Nets Covered $1.4M Spike Lee Flick, Ignore $1.4M Gosnell Movie
Spike Lee and Phelim McAleer are both film-makers who’ve both achieved something unique: each has successfully raised $1.4 million to finance his movie through crowdfunding – a campaign seeking donations from the public. But Spike Lee is famous and established, with a net worth of $40 million. Phelim McAleer isn’t. So it’s a bit odd that the networks took note when Lee (a famous, if not…
CBS Covers Oregon 'Pulling the Plug' on Health Exchange, But Omits 'Ob
Friday's CBS Evening News was the lone Big Three evening newscast to spotlight how the State of Oregon decision to scrap its multimillion dollar health exchange website, and join the federal government's HealthCare.gov. ABC's World News was too busy covering violence over spots at mall parking lots to notice, while NBC Nightly News zeroed in on baby Prince George's first trip to Australia.…
Just Before Canonization, NBC Hypes John Paul II Critic Saying Many Fe
The Friday before the Catholic church would celebrate the canonization of two popes, NBC's Today hyped the "controversy" of the jubilant fans of Blessed John Paul II "drowning out dissent" from those who felt "stomped on" during his papacy.
Raining on the canonization parade, NBC's Anne Thompson said the crowds who chanted "sainthood now" at John Paul II's funeral were "drowning out dissent…
Sleazy: ABC Notes Sean Hannity's Support of Cliven Bundy, But Ignores
For the first time on their weekday evening newscasts, the broadcast networks picked up Cliven Bundy's standoff with the federal government – but only after Bundy's racist comments went viral and his conservative supporters denounced them.
Amidst what NBC called a "firestorm," the networks made sure to tie Bundy to the conservatives and Republicans who sympathized with his cause, but were…
CBS Hits Rick Perry From the Left on BLM Controversy; Immigration
Norah O'Donnell pursued Texas Governor Rick Perry on Thursday's CBS This Morning over the controversial land dispute between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the federal government. O'Donnell asked Perry, "What do you make of this standoff? What do you think of Clive Bundy? Do you think what he's done was a good thing?"
When the Republican politician replied that Bundy is a "side story," and…
CBS Highlights Cloistered Nuns as ‘Heavenly’ Rock Stars
Although the nets usually secularize Easter, one CBS “Sunday Morning” story defied the norm by reporting on nuns who sing for souls – and doing it with respect and care.
Correspondent Tracy Smith traveled to the farmlands north of Kansas City to explore “Heavenly Songs from Classical Music’s Unlikely Rock Stars.” Smith visited the priory of The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, which…
Issa Demands Answers from Holder on DOJ's Role in IRS Scandal, Network
On Wednesday Darrell Issa demanded Attorney General Eric Holder answer new questions about the Justice Department’s role in the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups. In a letter sent to Holder, Issa sought answers about a newly released email between former IRS official Lois Lerner and DOJ official Richard Pilger in which Pilger asks Lerner “When you have a moment, will you call me? I’ve been…
ABC, NBC Solicit Caroline Kennedy to Endorse Hillary for President
President Obama is currently on a week-long tour of Asia and all three networks took the opportunity to promote the tenure of Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. On Thursday April 24, all three morning shows sat down with Kennedy and heaped praise on the long-time Democrat. ABC’s Jonathan Karl and NBC’s Chuck Todd both used their interviews to plead for Kennedy to support Hillary…
Networks Continue to Ignore Obama Admin Considering Pardons for Thousa
The broadcast networks have still not reported a new Justice Department initiative that would consider clemency for thousands of drug offenders.
As NewsBusters reported on Tuesday, Monday evening's news casts ignored the story while Fox News reported it. The broadcast network blackout continued through Tuesday and Wednesday. Fox News continued with the story on Wednesday evening as Special…
NBC Lets Critics Shred Georgia's New Gun Law; the 'Guns Everywhere Bil
Wednesday's NBC Nightly News slanted steeply toward critics of Georgia's new gun bill, allowing them four quotes as opposed to just one for supporters of the bill. The state's legislation expands the places where citizens can carry guns to include bars, schools, churches and government buildings, with certain limits. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez opened his report quoting the law's critics: "It's official…
CBS, NBC Evening Newscasts Omit IRS Tax Cheats Getting Bonuses; Mark
Tuesday's World News on ABC stood out as the only Big Three network evening newscast to cover a new "watchdog report" that found that the IRS "handed out more than $1 million in bonuses to employees who were delinquent on their federal taxes." Jeff Zeleny also pointed out how "more than 1,000 IRS workers, who didn't pay their taxes, received not only cash bonuses, but extra time off." [MP3…
CBS Highlights Liberal Justice's 'Impassioned Dissent' on Affirmative
The journalists at CBS This Morning, Wednesday, highlighted the "impassioned dissent" of liberal Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor on affirmative action. All three networks covered the 6-2 ruling upholding a state's right to ban race as a factor in public universities. But it was CBS's Jan Crawford who focused on the liberal anger, noting that Sotomayor "took the unusual step of reading […
NBC and ABC Feature Same Teenage Activist Supporting Affirmative Actio
Reporting on Tuesday's Supreme Court decision that enabled states' voters to ban affirmative action, the NBC and ABC evening newscasts featured a soundbite from the same teenage activist who called the ruling "disgusting" and charged it is "creating a new Jim Crow."
Both networks simply labeled Markeith Jones a high school student without disclosing he is an activist who recently marched…
52 People Shot in Rahm Emanuel's Bloody Chicago; CBS Ignores
Fifty-two people were shot, eight fatally, over the last three days in a bloody epidemic sweeping Rahm Emanuel's Chicago. Yet, CBS has, thus far, completely ignored the crime wave while NBC's Today on Monday and ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday gave only a few seconds each to the violence in the city run by Barack Obama's former chief of staff.
GMA news reader Dan Abrams explained, "…
