Networks Ignore 'Audit the IRS' Rally; Minimize Coverage of $70 Millio
June 20th, 2013 12:04 PM
The Big Three all punted on covering the Capitol Hill "Audit the IRS" rally on their Wednesday evening and Thursday morning newscasts. CBS This Morning played a four-second soundbite of Senator Ted Cruz addressing the thousands of Tea Party activists in attendance, but CBS, along with ABC and NBC, didn't air a full report or news brief on the protest.
The CBS morning show also stood out for…
Fox's Kelly Smacks Down CBS's Pelley: ‘We Beat You in All the Debate
June 17th, 2013 6:39 PM
As NewsBusters reported Sunday, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley commented in a Deadline Hollywood interview that Fox News only has 200,000 to 300,000 viewers.
Fox’s Megyn Kelly marvelously responded on Monday’s America Live, “We beat you in all the debates and on election night, Scott” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Networks Hype Sequester Slashing 'Desperately Needed Money' to Fight W
June 17th, 2013 3:20 PM
Saturday's CBS Evening News ballyhooed the "enormous strain on resources" that the budget sequester has apparently put on extinguishing a massive wildfire in Colorado. Carter Evans played up how, in addition to fighting the flames, "federal firefighters are facing another challenge: a loss of $50 million, mandated by the budget sequester. That forced the Forest Service to cut 500 firefighters…
Palin: Reporter Comparing Iranian Presidential Candidates to Tea Party
June 17th, 2013 1:57 PM
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer on Saturday’s Evening News compared the Iranian presidential candidates to members of the Tea Party.
In her first official re-appearance on Fox News Monday, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin told Fox & Friends viewers that Palmer “put the BS in CBS" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CBS's Scott Pelley: Fox News Only Has 200,000 to 300,000 Viewers
June 16th, 2013 10:28 AM
A key to success in business is knowing your competition.
CBS Evening News host Scott Pelley apparently doesn't subscribe to this doctrine, for in an interview with Deadline Hollywood published Saturday, Pelley claimed that Fox News only has 200,000 to 300,000 viewers:
Ayatollah DeMint? CBS Reporter Equates Iran's Islamist Hardliners To U
June 15th, 2013 10:16 PM
For many years, the networks have done a sloppy job of comparing "conservatives" around the globe. As the Berlin Wall fell, the "conservatives" became the communists who wanted to keep their grip on power and not give way to democracy. That's hardly comparable to American conservatives.
On Saturday night, CBS News was doing this sloppy dance on the elections in Iran. From London, reporter…
NBC, CBS Criticize Banks for Overdraft Fees That Customers Request
June 13th, 2013 10:50 AM
Banks are bad because they make a profit on things requested by their customers, according to both NBC and CBS. The two networks highlighted a study released June 11 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [CFPB] that said banks made $12.6 billion in overdraft fees and non-sufficient funds from bounced checks in 2011. Though only 20 percent of customers actually opt-in for overdraft…
Too Taxing? Big Three Networks Abandon IRS Scandal
June 13th, 2013 10:00 AM
When news broke that IRS agents were abusively targeting conservative groups particularly the Tea Party, it looked at as if this was an Obama administration scandal that would stick. Even reporters like NBC’s Andrea Mitchell counted it as among the “most outrageous excesses I’ve seen.” Obama sycophant Chris Matthews predicted it could be worth “five or 10 points” for Republicans in the next…
ABC, NBC Minimize New State Department Sex and Drugs Scandal
June 12th, 2013 4:32 PM
The latest State Department scandal, involving a possible cover-up of sexual misconduct by an ambassador and security officials, was only newsworthy enough to merit one full report each on ABC and NBC's morning and evening newscasts before the two networks moved on. NBC led Tuesday's Today with the "damaging documents" concerning the "possibly illegal...behavior", but ignored it the following…
ABC ‘World News’ Silent on Morning-After Pill for Kids
June 12th, 2013 11:18 AM
America’s daughters will now be able to buy the “morning after” abortion pill with their Justin Bieber fan-zines and “Twilight” novels. To many people, that’s important news. But ABC didn’t think it was worth noting on “World News with Diane Sawyer.”
Perhaps ABC felt it was already covering an important health story and couldn’t fit another in the broadcast. And really, a segment on women…
CBS Anchor Scott Pelley Has 'Meltdown' at N.Y. Post After He Skipped N
June 12th, 2013 7:33 AM
It looked bizarre. After CBS broke the State Department scandal on Monday’s “CBS This Morning,” there was nothing on “CBS Evening News.” The New York Post “Page Six” gossips suggested it was “because Pelley and his EP, Pat Shevlin, were peeved” it broke in the morning, not on their show.
“Pelley called Page Six last night to vehemently deny he had a meltdown — then promptly went into a…
How Odd: Media Bistro Says ABC Evening News Had Year-Over-Year Gains
June 9th, 2013 10:14 PM
For the week of May 27, the Big Three networks' evening news broadcasts declined, both compared to the previous week and the same week last year, and garnered an average combined daily audience of just under 20 million.
Somehow, Chris Ariens at Media Bistro apparently wasn't looking at the same numbers his readers were when he did his post, and wrote the following while linking back to the…
NBC Applauds Obama National Security Picks, Claims Susan Rice 'Vindica
June 6th, 2013 4:02 PM
On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd cheered President Obama picking Susan Rice to be his new national security advisor and nominating Samantha Power as U.N. ambassador: "They are now among the most powerful women in the American foreign policy community. Behind-the-scenes power players now front and center."
Amid sound bites of Obama praising both…
NBC Plays Up Turkish P.M. 'Trying to Impose More Conservative Values
June 4th, 2013 3:04 PM
On Monday's NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams failed to mention Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's traditional Islamic orientation as he reported on the "anti-government protests" in the Mediterranean country. Williams merely described the demonstrations as a "display of frustration with the prime minister...who has been trying to impose more conservative values on that mostly secular…