ABC's David Wright Knocks Sarah Palin as Barbie
February 17th, 2009 5:09 PM
"Nightline" reporter David Wright on Monday inserted a gratuitous slam of Sarah Palin into a seemingly innocuous segment covering the 50th anniversary of the Barbie doll. Recounting the various versions of the Mattel toy, he set up the attack: "[Barbie's] been an astronaut and a rock star. Pop icons Beyonce and Shakira. She's won 'American Idol' too." Right after footage of the "President Barbie…
Jake Tapper's Not-So-Breaking News: Obama Admires FDR
February 17th, 2009 1:22 PM
ABC reporter Jake Tapper on Tuesday's "Good Morning America" recited several times the not-exactly breaking news from the White House that Barack Obama admires Franklin Roosevelt. During a piece on the stimulus package, he informed, "Obama is said to admire FDR's fireside chats for the President's ability to explain problems so the average American could understand them and feel confident a…
Here Come the Brides: CNN Promotes a Social Engineering Soap Opera
February 16th, 2009 4:26 PM
In a bizarre leap of logic, CNN's John Roberts proposed same-sex marriage as "perhaps another path [that] needs to be taken" in response to high divorce rates. Roberts' comment during the Feb. 16 "American Morning." followed a segment in which entertainment correspondent Lola Ogunnaike promoted daytime television's first lesbian wedding, which is scheduled to air this week on ABC's "All My…
ABC Shortchanges Christians on Sunday
February 16th, 2009 3:15 PM
ABC World News Sunday gave face time to supporters of divisive spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle, but brushed over those “Christians” who say Tolle is ‘dangerous.’”The Feb. 15th broadcast of ABC’s Sunday evening news featured Eckhart Tolle, a widely touted spiritual leader to stars such as Cher and Paris Hilton. While his books have, with Oprah’s help, sold more than 10 million copies, many…
Network Morning Shows Downplay Burris Perjury Allegations
February 16th, 2009 1:52 PM
Monday morning show coverage of allegations that Illinois Senator Roland Burris may have perjured himself with respect to connections to impeached Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich minimized calls for investigation or Burris’s resignation. On the CBS Early Show, correspondent Thailia Assuras explained: "State Republican lawmakers are calling for Senator Roland Burris to resign and be investigated…
Network Morning Shows Mostly Ignore Gregg Withdrawal; Census Grab
February 13th, 2009 4:21 PM
CBS's "Early Show" and ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday almost entirely ignored the embarrassing departure of yet another of Barack Obama's cabinet nominees, with only NBC's "Today" providing any real information on the event. GMA devoted a scant 15 seconds to the withdrawal of Republican Senator Judd Gregg as the President's second nominee for Commerce Secretary. (Previous choice Bill…
ABC Touts Male Bashing Theory: Could More Women Have Saved Wall Street
February 12th, 2009 12:58 PM
On Thursday's "Good Morning America," co-host Robin Roberts and reporter Claire Shipman eagerly touted a theory, recently highlighted by a liberal New York Times columnist, that the problems on Wall Street could have been avoided if women were in charge. As video of bank executives who testified Wednesday in front of Congress appeared onscreen, Roberts mused, "As we saw, the nation's top bankers…
Hannity Discusses NewsBusters Reports During "Media Mash
February 12th, 2009 10:35 AM
During Wednesday's "Media Mash" segment, Fox News' Sean Hannity cited several NewsBusters reports as evidence of liberal bias in the press.Featured in this installment were: Michael Bates' February 9 article about Rick Sanchez's (CNN) absurd argument against tax cuts; Warner Todd Huston's January 31 piece about CNN selling Obama T-shirts, and; Mark Finkelstein's February 8 posting of Claire…
NBC Relays Ahmadinejad’s Call for ‘Mutual Respect,’ Skips Anti-A
February 11th, 2009 6:47 PM
Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News presented a more whitewashed view of prospects for better relations with Iran compared to ABC’s World News with Charles Gibson as NBC’s Brian Williams portrayed Iranians as receptive to Barack Obama’s recent call for talks between the two nations as long as there was "mutual respect." Williams: "President Obama called on Iran to send a signal that it was ready to talk,…
George Stephanopoulos’s Buddy Rahm Emanuel in Possible Tax Trouble
February 11th, 2009 3:12 PM
The Washington Times and New York Daily News, among other news outlets, have reported that, as a member of Congress, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel received rent-free accommodations from Representative Rosa DeLauro for five years, raising the question of whether Emanuel properly complied with gift rules for House members and whether he should have paid taxes on the imputed income of the…
Tapper Bashes Matthews: It's Not Journalist's Job to Make Presidency W
February 11th, 2009 10:57 AM
Is ABC's Jake Tapper the White House press corps' next David Gregory or journalism's anti-Chris Matthews?Such questions were raised Tuesday in an interesting column about Tapper by the Daily Beast's Rachel Sklar.Unlike virtually all the Obama-loving media, Tapper during last year's presidential campaign was very often a refreshing impartial voice willing to take shots at all the candidates…
Joy Behar Cribs From Time Writer's Flock of Geese Line
February 10th, 2009 5:34 PM
Earlier today my colleague Tim Graham noted how on February 5, Time magazine's Michael Grunwald compared GOP critics of the Democratic stimulus package to the geese that downed US Airways Flight 1549:It's hard to take Republican leaders too seriously when they criticize the recovery plans for the economy; it's sort of like those geese criticizing the evacuation plans for US Airways Flight 1549.…
ABC's George Stephanopoulos Grades Obama's Press Conference an 'A
February 10th, 2009 4:42 PM
Journalist George Stephanopoulos appeared on Monday's "Nightline" to offer high grades for Barack Obama's first primetime press conference. He awarded the President an A for overall performance at the event and a B for Obama's bipartisan efforts. During the presidential campaign, Stephanopoulos was consistent in giving high marks to the then-Democratic candidate, announcing that Obama won all his…