BMI Warned of Billion-Dollar Fannie Mae Bailout in
July 11th, 2008 12:32 PM
I hate to say I told you so, but what the heck. We did. The Business & Media Institute warned that Fannie Mae was a looming taxpayer-backed disaster - in 2005. Only the network news shows didn't like to tell you about it. An op-ed I wrote appeared in The New York Post under the headline: "The $30B Scandal That TV Forgot." I think $30 billion is small potatoes now. $100 billion is the number…
CBS’s Smith ‘Sad’ Over Jackson's Comments
July 10th, 2008 1:43 PM
On Thursday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith reacted to Jesse Jackson’s controversial comments about Barack Obama by sympathizing with the left-wing activist: "Honestly to me, as somebody who sat in an Operation Push [Founded by Jesse Jackson] meeting some 30-plus years ago in an old theater in Chicago, hearing this and seeing this, there's something a little sad about it."While Smith was…
CBS: High Gas Prices Deadly For Sick & Elderly
July 9th, 2008 5:06 PM
On Wednesday's CBS "Early Show," co-host Russ Mitchell declared: "The high cost of gas is hurting everyone these days. Families, businesses, and even charities. Many organizations that deliver food to the sick and elderly are being hit extra hard." In the report that followed, correspondent Kelly Wallace went even further: "In one rural California case, according to the president of Meals on…
When Reporters Become the News We All Lose
July 9th, 2008 5:05 PM
As the media systematically ignores the good news in Iraq, the AP instead turns to “reporting” on a “journalist’s” Iraq love tryst. Why we need to see a story of CBS' Lara Logan's romance troubles is anyone’s guess? But apparently the AP thinks that Lara Logan's love tryst with a married contractor in Iraq is "news" while the surge and the complete lack of any real civil war in Iraq is not. Here…
Evening News Uniquely Reports Serious Concerns about Gardasil
July 9th, 2008 4:17 PM
They were a little slow on the pick up but “CBS Evening News” gets credit for finally acknowledging a report that shows serious side effects associated with the vaccine Gardasil, which protects against HPV, a sexually transmitted disease the can cause cancer.The report, by Sharyll Attkisson, aired July 7 a full week after WorldNet Daily reported the findings. As CMI’s wonderful intern Julia…
MSM Yawn at Stunning 9 Percent Approval Rating for Congress
July 9th, 2008 1:07 PM
If Speaker Newt Gingrich's Republican majority had faced a 9 percent approval rating at any point in the 1996 presidential election year, the media would have not let anyone forget it. So given that and the media's frequently reminding Americans of President Bush's low approval numbers, why are the broadcast media ignoring the latest Rasmussen poll on the approval rating for Congress under the…
CBS’s Mitchell Tosses Softballs to Obama, Except on Troop Pullout
July 9th, 2008 12:41 PM
While most of the questions co-host Russ Mitchell asked Barack Obama on Wednesday’s "Early Show" were rather bland, he did challenge Obama from the left on the Senator’s commitment to a complete troop withdrawal from Iraq: "Last week you said you would refine your policy regarding troop withdrawal after you go to Iraq and have the chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground...What do…
CBS: Obama Tax Policy Better For Middle Class
July 8th, 2008 5:51 PM
A report on the economic policies of John McCain and Barack Obama by correspondent Chip Reid on Monday’s CBS "Evening News" suggested that Obama’s supposed middle class tax cut would be more beneficial for American families: "Obama's plan is to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and use the savings for a middle-class tax cut...A recent study by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says…
CBS’s 'Big Brother' Features Anti-Woman Conservative, ‘Rebel Obama
July 8th, 2008 3:32 PM
Near the end of Tuesday’s CBS "Early Show" there was a taped segment of co-host Julie Chen talking to the executive producer of the CBS reality show "Big Brother," Allison Grodner, who previewed some of the contestants in the show’s new season: "Dan is a Catholic school teacher from Michigan. He really doesn't think women are equal. And he felt really strongly, especially, about the possibility…
CBS’s Smith Claims ‘Coffers Are Not Full,’ Need More Taxes
July 7th, 2008 12:44 PM
On Monday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith talked to John McCain supporter Carly Fiorina and Barack Obama supporter Senator Claire McCaskill about the respective economic plans of the presidential candidates: "Bear market blues. Wall Street returns from the holiday as gas prices set another new record. Can either candidate calm America's fears?" At one point, Smith asked Fiorina: "How do…
CBS ‘Early Show’ Looks At ‘Struggling’ McCain Campaign
July 3rd, 2008 12:21 PM
On Thursday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith teased an upcoming segment on John McCain giving Republican strategist Steve Schmidt greater control of his campaign: "John McCain shakes up his campaign again. Is this the jump start he needs to get him to the White House?" Later, co-host Maggie Rodriguez teased the segment this way: "Up next here for us, John McCain shakes up his struggling…
CBS’s Chen Talks to ‘Weeds’ Actress About Legalizing Pot
July 2nd, 2008 5:45 PM
On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Julie Chen teased an interview with actress Elizabeth Perkins from Showtime’s ‘Weeds’: "We're going to see what she thinks about weed. Not the show, the plant." Later, Chen offered yet another tease: "You know her from 'Weeds' on Showtime. Elizabeth Perkins. We're going to find out if she thinks marijuana should be legal."Later during the segment Chen…