Kyle Drennen
May 10th, 2010 12:49 PM

Sotomayor Flashback #2 of 3: On 2nd Night, CBS Decided Sotomayor No Li

Re-posted from Wednesday night, May 27, 2009: A baffled CBS. The CBS Evening News, which in 2005 had no doubt about how John Roberts and Samuel Alito were dangerous conservatives, expressed bewilderment Wednesday evening over where Obama's Supreme Court nominee stands. “Pundits usually label judges as either liberal or conservative, but that won't be easy with Judge Sotomayor,” Katie Couric…
Brent Baker
May 10th, 2010 12:49 PM

Sotomayor Flashback #1 of 3: On First Night She Prompted More 'Conserv

Re-post from Tuesday night, May 26, 2009: Amazingly, after showing no reluctance in 2005 to describe John Roberts and Sam Alito as “conservative” or worse, the Tuesday network evening newscasts, particularly ABC and NBC, applied more “conservative” tags to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's critics than “liberal” labels to her, as the coverage suggested calling her a liberal was a hasty…
Brent Baker
May 10th, 2010 12:34 PM

ABC's Moran Claims Conservatives Backing Kagan, No Peep of Criticism D

During ABC’s live coverage of President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, Diane Sawyer and a quartet of correspondents failed to find a single thing to criticize about the new nominee. Instead, Sawyer touted it as a “history making day” (although why is unclear, since she's the fifth woman to be nominated), and touted Kagan as a feminist “trailblazer” and a “conciliator”…
Rich Noyes
May 10th, 2010 12:24 PM

Flashback to Flashback: Nets Were Quick to Tag Alito and Roberts as 'U

Re-post of Flashback from Tuesday, May 26, 2009: Network anchors and reporters didn't hesitate to apply strong ideological labels (not just quoting others) to President Bush's two Supreme Court nominees, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Will they be as willing to tag President Obama's nominee, U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, as “staunch,” and “hardline” and “ultra” liberal, or at…
Brent Baker
May 10th, 2010 12:06 PM

FNC's Pinkerton Cites MRC Study on Arizona Immigration Law Coverage

NB Staff
May 10th, 2010 11:48 AM

Gay Blog Insists Kagan's Sexuality Doesn't Matter, Only Her Staunch 'L

The gay blog Towleroad doesn't really care whether or not Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is gay or straight. What matters is the record of staunch "LGBT" liberalism. Apparently, outing is only for "anti-gay" people: "The other question is, why do CBS (and other mainstream outlets) lose the balls when politicians actually deserve to be outed for voting hypocritically on issues that actually…
Tim Graham
May 10th, 2010 11:29 AM

Open Thread

NB Staff
May 10th, 2010 9:42 AM

Time: Team Obama 'So Far to the Right' on Immigration

Time's Jay Newton-Small writes that Democrats are in search of a Republican to help them carry the load of "comprehensive immigration reform" (amnesty). But with deportations on the rise, she also claimed that Team Obama is relentlessly conservative on immigration: In fact, the Obama Administration has gone so far to the right on enforcement that some immigrant rights groups, already peeved at…
Tim Graham
May 10th, 2010 8:45 AM

60 Minutes Empathizes with Hillary Clinton’s Challenge After Bush, H

Before the media hoopla begins in a few hours for President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, let me squeeze in a quick look at the flavor Sunday night’s fawning 60 Minutes profile of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which, after some questions about the Time Square botched bomber, framed her job around the challenge of fixing a world abused by George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, a situation…
Brent Baker
May 10th, 2010 1:02 AM

Breaking: Obama Picks Elena Kagan for Supreme Court

From ABCNews.com reported moments ago:President Obama has selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his second nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.If her nomination is approved by the Senate, Kagen would fill the seat left open by the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens and become the fourth woman ever to sit on the nation's highest court.
NB Staff
May 10th, 2010 12:56 AM

AP Story on 'Poor Appear Harder Hit By Flooding In Tenn.' Disappears F

On Friday, in the course of a general complaint about the relative lack of coverage of the flooding in Nashville and much of Tennessee, the Associated Press received a deserved compliment for its coverage from Investors Business Daily, which correctly implied that AP can't make its subscribers publish its output. But IBD missed one item, and understandably so. On Wednesday, the AP ran an article…
Tom Blumer
May 9th, 2010 11:59 PM

Mike Malloy: Franklin Graham Should Blow His Own Brains Out

Christian evangelist Franklin Graham's unkind words for Islam spurred some typical abuse last week from rabid leftist radio host Mike Malloy, the former CNN employee. As usual, on Thursday, Malloy wanted his hate object to commit suicide:  MALLOY: Somebody ought to lock this guy up and give him a bag of cocaine and just let him blow his own brains out. He really, I mean...it's common knowledge…
Tim Graham
May 9th, 2010 11:13 PM