CBS Airs 'Reality Check' on Obama's False Claim Health Plan 'Deficit N
June 16th, 2009 9:08 PM
Reality catches up with CBS News which on Tuesday night ran a “Reality Check” story on how a new CBO report shows President Obama's claim that his government-expansion health care plan won't hike the deficit doesn't match reality. So, will ABC News display similar skepticism when it broadcasts GMA and World News from the White House next Wednesday, culminating in a prime time hour, “Questions for…
CBS: Immigration Raid Left Iowa Town’s Economy ‘In Tatters
June 15th, 2009 12:26 PM
On Saturday, CBS’s Anthony Mason blamed tough economic times in a small Iowa town on immigration enforcement: "...the small town of Postville, Iowa, is still struggling to recover from an immigration raid last year that left its economy in tatters."Reporting for Saturday’s Evening News, correspondent Seth Doane followed Mason’s introduction by similarly arguing: "...last May when Agriprocessors,…
Broadcast Nets Panic over Second-Guessing of Obama Administration's Ch
June 10th, 2009 1:50 PM
If you stand in the way of President Barack Obama's agenda, beware because there may be a litany of consequences that could result from your act - regardless if the obstacle is legitimate or not. On June 8, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a stay to review an appeal by a trio of Indiana pension and construction funds that own a part of Chrysler's secured debt. They claimed the…
CBS: Obama's Success at Undoing Bush Policies Key to Crippling Terrori
June 3rd, 2009 11:16 PM
President Obama's popularity amongst Muslims pegged to success at “pulling out of Iraq,” “ending torture” and “closing Guantanamo Bay,” are key to the chances of ending terrorism CBS reporter Lara Logan contended Wednesday night. She concluded her preview of Obama's Thursday speech in Cairo: “Terrorists who are threatened by Obama's popularity amongst Muslims do not want America's President to…
ABC and CBS Spike Muslim Convert's Politically-Motivated Murder of U.S
June 2nd, 2009 10:55 PM
The networks, which saw the apparently politically-motivated murder of a Kansas doctor who performed late term abortions as a major story, haven't been so interested in a Muslim convert who specifically targeted and shot two Army privates outside a Little Rock recruiting office, killing one, William Long. None mentioned it on Monday night and on Tuesday evening, as all aired follow-up pieces on…
Williams Cues Up Obama to Agree: 'That's One of Those She'd Rather Hav
May 29th, 2009 9:14 PM
NBC provided a platform Friday for President Obama to fire back at conservative critics of his Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, as Brian Williams cued him up to agree her comment that a Latina judge would make better decisions than a white male one, is “one of those she'd rather have back.” Obama naturally agreed as NBC Nightly News aired his response for an uninterrupted two-plus minutes…
Even Before Summer, Big 3 Nets’ Evening News Viewership Is Under
May 28th, 2009 2:16 PM
The Big 3 networks' evening newscasts probably turned in their worst ratings week since TVs became a household staple during the week of May 18. Last week (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), based on the ratings for the week of May 11, I noted that the shows' combined audience had plunged a stunning 25% from their late January post-inauguration peak to a level barely above the 20 million mark. At the…
CBS Decides Sotomayor No Liberal: 'Can't Be Easily Defined by Politica
May 27th, 2009 9:59 PM
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 propounded in setting up a piece from Wyatt Andrews…
Voters Triumph in California; Nets Cover Protesters
May 27th, 2009 1:30 PM
Nobody can accuse the broadcast networks of objectivity when it comes to gay "rights."ABC, CBS and NBC combined devoted nearly 11 minutes of air time during their evening and morning news shows to the May 26 California Supreme Court ruling that upheld Proposition 8, the 2008 state constitutional amendment that banned same-sex marriage. The networks gave gay rights activists more than seven…
Sotomayor Prompts More 'Conservative' Than 'Liberal' Labels
May 26th, 2009 10:13 PM
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 judgment from accusatory partisans. In total,…
Flashback: Nets Were Quick to Tag Alito and Roberts as 'Ultra' and 'Ha
May 26th, 2009 2:37 PM
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 least as “very liberal”?In July of 2005, on the night…
ABC and CBS Lead with Powell v Cheney & Limbaugh, GOP Too Conservative
May 25th, 2009 12:39 AM
ABC and CBS, which two weeks ago gave short-shrift to Dick Cheney choosing Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell as the better representative of the Republican Party (brief anchor-read items), both led Sunday night with Powell push back against Cheney and Rush Limbaugh. “Colin Powell hitting back at Dick Cheney and other Republican critics, saying he's still a member of the party, a party he says has…
CBS News Exec Kaplan Advances Palin Distortion
May 22nd, 2009 2:09 AM
Weeks ago, Rick Kaplan, executive producer of the "CBS Evening News," claimed that "Everybody, including Republicans, would have to say that (Obama's) first 100 days have been great." This week, Kaplan perpetuated a myth concerning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.The event was a Katie Couric Roast & Toast held Wednesday evening as part of the American News Women's Club 15th gala. MediaBistro's blog…
NBC and CBS Use Cheney and Obama Speeches to Jab at Cheney
May 21st, 2009 9:38 PM
Thursday's NBC Nightly News featured Andrea Mitchell chastising and correcting former Vice President Dick Cheney for his speech on fighting terrorism, but the network saw no need to correct anything asserted by President Obama in his address on the same topic while anchor Brian Williams asked if Republicans are “happy” to have Cheney as “their messenger?” CBS delivered contrasting conclusions in…