ABC’s Koppel: U.S. ‘Turned Al Qaeda into the Biggest Franchise Sin
March 9th, 2007 1:26 PM
On Friday’s "Good Morning America," veteran journalist Ted Koppel talked with co-host Diane Sawyer about his new Discovery Channel special on the war against terror, "Our Children’s Children’s War." Koppel used the appearance to suggest that America stop calling the conflict a war, rely more on negotiations and he also blamed the U.S. for actually making things worse, asserting that " we turned…
Orange Juice Diplomacy: Sawyer Squeezes Khalilzad on Speaking with Ira
March 9th, 2007 9:05 AM
Back in the '70s, an exchange of ping pong players between the United States and China began a thawing of relations between the two countries that paved the way for Richard Nixon's famous trip to Beijing. Could we be entering a similar stage with Iran that could come to be known as "orange juice diplomacy"? Diane Sawyer certainly seems to hope so, judging by the way she pressed US ambassador to…
The NewsBusters Weekly Recap: March 3 to
March 9th, 2007 8:20 AM
While members of "mainstream media" have eagerly covered Ann Coulter’s use of an vulgar term at a conservative conference, HBO host Bill Maher’s obnoxious comment about the Vice President, that "more people would live" if Dick Cheney had been assassinated, drew only sparse attention from the press. Commenting on the diversity of the 2008 Democratic contenders, MSNBC host Contessa Brewer remarked…
Horror Story-time: Networks Bash Credit Cards
March 8th, 2007 5:32 PM
NBC had some "horror stories" to share with its audience on March 7, according to "Nightly News" anchor Campbell Brown. Brown introduced the report by Lisa Myers that told the story of Wesley Wannemacher, a man who's $3,200 credit card debt ballooned to $10,700 after interest and penalties.Wannemacher's plight also featured prominently in similar segments on ABC "World News with Charles Gibson"…
GMA’s Sawyer Spins Scooter Libby as ‘Scapegoat’ and ‘Fall Guy
March 7th, 2007 5:41 PM
On Wednesday’s "Good Morning America," anchor Diane Sawyer framed of the conviction of Lewis "Scooter" Libby through the perspective of anti-Bush liberals, continuing a tradition that began with the previous day’s evening news programs. An ABC graphic described Libby, a former top aide to Vice President Cheney, as the "fall guy" and Sawyer wondered if he was "a scapegoat." And nowhere in the…
GMA Highlights ‘Vicious’ Coulter; Ignores Maher Musings About Chen
March 6th, 2007 2:50 PM
Has Ann Coulter gone too far? “Good Morning America” reporter Jake Tapper posed that question on Tuesday’s program. Commenting on Coulter’s use of a slur at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, he used the words “vicious” and “mean spirited” to describe the author. An ABC graphic described the speech as “nasty.” And yet, the ABC program has not aired a single story on prominent…