ABC Totals 67 Minutes on John Edwards Scandal, Still No Democrat ID
February 2nd, 2010 4:13 PM
ABC on Tuesday devoted a fourth day of interviews to the John Edwards sex scandal and still failed to identify the ex-vice presidential nominee as a Democrat. After 67 minutes of coverage on two programs, the network has highlighted most of the salacious details of the Senator’s story, all while avoiding the D-word. Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday talked to former…
ABC Devotes Over 60 Minutes to John Edwards, Avoids Labeling Him a Dem
February 1st, 2010 12:38 PM
Since Friday, ABC has devoted 60 minutes and 23 seconds to interviews covering the most salacious details of John Edwards' sex scandal. Yet, the network's anchors have refrained from referring to him as a Democrat. 20/20 on Friday spent the entire hour talking to Andrew Young, a former top Edwards aide who allegedly holds a sex tape involving the politician. The D-word was never used by reporter…
CBS: GOP A ‘Tough Crowd’ For Obama; No Mention of President’s Pa
January 29th, 2010 1:29 PM
At the top of Friday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith declared: “President Obama meets with GOP leaders as he tries to tackle the growing employment problem. Will it be a monologue or a dialogue?” White House correspondent Bill Plante later reported: “The President is also reaching out to Republicans today, speaking to the GOP House retreat. But it could be a tough crowd.”In Plante’s report…
ABC Guest Reveals: George Stephanopoulos and Hillary Clinton Related
January 29th, 2010 10:45 AM
Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates appeared on Friday’s Good Morning America to promote a new series on genealogy and revealed to George Stephanopoulos that he might be related to Hillary Clinton. Gates told the former Democratic staffer turned journalist, "You are very likely a maternal cousin with Hillary Clinton."[Audio available here.]Gates, who very famously was involved in an altercation…
ABC’s Robin Roberts Frets to Teresa Heinz Kerry: What's Up With Scot
January 28th, 2010 4:53 PM
Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts on Thursday implored Teresa Heinz Kerry to explain how Republican Scott Brown could have won his Senate race in Massachusetts. Talking to the wife of Democrat John Kerry, she lamented, "What’s happening?" Prefacing this question, a bewildered Roberts recapped, "We have the election, recent election in Massachusetts, where Ted Kennedy had been senator…
Today Show Skips Any Mention of Bob McDonnell’s GOP Response to Stat
January 28th, 2010 12:36 PM
Of the three morning shows on Thursday, only NBC’s Today show skipped any mention of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s Republican response to the President’s State of the Union address. Both ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS’s Early Show gave McDonnell’s rebuttal at least minor attention. On the Early Show, Chip Reid explained, "Virginia's newly inaugurated governor Bob McDonnell gave the…
Morning Shows Tout Risk to Republicans for ‘Continuing to Say No
January 28th, 2010 9:28 AM
The three morning shows on Thursday reacted to Barack Obama’s State of the Union address by highlighting the risk Republicans run in continuing to oppose the President’s agenda. On NBC’s Today, Meredith Vieira fretted to Joe Biden, "What risk do the Republicans run by continuing to say no, by being the party of no?" NBC put the happiest spin on the speech, featuring a graphic that trumpeted, "‘…
Networks Pounce on ‘Louisiana Watergate’ Story After Only 17 Hours
January 27th, 2010 12:08 PM
All three morning shows on Wednesday highlighted the revelation that a conservative activist had been arrested in connection to an attempt to tamper with the phones of Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. Despite jumping on the "Louisiana Watergate" story only 17 hours after it was first reported, the networks took five days to file full reports on the same James O’Keefe and his undercover footage…
Rosie O’Donnell Lectures George Stephanopoulos: Don’t Grill Me; He
January 26th, 2010 12:45 PM
Rosie O’Donnell appeared on Tuesday’s Good Morning America and lectured host George Stephanopoulos, "You just have to relax and remember that not everyone's a politician. And you don't have to grill them." The liberal comedienne needn’t have worried. Stephanopoulos only gently approached O’Donnell and her new gay-themed HBO documentary. After being dressed down by O’Donnell, the GMA host offered…
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Frets to McCain: Tax Cuts Will ‘Increa
January 26th, 2010 11:00 AM
Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos played defense for the White House on Tuesday. While talking with John McCain about Obama’s 2010 proposals, he sounded annoyed that the Senator’s ideas for job creation would include tax cuts: "But, those tax cuts are going to increase the deficit, aren't they, sir?" After McCain declared his opposition to Democrat spending proposals, the host pressed…
Oprah and GMA ‘Bristle’ at Bristol’s Pledge of Abstinence
January 25th, 2010 4:04 PM
Every week Oprah Winfrey encourages over 44 million Americans to "Live Your Best Life" - the mantra of her billion-dollar brand. "The key to realizing a dream," Oprah said in the Sept. 2002 issue of her O magazine, "is to focus not on success but significance - and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning." Maybe Oprah should revisit that…
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos Nails Carville on Prediction of Years of
January 25th, 2010 12:47 PM
Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos on Monday did not go easy on his friend and former colleague James Carville. Discussing the Massachusetts Senate election, he quoted Carville’s words from his 2009 book 40 More Years: "Republicans have no hope of making serious inroads into democratic advantages in 2010 or likely 2012 or 2014 and so on. It's time to call T.O.D., time of death, on…
Olbermann Whines about Mainstream Media’s Lack of Outrage over SCOTU
January 23rd, 2010 11:12 AM
The guy has an hour-long television show that isn't the highest-rated program on cable television, but does fairly well considering the circumstances. Yet, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who has expressed his own "unhinged" anger about the Supreme Court ruling that corporations have a free speech right to participate in elections, says there is a deficiency of anger about the ruling. Olbermann, on the…
ABC Fawns Over Elizabeth Edwards as an ‘Adored,’ ‘Passionate
January 22nd, 2010 12:35 PM
On Friday's Good Morning America, Claire Shipman gushed over Elizabeth Edwards as a “smart, passionate, sometimes fierce woman with many different sides to her personality.” She lauded the wife of John Edwards as a complex “heroine” who is “increasingly hard to define.” At the same time, Shipman downplayed the negative portrayal of Mrs. Edwards in a new campaign book. Recounting the story of the…