Bozell Column: Liberalism Lite with Ann Curry
June 14th, 2011 10:30 PM
When the folks at CBS shooed Katie Couric out the door, one could almost hear the harrumph with which Scott Pelley was reinstalling the Old Regime of Ed Murrow. Unlike Couric, Pelley wasn’t debuting with celebrity interviews and updates on Tom Cruise’s baby. CBS is going back to biased Dan Rather basics, treating Couric’s tenure as little more than a palate cleanser.
With Couric off the news…
NBC's Curry: 'Disastrous' Not to Raise Debt Ceiling; Asks Obama if GOP
June 14th, 2011 1:31 PM
In an interview with President Obama on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry fretted over Republican calls for spending cuts before raising the nation's debt limit: "Do you think they're bluffing, given how financially disastrous it would be for the United States not to have the debt ceiling raised? And are you willing to make deep spending cuts?"
Obama laughably claimed: "Well, keep in…
Networks Chide: GOP Debate Was a 'Race to 'Out-Bash the President' Wit
June 14th, 2011 1:00 PM
The morning shows on Tuesday used loaded terms to describe Monday's Republican presidential debate. According to Good Morning America's John Berman, it was a "two-hour race to out-bash the President." On the Today show, Chuck Todd sniffed that "much of the affair was an anti-Obama sound bite contest."
CBS's Early Show proved to be more mild. Co-host Erica Hill recounted, "Attacking Obama.…
NBC Touts SUVs as Among Safest Vehicles to Drive
June 14th, 2011 11:16 AM
NBC's Saturday Today show ran a piece recounting recent car safety tests which find that large vehicles like SUVs are among the safest vehicles to drive. The same vehicles that used to receive much negative attention from the media because of rollover accidents and lower fuel efficiency seem to have seen improvements in the likelihood of rollovers. NBC correspondent Tom Costello on Saturday…
MRC/NB’s Tim Graham Highlights Media Double Standard on Congressiona
June 13th, 2011 8:00 PM
MRC Director of Media Analysis and NewsBusters senior editor Tim Graham appeared on the June 10 edition of FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor to document the broadcast networks’ double-standard on congressional sleaze stories. When the story first broke, ABC, CBS and NBC refused to cover the Weiner “sexting” scandal, and their overall weekday evening news coverage had amounted to less than a dozen…
NBC's Gregory: Are Americans Really 'Better Off' with 'Freedom
June 13th, 2011 1:03 PM
While grilling former Pennsylvania Senator and presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on NBC's Sunday Meet the Press, host David Gregory was skeptical of the idea that Americans should be able to choose their own health care plan: "They're better off with the freedom that they've got in the vagaries of the private insurance market?"
Gregory was responding to Santorum's criticism of ObamaCare: "[…
NBC Predicts 'Tough Day' for Palin With Release of Email 'Political Mi
June 10th, 2011 11:00 AM
At the top of Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer declared that it "could be a tough day for potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin. We're live in Alaska, where thousands of her e-mails as governor there will be released today." Later, fellow co-host Ann Curry introduced a report on the upcoming release by proclaiming that Palin was "about to face a new political minefield."
Without…
NBC: 'Puritanical' Americans Must Become 'Anesthetized' to Sex Scandal
June 9th, 2011 5:26 PM
Appearing on Tuesday's NBC Today, advertising executive Donny Deutsch and psychotherapist Robi Ludwig both agreed that the American people should not stop being "shocked" by political sex scandals. Deutsch declared: "...we have to stop being shocked and amazed....when men who are conquerors by nature also chase women....we as a society have got to become a little more anesthetized to this."…
Andrea Mitchell Whines About Tim Pawlenty's 'Counterintuitive' Tax Pla
June 9th, 2011 4:51 PM
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell scolded Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty today over the former Minnesota governor's proposed plan to reduce taxes and cut spending, decrying the conservative measures as "counterintuitive."
"What makes you think that a plan to actually increase the deficit by cutting taxes is the right way to go right now?" groused NBC's chief foreign affairs…
Words of Wisdom from New Today Show Anchor Ann Curry: 'Never Google Dr
June 9th, 2011 2:47 PM
This morning marked Ann Curry's first day as the new co-anchor for the Today show and perhaps as a way of moving on, the longtime newsreader is owning some of her worst gaffes and had this bit of advice for aspiring journalists: "never Google drunk." Curry relayed those words of wisdom in the June 13 issue of Newsweek, where she tallied some of her most embarrassing moments, including the one…
NBC Touts Bill Clinton's Unhappiness with Embarrassment of Weiner Sex
June 9th, 2011 12:41 PM
During a report on growing calls for Anthony Weiner to resign from Congress on Thursday's NBC Today, Politico's Maggie Haberman noted how former President Bill Clinton was particularly troubled by the sex scandal: "Bill Clinton is very unhappy with Anthony Weiner right now. The Clintons are not thrilled with this."
Congressional correspondent Luke Russert had described how "Among those…
NBC's Vieira: Why Should Anthony Weiner Resign
June 8th, 2011 3:56 PM
Talking to Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Wednesday's NBC Today, outgoing co-host Meredith Vieira questioned calls for disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign: "Nancy Pelosi has formally asked the Ethics Committee to look into this. So why not just let them do their job and then let the chips fall where they may?"
Priebus replied: "I don't think we need to…
MRC Study: Media Protecting 'Food Stamp President' Obama By Ignoring G
June 8th, 2011 1:15 PM
In the '80s the liberal media filled the airwaves with tales of woe from the homeless as a way to distract viewers from the runaway success of Reaganomics. In the 2000s, the same media chatted with one frustrated gas station customer after another to slam then-President George W. Bush.
However in 2011, with over 44 million Americans on food stamps, a new high according to the latest data…
Changing of the Liberal Guard on NBC's Today
June 8th, 2011 10:50 AM
Wednesday was Meredith Vieira's final day as co-host of NBC's Today. Since joining the broadcast in September 2006, she has brought staunch liberal advocacy to the morning news program, following the model of her predecessor, Katie Couric. News reader Ann Curry will take over as Matt Lauer's co-host, maintaining the broadcast's left-leaning perspective.
The Media Research Center has compiled…