Happy New Year Open Thread

The folks at NewsBusters would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
NB Staff
January 1st, 2011 8:09 AM

NPR Reviews 2010 in American Victimization of Muslims, Gays, and Black

National Public Radio spent the last week of 2010 feeling the pain of minorities in America on their afternoon chat show Talk of the Nation. On Monday, NPR host Neal Conan discussed the mistreatment of Muslims with Moustafa Bayoumi of the City University of New York, author of How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being Young and Arab in America. When Conan briefly diverted from victimization of…

Tim Graham
January 1st, 2011 7:58 AM

CBS Touts Obamacare Provisions Many Seniors ‘Will Probably Like

 On Friday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Sharyl Attkisson filed a report previewing how new health care reform provisions are expected to effect seniors. After beginning her piece by predicting that "a lot of them will probably like" the first changes that take effect, she recounted a number of benefits that will be offered to Medicare recipients at a substantially lower cost, and featured…
Brad Wilmouth
January 1st, 2011 1:10 AM

Kos: What If Christians Were Treated as Badly as Muslims

Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas was upset on Thursday that Gary Bauer would claim that Muslims would fare much worse if they were treated like Christians are in Ameica. He shot back: "wait, what if Christians were treated like Muslims?" Christians would be racially profiled at public places and transportation hubs. Christians wouldn't be allowed to build churches wherever they pleased.…
Tim Graham
December 31st, 2010 11:15 PM

As NY Post Builds on Snow Removal Slowdown Story, NYT Calls It All 'Ru

The dictionary says that a rumor is: - a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts. - gossip; hearsay The dictionaries in use at the offices of the New York Times must include the following backup definition: "Any set of facts and/or allegations reported by the New York Post." After yesterday's blockbuster report ("Sanitation Department's slow…
Tom Blumer
December 31st, 2010 7:07 PM

CBS, NBC Highlight List That Advocates Ban of Two Terms Coined by Sara

 The Early Show on CBS and NBC’s Today show on Friday both gave attention to Lake Superior State University’s "list of words that should be banned in 2011 because of overuse or general uselessness," and both shows mentioned one or two words made famous by Sarah Palin as each show listed four or five out of the 14 words tallied. Both CBS’s Betty Nguyen and NBC’s Thomas Roberts noted the…
Brad Wilmouth
December 31st, 2010 2:48 PM

WaPo Reporter Buys Liberal Line That Abortions Are 'Virtually Impossib

Has The Washington Post ever traveled to Iowa? Obviously, yes for presidential caucuses. But on Friday, Post reporter Sandhya Somashekhar accepted the bizarre premise of abortion advocates that abortions are "virtually impossible" in rural Iowa. No one owns a car? The story centered on a new pro-life cause, protesting the provision of RU-486 abortion cocktails over the Internet. Liberals can…
Tim Graham
December 31st, 2010 10:14 AM

Best Notable Quotables of 2010: Crushing Rush and Damning Conservative

The liberal press likes to scold what it sees as lapses in civil rhetoric, usually from conservatives who fail to properly respect the icons of the Left. But as documented by the MRC's Best Notable Quotables of 2010, the media elite itself lurched into some pretty uncivil rhetoric this year — especially when the targets were Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party and other conservatives. PBS's Tavis…
Rich Noyes
December 31st, 2010 9:10 AM

NPR Talk Show's 'Year for White Americans' Analysis Repeats Anti-Obama

NPR's weekday afternoon talk show Talk of the Nation addressed the year 2010 in terms of how it went for Muslims, gays, blacks, and on Thursday, "The Year for White Americans." All four segments were interviews with guests on the left. While the minorities received a predictable NPR sympathy, the triumph of Tea Party candidates clearly suggested to NPR there's something wrong in white America.…
Tim Graham
December 31st, 2010 8:40 AM

CBS’s Crawford Dismisses Christine O’Donnell’s Response to Accus

 On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, as correspondent Jan Crawford filed a report on the allegations that former Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell misused campaign money, the CBS correspondent seemed dismissive of O’Donnell’s reaction to the accusations as Crawford harkened back to the 2010 campaign and described some of O’Donnell’s recent words as the Delaware Republican's…
Brad Wilmouth
December 31st, 2010 4:14 AM

Nets Bolster Accusers of Christine O’Donnell, Ignore Liberal Nature

 As the broadcast network morning newscasts on Thursday each interviewed former Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell regarding allegations that she misused campaign money, in the setup piece on each network, the correspondent failed to inform viewers of credibility weaknesses on the part of O’Donnell’s accusers and omitted O’Donnell’s contention that she did not use campaign…
Brad Wilmouth
December 31st, 2010 1:39 AM

NYT Begins Playing Defense for Bloomberg, Union in Snow Response Cover

Today, New York Post reporters delivered a bombshell story addressing why New York City's snow cleanup performance has been so poor: Sanitation Department's slow snow cleanup was a budget protest   Selfish Sanitation Department bosses from the snow-slammed outer boroughs ordered their drivers to snarl the blizzard cleanup to protest budget cuts -- a disastrous move that turned…
Tom Blumer
December 30th, 2010 9:22 PM

CBS Highlights Armed Shop Owner Who Fought Back Against Robbers

 While it is unusual for the mainstream media to give attention to armed citizens who use guns to defend themselves against criminals before police can arrive, on Thursday’s CBS Evening News, anchor Harry Smith highlighted a smoke shop owner in Texas who fought back when he was the victim of two armed robbers, as he shot and apparently wounded one of them. Smith related to viewers:
Brad Wilmouth
December 30th, 2010 9:15 PM

Newsweek's Sweet Terrorist Helper

Newsweek's year-end Interview Issue included a brief interview with Lori Berenson -- but never provided the reader any context besides the title "Freed Peruvian Prisoner." That might give the wrong impression: Berenson is an American communist who traveled to Peru and allied herself with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), and rented a house in Lima they could use as a…
Tim Graham
December 30th, 2010 9:07 PM