PBS

Tim Russert used to say “If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.” Of David Brooks, we might joke, “If it’s Friday, Brooks is bashing Ted Cruz.” On both NPR and PBS Friday, the purported conservative-leaning balance to public broadcasting’s natural socialist impulses insisted the problem was that Cruz was just too smart. On NPR’s All Things Considered, the headline for the week-in-politics segment…

Actress Cynthia Nixon couldn’t be happier with the job ultra-liberal New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is doing as she gushed to Charlie Rose: “I think he’s doing amazingly...He is a big, bold progressive and he has an...incredibly ambitious agenda...When I look at the things he’s done in such a short time...it makes my head spin.”

Charlie Rose, on his PBS show, couldn’t resist asking actor Kevin Spacey about his “bromance” with former President Bill Clinton. The star of House of Cards -- whom CNN recently hired for their documentary on the 2016 presidential candidates -- revealed how tight he is with the ex-president. Spacey: "I was a true friend. And never doubted him, never stopped believing in him. Thought he was an…

The political writing team of John Heilemann and Mark Halperin came on Charlie Rose’s PBS show, on Tuesday, to dissect Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal press conference and while the two were mostly critical, Halperin was definitely the softer of the two as he thought Hillary could escape yet another scandal: “I think her performance today is enough to have Democrats come back into her corner...…

On Friday, March 6, liberal columnist Mark Shields used his weekly appearance on PBS NewsHour to harshly criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress. Speaking to co-host Judy Woodruff, Shields proclaimed that Netanyahu “made a very impassioned, I would say, eloquent indictment, criticism of the president’s policy. The Republicans were rapturous. They were…

Leave it to a writer at Mother Jones to dispense condescending healthy eating advice while serving up a side dish of alleged historical racism with a tincture of capitalism bashing. Kiera Butler, a senior editor there, didn't have to engage in either exercise to make her nutritional points, which may have some validity. She must have felt that her primary headline ("Why You Should Stop Eating…

On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, New York Times columnists David Brooks and Mark Shields used their weekly appearance to trash the attendees of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as representing the extreme far right of the Republican Party. 

Anyone who thinks the PBS NewsHour is a calm, rather nonpartisan forum on politics where no one does any trash-talking hasn’t seen Mark Shields on Fridays. On Friday, Shields trashed Jeb Bush as a bumbler, and then just insulted governors Scott Walker and Chris Christie as “total novices” on foreign policy, like he’s a standup comedian. But eight years ago, Shields said only "serious candidates…

When it came to the major broadcast networks covering the full congressional passage of the Keystone XL oil pipeline on their Wednesday night newscasts, ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir and the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley chose to ignore the story completely and left their viewers in the dark on this issue. Meanwhile, NBC Nightly News made it the second topic covered on its…

On Friday’s PBS NewsHour, New York Times columnist David Brooks and PBS commentator Mark Shields teamed up to praise President Obama’s controversial remarks about Christianity at the National Prayer Breakfast as well as to shame the GOP over two potential presidential candidates' recent vaccine gaffes. Speaking to co-host Judy Woodruff, Brooks slammed Senator Rand Paul and Governor Chris Christie…

The U.S. Senate took the step Thursday of approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline in a bipartisan fashion by a margin of 62-to-36, with nine Democrats joining 53 Republicans to pass it for the first time after failing to do so under the previous Congress.  When the major English and Spanish language networks aired their Thursday evening newscasts, however, the news of the bill’s passage was…

The State of the Union coverage on PBS last night had a slightly bizarre analysis as the speech ended. PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill jumped in over the applause and said Obama “talked about this being a breakthrough year for America and he seems to be taking on a victory lap.” Later, David Brooks said it was a "very liberal speech" and professed amazement that Obama pretended he hadn't been…

Appearing on PBS's Charlie Rose Tuesday night following President Obama's State of the Union address, Bloomberg View columnist Al Hunt praised it as "one of the best speeches of his presidency" and "remarkably effective," before admitting: "I don't think he's going to get much done....This is not a cycle where you get much done. He may get a little stuff on trade and infrastructure."

New York Times columnist David Brooks shows up every Friday on NPR and PBS to sound very moderate in the microphones, which usually means taking an immoderate swipe at conservatives. On both All Things Considered and the NewsHour on Friday, he slammed House conservatives by associating them with Fox News and their fans. On PBS, Brooks compared to the House vote to block funding for Obama’s…