On Today: Matt Lauer Fails to Convince Republican to Go Obama's Way an
NBC's Matt Lauer, on Tuesday's Today show, invited on soon to be House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to discuss today's meeting of Republican congressional leaders with Barack Obama, and in the process tried to force Cantor to move in the President's direction on raising taxes. The Today co-anchor opened the conversation by wondering if Cantor was going into the meeting in the mood for "…
NBC's Lauer: WikiLeaks is Merely a 'Messenger' For Classified Material
On Monday's Today show, NBC's Matt Lauer downplayed the criminal factor in the release of hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic communiques by WikiLeaks, twice labeling the website as only a "messenger" for the documents. Both Lauer and NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell insisted the State Department "crossed a line" by ordering diplomats to spy on foreign diplomats at the United…
Lauer Just Can't Seem To Recall Couric at Parade
A painful period he'd rather forget?
Asked to name the person who preceded Meredith Vieira as his Today sidekick, Matt Lauer declined to mention Katie Couric, claiming "there was no one ever. No one came before Meredith."
Matt's convenient case of amnesia came in response to a question from Robin Hall, who is celebrating his 10th and last year as executive producer of Macy's…
NBC's O'Donnell: Palin 'Rips the Heart Out of Her Opponents' in New Bo
NBC correspondent Norah O'Donnell hyped Sarah Palin's criticism of her liberal opponents on Tuesday's Today show, stating that the former governor "rips the heart out of some of her opponents" in her new book. O'Donnell stated that Palin, "in very personal terms, also questions the President's [Obama's] patriotism, concluding he has 'a stark lack of faith in the American people.'"
The…
CNN Misinterprets Pope's Condom Remarks; NBC Offers Accurate Coverage
On Monday's Newsroom, CNN's Kyra Phillips gave a false impression of Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments about condoms. While the Pope stated that condom use "can be a first step...on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed," Phillips stated that the pontiff "says condoms are okay sometimes." Refreshingly, Monday's Today show on NBC accurately covered Benedict's…
Networks Hype GOP Division Over Palin, Claim She's 'On the Verge of Ov
On Monday, all three network morning show's eagerly highlighted former First Lady Barbara Bush voicing opposition to a Sarah Palin presidential run while suggesting the former Alaska governor has spent too much time in the public eye. As Harry Smith proclaimed at the top of CBS's Early Show: "It's all Palin all the time. But could the most famous family from Alaska be on the verge of…
Network Double Standard: Obama’s TSA Gropers vs. Bush’s NSA Eavesd
While the broadcast networks have generally empathized with the distress of airline passengers over the TSA’s new and intrusive airport searches, they have not — thus far, at least — gone so far as to impugn the Obama administration as launching a war against Americans’ civil liberties.
Indeed, NBC’s Matt Lauer on Monday even sympathized with TSA Administrator John Pistole: “I hate to even…
NBC Offers Soft Spin on Invasive TSA Screenings, ABC, CBS Highlight 'O
NBC's Today on on Monday offered the most sympathetic take on the growing outrage over invasive pat downs being conducted at airports by the Transportation Security Administration. While ABC highlighted "outrage" and CBS observed how some find the procedures "violating," Today host Matt Lauer worried about the government "caving" on the policy.
All three morning shows interviewed TSA…
David Gregory to Hillary Clinton: Might GOP Hurt U.S. Prestige and Oba
David Gregory is clearly concerned that if Republicans don't vote in favor of the START treaty with Russia, President Obama's international image, as well as American prestige abroad, will be damaged.
On Sunday's "Meet the Press," Gregory asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, "Is this going to potentially be a problem with the president not being able to get what he wants on the world…
Bush Yucks It Up With Jay Leno
Former President George W. Bush went on the "Tonight Show" Thursday, and had a marvelous time swapping jokes with Jay Leno.
As most folks are like him and go to bed before this airs, here's the entire segment for your entertainment pleasure:
Lauer to Lisa Murkowski: Will You Stand Up to Republicans Who Want Oba
NBC's Matt Lauer, on Thursday's Today show, invited on Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski to applaud her presumptive write-in ballot win over Republican candidate Joe Miller and asked if she would now "stand up against" Republicans "who may feel that the only way for them to succeed" is for Barack Obama to fail. After Lauer went through the perfunctory congratulations, he asked the candidate who…
CBS Spins Civilian Court Debacle of Detainee as a Setback for the 'Gov
Of the three morning shows on Thursday, only CBS left out any mention of Barack Obama or Attorney General Eric Holder while reporting on the nearly complete acquittal of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee.
Early Show news anchor Erica Hill asserted that "the verdict is in for the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried in a civilian court and it is being seen by some as a serious setback for the…
ClimateGate 1 Year Later: Networks Barely Cover Scandal, But Defend an
It’s been a year since thousands of emails and files were leaked from a prominent climate science group at the University of East Anglia, with startling comments including this one: “We can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment.”
Other leaked emails showed potential manipulation of temperature data, a willingness to destroy information rather than release it under the British…
Networks Allow a Scant Four Minutes For Rangel Conviction, Devote
Tuesday's evening news broadcasts and Wednesday's morning shows allowed a scant four and a half minutes of coverage to the conviction of powerful Democrat Charlie Rangel over ethics charges. In comparison, these same programs devoted 121 minutes to exhaustively examining every aspect of the announcement that Prince William is getting married, a disparity of 30 to one.
NBC's Today featured the…
