NBC 'Green with Envy' Over Swedes for 'Showing Kindness to Planet
April 22nd, 2008 2:12 AM
Monday's NBC Nightly News kicked off “Earth Week” by trumpeting Sweden as an environmental and economic paradise that could point the way for the United States. Anchor Brian William contended Swedes “always seem to be so happy and beautiful” and now “there's another reason to be green with envy about the Swedes. We're told they are living green lives, showing kindness to the planet, and saving a…
Mostly (But Not All) Katie: Combined Big 3 Evening Newscasts' Decline
April 20th, 2008 7:13 PM
Interest in the presidential election should be driving up ratings for the Big Three networks' evening news shows, right? Wrong. Here is how evening news viewership at ABC, NBC, and CBS for the two most recent available weeks compares to the analogous weeks of 2007 (From Media Bistro's TV Newser: April 7, 2008; March 31, 2008; April 9, 2007; April 2, 2007):
ABC Highlights Clergy Sex Abuse, Spins Pope’s Message on Immigration
April 16th, 2008 12:51 PM
All three broadcast networks on Tuesday led their evening news programs with Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival at Andrews Air Force Base to begin his visit to the U.S., as well as his comments during a press conference on the plane about the priest sex abuse scandal. ABC’s "World News" and CBS’ "Evening News" especially focused on the scandal. In addition to this, "World News" also highlighted what the…
NBC: Tax Cuts Mean McCain's Economic Plan 'Doesn't Add Up
April 15th, 2008 9:22 PM
Network journalists have yet to meet a spending hike or regulation that they considered unwise, but any tax cut is always ill-advised and helps “the wealthy.” Living up to the pattern -- and illustrating how John McCain will earn media scorn for any conservative policy proposal -- NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams set up a Tuesday story on McCain's economic plan by emphasizing how “some…
Networks Ignore All Positives with Delta/Northwest Merger
April 15th, 2008 4:11 PM
Operating under the assumption that what's good for business is bad for consumers forces the media to give Americans a narrow view of the world. All three network newscasts on April 14 reported the Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Northwest Airlines (NYSE:NWA) as if it were a conspiracy to bilk air travelers out of more money. "It's an unsettled time in the skies - planes grounded, flights…
Former NBC and CBS Fill-In Anchor Blames Deregulation for Fall of TV N
April 14th, 2008 12:58 PM
Never mind nightly TV newscasts are geared toward older generation. Never mind scandals like Dan Rather and the falsified National Guard documents leading up to the 2004 presidential elections have caused people to look for their news from other sources like the Internet and talk radio. Former "CBS Evening News" weekend and fill-in anchor and NBC's "Meet the Press" and "Nightly News" co-anchor…
NBC News Can’t Seem to Find a Water Bottle it Likes
April 9th, 2008 4:23 PM
Last summer NBC told viewers bottled water was bad for the environment because of its packaging and transportation demands. This time, NBC's April 9 "Today" warned viewers some reusable water bottles are bad for society because they contain a dangerous substance. "[M]any of those sturdy, reusable plastic bottles contain a chemical, bisphenol-A, that many scientists are worried about," NBC…
NBC Stacks Deck Against Petraeus -- and Takes a Shot at McCain Too
April 8th, 2008 11:14 PM
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams led Tuesday's newscast by listing the burden of the Iraq war in years, troops, deaths and cost before Jim Miklaszewski, unlike reporters on ABC and CBS, found it newsworthy to show a man, in the Senate hearing for General David Petraeus, shouting “bring them home!” In the next story, Andrea Mitchell decided to highlight, again unlike ABC or CBS, how John…
CNBC on the Future of Network Newsgathering: 'That Ship has Sailed
April 8th, 2008 12:32 PM
It's no longer profitable for networks to have their own news organizations, according to CNBC's David Faber. In the wake of the news that CBS is in negotiations to outsource its news division to CNN, Faber explained on CNBC's April 8 "Squawk on the Street" CBS's news division is a victim of an evolving business. "The news that CBS is once again considering a deal under which it would…
NBC Uniquely Highlights Latest Medal of Honor Recipient
April 4th, 2008 3:36 AM
On Thursday evening, NBC Nightly News was again the first broadcast network evening newscast to highlight a Medal of Honor recipient -- only the third given for heroic action in Iraq, and the first to a sailor in that theater -- Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor. Williams observed: This nation has a new Medal of Honor recipient, though he is not alive to accept the honor. Michael…
Media Divide Wall Street and 'Main Street
April 3rd, 2008 4:22 PM
As economic issues move to the front of the on-going presidential campaign, the mainstream media have given an increased amount of coverage to what is happening on Wall Street. However, they have portrayed Wall Street as something completely alien to what happens on "Main Street." "Now to Wall Street, which, as you know, doesn't always like what Main Street likes, and by the end of the…
Networks Hype Rising Sea Levels in One-Sided Global Warming Reports
March 27th, 2008 3:55 PM
This time, the "CBS Evening News" traveled all the way across the pond to pushing the alarmists' global warming agenda. The March 27 "Evening News" went to the coastlines of England to show melting ice caps causing people to lose their homes. "Much of the effects of climate change have been couched in terms of if or when its effects will be felt," CBS correspondent Mark Phillips said. "Well…
