Kagan Hearings, Day 1: Evening Newscasts Downplay; NBC Offers Just
All three network evening newscasts on Monday downplayed the start of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings, with NBC Nightly News squeezing in just 24 seconds for Kagan at the tail end of a story about the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor the 2nd Amendment. For their part, CBS and ABC offered full stories outlining Kagan’s first day before the Judiciary committee after…
Matt Lauer Lectures: 'Our Appetite for Oil' Caused Spill
NBC's Matt Lauer, on Tuesday's Today show, blamed America's "appetite for oil" as the reason for the spill in the Gulf and asked former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw if the country will finally "take away the proper message" from the mess? For his part Brokaw responded that he hoped "young people who are coming of age" and entering public service and the corporate world will view the spill…
Five Out of Five Lib Journalists Agree: Obama's Big Government Push He
On the syndicated Chris Matthews show over the weekend, Chris Matthews praised Barack Obama for earning another "big feather" in his cap for getting his Wall Street reform bill passed and then went on to ask his panel if all of the other overbearing, big government laws signed in his term would lead to victory for the Democratic Party in the fall. Just before closing his show Matthews posed the…
Gossip Cop: Rosie O'Donnell Gets New Show, NBC Wants 'Implosion' Out C
The rumor mill concerning Rosie O'Donnell landing a new daytime show heated up Monday when Gossip Cop reported the comedienne is in talks with NBC.Apparently, the stumbling block is that the broadcasting company wants an out clause in case Rosie implodes like she did on ABC's "The View" three years ago.As NewsBusters reported on May 23, 2007, O'Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck got into quite a…
Networks Defend 'Consensus Builder' Kagan; Downplay Military Recruiter
The Monday morning shows on CBS, ABC, and NBC all worked to portray President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan as a moderate and open-minded legal scholar, downplaying her liberal views. All three network programs also minimized her controversial decision to ban military recruiters on campus while Dean of Harvard Law School.On CBS's Early Show, legal correspondent Jan Crawford touted…
VIDEO: Media Routinely Used 'Conservative' Label on Bush Nominees to S
When President Bush nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in 2005, the media did not hesitate to describe both men as "very conservative," but when President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan this year many in the press couldn't seem to identify any liberal ideology. The Media Research Center has produced a video compilation of examples to further…
Networks Lauding 'Brilliant' Obama on Petraeus Move Are Skipping Over
While the television networks were doing an Obama Superiority Dance, proclaiming the president's firing Gen. Stanley McChrystal and replacing him with Gen. David Petraeus was "brilliant," something was missing in the coverage. That was a sense that if Petraeus is universally honored as the savior of Iraq, why do the networks all forget it was Obama and Biden who suggested Petraeus and his surge…
NBC's Todd Defends Obama 'Twitters' Gaffe: 'Written Incorrectly in His
On NBC's Today on Friday, White House correspondent Chuck Todd preemptively dismissed any criticism of President Obama referring to "Twitters" during a joint press conference with Russian President Dimitri Medvedev on Thursday: "It turns out he didn't misstate it. It was written incorrectly in his prepared remarks."During Todd's report, a clip was played of Obama noting how in a visit to…
NBC: Obama's 'Commander-in-Chief' Moment with McChrystal a Hidden Bles
On Wednesday's Today show, NBC's Chuck Todd touted President Obama's "swiftness" in dealing with the controversy surrounding General Stanley McChrystal comments in Rolling Stone magazine as a "commander-in-chief moment," and hinted that it was a blessing in disguise, given the executive's tanking approval ratings.Todd led the 7 am Eastern hour with his report on the President appointing General…
Morning Shows Skip Sexual Assault Charge Against Al Gore
All three morning shows on Thursday ignored allegations of "unwanted sexual contact" by Al Gore against a woman in 2006. This is despite the fact that the claim was reported by the AP, the New York Times and the Washington Post. CBS's Early Show, NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America failed to mention the charges made by an Oregon massage therapist that Gore tried to have sex with her. Yet,…
Media-Backed Obama Mortgage Program Flops
Obama's home loan modification program was talked up by the bailout-friendly news media as a potential "ray of light" for struggling homeowners. But on June 21, Associated Press reported the mortgage assistance program is "falling flat." The broadcast networks supported the mortgage modification and housing bailout when Obama launched it in 2009, after criticizing Treasury Secretary…
MRC Study: Media Blackout of Supreme Court 'Battle
When President Obama picked Elena Kagan to replace Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the broadcast networks referred to the upcoming Senate confirmation process as “contentious” a “meat grinder” and a “battle,” warning Kagan was “in for a fight.”But a Media Research Center analysis of the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts in the six weeks since Kagan was nominated shows the broadcast…
NBC Guest: Obama White House a 'Team of Nine-Year-Olds
NBC's Today show on Wednesday refreshingly brought on a conservative guest who ripped the Obama administration's management of the war in Afghanistan. Daniel Goure of the Lexington Institute blasted the "dysfunctional organization" at the White House overseeing the war: "It's not a team of rivals. It's a team of nine-year-olds, and something needs to be done about that" [audio available here].…
Media Praise Obama's 'Brilliant' Handling of McChrystal Controversy
President Obama's decision to relieve General Stanley McChrystal of command in Afghanistan and replace him with General David Petraeus was met with a chorus of praise in the media, as anchors and pundits on CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC all sang in unison that it was a "brilliant" move. [Audio available here] During live special coverage leading up to the announcement in the 1PM ET hour on CBS, White…
