Nets Trumpet Powell's 'Major,' 'Powerful' 'Endorsement of the Year
Journalists on TV Sunday heralded the importance and impact of Colin Powell's long-expected endorsement of Barack Obama which he made on Meet the Press. Later in that show, NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell touted Powell's endorsement and critique of the McCain campaign as “a very powerful political statement.” On the same panel with Mitchell, Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham declared that “having Colin…
NBC: 'If World Had a Vote, Barack Obama Would Win in a Landslide
Friday's NBC Nightly News devoted a story to how around the world “people want to turn a page on the Bush years” and, as if it's relevant, “if the world had a vote, Barack Obama would win in a landslide.” A suggestion to viewers on what they must do to restore America's honor? Reporter Dawna Friesen warned that the next President “faces a grim reality: Much of the world deeply distrusts, even…
NBC Airs Hit Piece on Todd Palin, Sarah Palin's 'Abuse of Power
Network polls put McCain-Palin ten-plus points behind Obama-Biden and Brian Williams introduced Thursday's NBC Nightly News by asserting “some senior Republicans are getting edgy at the prospect of a long up hill climb in a short amount of time,” but Williams and other journalists may not be so confident of an Obama victory -- how else to explain NBC's decision to air hit piece Thursday evening…
As Campaign’s Intensity Peaks, Interest in Big 3's Evening News Cont
Three weeks out from Election Day, surely more Americans are tuning into the Big 3 networks' evening newscasts, right? Wrong. In the past two weeks, Big 3 evening newscast viewership has actually declined by 360,000, or 1.6%. What's more, in percentage terms, viewership among "The Demo" of ages 25-54 has declined even further (220,000, down 3.1%). Here are the rest of the gory details for total…
Will Media Report ACORN Voter Registration Fraud and Obama Ties
In battleground states across the country, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is being investigated for voter registration fraud.Yet, this group's nefarious activities this election cycle have not received the kind of mass media exposure you would expect given its ties to the current frontrunner for president, Barack Obama.As the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday (…
TV Newsers Who Fawned Over Foley Sex Scandal Ignore Mahoney
On Monday, NewsBusters wondered how much coverage the sex scandal involving Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fl.) -- the Democrat Congressman who in 2006 won the seat previously held by the disgraced Mark Foley -- would get.Early indications suggest that as far as the television news outlets are concerned, the answer is "not much."In fact, though all three broadcast network evening news programs covered the…
More Good News In Iraq; TV Networks Remain AWOL
A large front-page photo and above-the-fold story in Friday morning’s New York Times offered more evidence that the troop surge that Barack Obama and Joe Biden vehemently opposed last year has substantially improved the lives of everyday Iraqis. The headline, “As Fears Ease, Baghdad Sees Walls Tumble,” pointed to a new phase in the Iraqi capital, one where some of the cement barricades that…
NBC Excoriates McCain-Palin Fouls, Sees None from Obama-Biden
NBC anchor Brian Williams reported Wednesday night “there were no devastating or towering moments in the Obama/McCain debate in Nashville last night,” but he insisted, though neither ABC nor CBS mentioned them in their next day stories, “two moments from last night loomed large today.” Both, no surprise, were supposed insults from John McCain, but before getting to those, reporter Andrea Mitchell…
Lehman CEO Contributed Heavily to Democrats – Will Media Notice
You would think what donors are cozy with which campaigns - especially in the midst of a presidential election cycle - might be a relevant story for the media, especially at a time when everyone is quick to point fingers at which political party is to blame for financial turmoil. When Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld testified before the House Oversight Committee Oct. 6, the media criticized…
Brian Williams: McCain/Palin Shunning Him Because of Olbermann/Matthew
In the latest news from the actions have consequences department, Brian Williams recently told David Letterman that the McCain camp is punishing him by not allowing him to interview Sarah Palin because the McCain camp is mad at MSNBC's extreme leftism as evinced by Chris "Thrill up my leg" Matthews and Keith Olbermann. Is Brian crying? There's no crying in broadcasting! During his visit on The…
The MRC's Sweet-On-Obama Sixteen Media Bias Tournament
Update's Update: I have been assured by IT that we are FINALLY ready to go with this.The American people in poll after poll and in greater and growing numbers are railing against the egregious liberal bias of the press. And nowhere are the media more horrendously slanted than in their coverage of the presidential campaign of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. They are (to say the least) very, very…
Media Aired Dubious Anti-Israel Video, Not ‘Even-Handed’ to Expose
It was eight years ago this week that France 2 TV introduced the world to Mohammed al-Dura, the Palestinian boy who was allegedly shot and killed during a gunfight between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen, in a video whose authenticity has increasingly been called into question years after it inspired anti-Semitic violence around the world. The American news media not only highlighted the…
Big Three Nets' Evening News Programs Still in Collective Decline
You might think that a presidential election year might give the Big Three networks' evening newscasts a shot in the arm. You would be wrong. Full-year figures released last week and available MediaBistro's TVNewser showed yet another audience decline. The comparisons that follow are of the 2007-2008 ratings year just ended (each ratings year begins of fall season premieres) to 2006-2007:
Media Report Pelosi's Pre-Bailout Vote Attack on Bush and GOP
Before Monday's House vote on the largest government bailout in American history, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cali.), in potentially one of the most poorly-timed displays of partisanship in recent memory, blamed President Bush and Republicans for the turmoil in the financial services industry (video embedded right). Such ill-advised finger pointing seemed to surprise press members of all shapes and…
