NBC's Williams Blames Obama's Plummeting Approval on Getting Dragged I
June 23rd, 2010 9:10 PM
Unlike Katie Couric on Monday night, on Wednesday evening NBC's Brian Williams didn't hide the bad news for President Obama in the network's latest poll, but Williams and Savannah Guthrie sure seemed to lament the public mood's swing against Obama as Williams attributed it to how Obama “had to touch” the gulf oil leak, “he had to own it and now he's getting tagged with how he's reacting to it.”…
'No Thank You, Mr. President' Highlights Entrepreneurship, Not Governm
June 21st, 2010 11:17 AM
Tough times don't last; tough people do. That's the theme of author John S. Cohoat's new book "No Thank You, Mr. President," which tells the story of 10 private companies in Elkhart County, Ind., that made their own way to economic recovery without government handouts. "My hope is that these stories provide some inspiration for you or make you remember why our capitalist economic policies and…
ABC and NBC Describe Arizona Law as ‘Anti-Immigration’ and ‘Hars
June 21st, 2010 1:06 AM
Network anchors can’t resist misconstruing Arizona’s upcoming immigration enforcement law. The latest instances came Friday night when ABC and NBC caught up with news that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an interviewer in Ecuador that the Obama administration will sue to block the law. Diane Sawyer erroneously described the anti-illegal immigration measure as “Arizona's controversial new…
NBC Sees Gaza as 'Prison Sentence Imposed by Israel,' Ignores Reports
June 16th, 2010 3:56 PM
Catching up on an item from last week on the Tuesday, June 8, NBC Nightly News, correspondent Tom Aspell portrayed the residents of Gaza as living through a life prison sentence imposed by Israel: "Israel's blockade on Gaza isn't just about preventing goods from getting in, it's about preventing 1.5 million Palestinians from getting out. It sentences them to life inside a 140-square-mile prison…
Network News Shows Largely Skip President's $50 Billion Spending Reque
June 14th, 2010 3:46 PM
The network morning and evening news shows have all but ignored President Obama's Saturday letter to congressional leaders asking for $50 billion in additional spending to prevent the "massive layoffs of teachers, police, and firefighters." Only Sunday's Good Morning America on ABC has covered the President's request so far.The chief executive's June 12 letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate…
Obama's Knowing 'Whose Ass to Kick' Pledge Continues to Delight TV Net
June 8th, 2010 9:04 PM
More than 24 hours after NBC's Matt Lauer prompted him to say it in an interview, the morning programs all showcased it – and even after day-long playback on the cable channels – CBS and NBC on Tuesday night delighted in again highlighting President Barack Obama's boast that he's gathering information on the oil leak “so I know whose ass to kick.” Katie Couric put the soundbite, from a competitor…
Evening News Shows Enthuse Over Helen Thomas, a 'Bona Fide Icon' and a
June 8th, 2010 12:47 PM
The three evening news shows on Monday treated the announcement of Helen Thomas' retirement as an occasion to gush over the "bona fide icon" and "trailblazer." At the same time, CBS's Evening News, NBC's Nightly News and ABC's World News didn't find much time for outrage over Thomas' attacks on Jews and Israel. Instead, NBC's Andrea Mitchell played a clip of Thomas ranting to President Bush in a…
NBC Leads by Touting Obama Showing 'Anger' by Promising to 'Kick Ass
June 7th, 2010 7:55 PM
Insular liberal-media cycle: Liberal columnists demand that President Obama show “anger” over BP's oil leak, Obama promises NBC's Matt Lauer that he's determining “whose ass to kick” and so Brian Williams – trumpeting “this is just into us” -- leads the NBC Nightly News with how “the President showed some anger on the topic of his handling of this spill so far.”Williams announced Monday night: “…
The Attorney General vs. BP: Little Skepticism on ABC & NBC, While Lef
June 3rd, 2010 3:35 PM
The American lawyers who flock to Guantanamo Bay to represent captured terrorists are simply fulfilling their duty to provide representation, it is often argued by those who seem to enjoy mucking up efforts to curtail future terrorism. But once representing the American beverage giant Coca Cola makes Attorney General Eric Holder a “corporatist” who’s going to “do the Devil’s work” and only “…
CBS Finally Notes Flotilla’s Terrorist Ties, NBC Highlights Calls fo
June 3rd, 2010 11:50 AM
After initially lagging behind the other networks in even mentioning the Gaza-bound flotilla's connections to terrorist groups, on Wednesday CBS finally noted the existence of such ties, and on the same day NBC caught up with CBS in highlighting calls for Israel to end its blockade. Without directly relaying to viewers that the Israelis already allow tons of aid into Gaza on a regular basis, NBC’…
ABC, NBC Mark Passing of World War II Hero Lieutenant John Finn
May 31st, 2010 3:12 PM
On Thursday evening, ABC’s World News and the NBC Nightly News both marked the passing of retired Navy Lieutenant John Finn, who was the oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, which he earned defending America during the attack on Pearl Harbor. While ABC’s George Stephanopoulos read a short item on Lieutenant Finn, NBC’s Brian Williams devoted an full report to his heroism.On the May 27…
ABC and NBC Champion Illegal Alien Cause: ‘Will an Army of Protester
May 30th, 2010 3:00 AM
Another pro-illegal alien protest and, once again, the networks champion the cause. Four weeks after the broadcast network evening shows trumpeted May Day marches against Arizona’s effort to enforce federal law, another round of marches prompted ABC and NBC on Saturday night to push the left-wing cause. “Day of outrage, anger on the streets of Phoenix and across this country tonight,” ABC anchor…
Nets Embrace 'Did You Plug the Hole Yet, Daddy?' Anecdote to Humanize
May 27th, 2010 8:57 PM
The White House press corps just loved President Obama's press conference anecdote meant to prove the pressure he's under and responsibility he's taking (“When I woke up this morning, and I'm shaving and Malia knocks on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says: 'Did you plug the hole yet, daddy?'”). The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts all showcased the clip, with fill-in ABC…
MRC Study: Media Double Standard on Gulf Coast Disasters
May 26th, 2010 4:16 PM
For more than a month, the American Gulf Coast has been threatened by a gigantic oil spill, caused by the April 21 explosion of a British Petroleum deepwater rig. Yet unlike five years ago — when the media were quick to put the onus on the Bush administration for its handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina — for four weeks, ABC, CBS and NBC failed to scrutinize the administration’s…