All Three Networks Hype 'Ugly' Pepper Spray 'Outrage,' Played Down Occ

November 21st, 2011 5:06 PM
The three network morning shows, which have been mostly ignoring crimes at the Occupy Wall Street protests, hyped the "ugly" and "disturbing" "outrage" of students at the University of California, Davis campus being sprayed with pepper. Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos interviewed the school's chancellor and repeatedly berated her about resigning. On NBC's Today, Ann Curry warned…

ABC Parrots White House Spin for Booing of Michelle Obama: 'Not Clear

November 21st, 2011 12:53 PM
Good Morning America's Josh Elliott on Monday repeated White House talking points in regard to the booing of Michelle Obama at a NASCAR event on Sunday. News reader Elliott played a clip of the booing and then parroted, "The White House says it was a chaotic event. It was not clear, perhaps, what the boos were specifically for." The Today show didn't cover the event at all. On the Early Show…

CBS Highlights Chu's Solyndra Testimony in Congress, ABC Punts

November 18th, 2011 4:40 PM
On Friday, CBS's Early Show was the only Big Three morning show to cover Energy Secretary Steven Chu's testimony before a congressional hearing on the $528 million loan to the bankrupt solar panel company Solyndra. NBC previewed the hearing on Thursday's Today show, but avoided it the following morning. ABC's GMA completely ignored it both days. Fill-in news anchor Betty Nguyen gave a 44-…

Big Three Networks Devote a Scant 36 Seconds to Obama's 'Lazy' Gaffe

November 17th, 2011 4:45 PM
According to Politico, Barack Obama's "lazy" gaffe is "catching fire," but you wouldn't know that if you got your news from the major networks. The President's remark, made at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Hawaii on November 12, that "We've been a little bit lazy" in attracting "new business into America" received a grand total of just 36 seconds on the Big Three (ABC, CBS…

Networks Jokingly Highlight 'Unhate' Campaign Featuring Pope in Gay Ki

November 17th, 2011 4:34 PM
The network morning shows on Thursday took a mostly light-hearted look at clothing company Benetton's ad campaign featuring the Pope kissing a Muslim cleric. The ads, which have now been pulled under legal pressure, were summarized by Good Morning America's Josh Elliott. He parroted, "It was part of Benetton 's Unhate campaign, challenging people to have the courage not to hate." Elliott…

Free Publicity on CBS for Millionaire Liberal's Call to Tax the Rich

November 17th, 2011 3:04 PM
CBS's Chris Wragge spotlighted a millionaire's bid to raise taxes on the rich on Thursday's Early Show, all the while omitting that his guest is a big money donor to liberal candidates like Al Franken and to Moveon.org. Wragge didn't bring on any opponents of higher taxes, nor did he play sound bites from them. Instead, he played three clips from proponents, including former Clinton aide Robert…

CBS to Bachmann: Why Attack Newt For Cooperating With Pelosi

November 16th, 2011 1:31 PM
On Wednesday's Early Show, CBS's Erica Hill pressed Rep. Michele Bachmann during an interview about her attack on Newt Gingrich for his notorious 2008 commercial with Nancy Pelosi on climate change: "Why is that a bad thing, to try to work across the aisle?" This came just two days after the morning show wondered if Gingrich himself needed to "play a little more dirty...to win the bid." Hill…

Nets Ignore Latest Solyndra News: Obama Administration Requested Postp

November 16th, 2011 12:05 PM
The Washington Post, no conservative paper it, gave front-page coverage today to the latest development in the Solyndra scandal: E-mail records show that the Obama White House urged the solar energy company to postpone layoffs until after the 2010 midterm elections. "The announcement could have been politically damaging because President Obama and others in the administration had held up…

CBS Boosts Tucson Survivor's Testimony to Promote Gun Control

November 15th, 2011 4:55 PM
CBS's Erica Hill tossed softballs at a survivor of the Tucson shooting and the executive director of a pro-gun control group on Tuesday's Early Show, just hours before they were due to speak at a congressional hearing to promote tighter gun regulations. Hill played up fellow survivor Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's recent interview and asked, "What does that do to you and to this cause that you have…

Big Three Networks Don't Care About OWS Crimes Until Democratic Mayors

November 15th, 2011 1:55 PM
Through the month of October, as this MRC study found, the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) networks completely ignored the numerous charges of sexual assaults at OWS protests on their evening and morning news shows. In fact, it wasn’t until this weekend that one and only one network, ABC reported on the rape of a woman in Philadelphia, and that was only after that city’s Democratic Mayor Michael…

MRC Special Report: Network Morning Shows Are Trashing Republicans, St

November 15th, 2011 11:07 AM
Four years ago, the ABC, CBS and NBC morning shows celebrated the “rock star” Democrats running to replace George W. Bush, and no candidate set journalists’ pulses racing faster than Barack Obama. Now, after three years of high unemployment, trillion dollar deficits and an onerous new health care law, how are those newscasts covering Obama’s re-election campaign and the candidates vying to…

CBS: Does Gingrich Need to 'Play A Little More Dirty' in GOP Contest

November 14th, 2011 3:47 PM
On Monday's Early Show, CBS's Rebecca Jarvis wondered if Newt Gingrich would "have to play a little more dirty...to take on the other GOP contenders to win the bid." Bob Schieffer replied cynically that Gingrich would "save his criticism for attacking the media, which is always the safe thing to do." Chris Wragge prompted the former Speaker to criticize Herman Cain and Rick Perry on Friday, but…

ABC's John Berman Mocks FEMA-Like 'Disaster' Rick Perry

November 11th, 2011 12:05 PM
Good Morning America's John Berman on Friday made no effort to hide his derision of Rick Perry, noting that former FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh is running his campaign. Berman openly mocked, "...[Allbaugh] ran FEMA. So, he knows how to recover from disasters, Robin." Earlier in the segment, the reporter made another comparison, joking, "You know, there's no question that Rick Perry is in full…

NBC and CBS Give Scant Coverage to Deadly Shootings at Occupy Wall Str

November 11th, 2011 11:38 AM
On Friday, both NBC's Today and CBS's The Early Show offered news briefs on two deadly shooting incidents at two separate Occupy Wall Street protests Thursday night, while ABC's Good Morning America failed to make any mention of the deaths. On Today, news anchor Natalie Morales reported: "Occupy Wall Street protests turned deadly overnight in two cities. In Oakland, California, Police are…