Today

Since Obama's health care legislation has been signed into law, the media have been in overdrive about the backlash - whether it's been former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's "reload" metaphor "targeting" certain congressional districts or how Republican lawmakers have supposedly encouraged violence by their floor rhetoric. Media personalities and Tea Party movement detractors have been agog - saying…

CBS's Early Show and NBC's Today on Tuesday ignored the arrest of a man who was plotting to kill Republican Congressman Eric Cantor. ABC's Good Morning America mentioned the story only in a news brief in the 8am hour. Last week, however, GMA highlighted threats against Democrats and worried about "angry talk" from Sarah Palin. The Early Show may have ignored the story of Norman Leboon and the…

NBC's Matt Lauer, in an exclusive interview with the President on Tuesday's Today show, bought into Barack Obama's contention that opposition to the health care bill by Republicans was motivated solely by partisan and not ideological grounds as he underlined: "So you're saying it's all politics. It's, it's not about the inner workings of the bill, it's all politics" and clarified for the…

The Obama administration is trying out a second big-government remedy for people facing foreclosure, but NBC's "Today" failed to mention criticism of the initial program or provide any free-market solutions.  The White House has now tapped $14 billion in TARP funds to expand the administration's existing mortgage assistance program.  Matt Lauer introduced the "Today" show March 29 discussion of…

Laura Ingraham didn't waste any time getting into it with NBC's Matt Lauer, on Monday's Today, as the conservative talk show host and author took Lauer, his colleague George Lewis and MSNBC to task for their slanted reporting of Sarah Palin and the tea party. After a Lewis set-up piece, in which the reporter asked if Palin gets "people too riled up?" Ingraham, in her interview with Lauer, charged…

Picking up the Democratic line that her MSNBC colleagues started repeating yesterday, NBC's Ann Curry, on Thursday's Today show, continually harangued Senator John McCain about Republican lawmakers "encouraging the violence" against Democrats, and even urged the Arizona senator to condemn his former running mate Sarah Palin. After Curry recounted that the former Alaska governor had "posted a map…

On Wednesday, both NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America exclusively cited the latest Gallup/USA Today poll, which shows significantly more public support for ObamaCare than other recent polls. Both programs failed to mention several polls that continued to show public opposition to the massive legislation. NBC Today co-host Meredith Vieira used the Gallup poll to grill Republican Senator…

During a segment headlined: "Health Care Extremes, Obama Celebrates New Bill As Right Wing Rants" NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, on Wednesday's Today show, painted a stark contrast of cheery Obamacare supporters versus "conservative voices" full of "anger" and "hateful words" that are being provoked by Rush Limbaugh who is adding "fuel to the fire." O'Donnell began her piece with the Democrats…

At first glance it appeared Today viewers were in for a balanced segment with NBC's Meredith Vieira interviewing both Republican Senator Jim DeMint and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin about the health care bill bill on Wednesday's show. However Vieira saved her most slanted questions for DeMint as she mocked his earlier prediction of an Obamacare defeat being his Waterloo, "Is it now your party's…

NBC's Lester Holt, substitute hosting for Matt Lauer on Tuesday's Today show, questioned Michael Steele about the GOP taking a risk in its opposition to Obamacare as he explained a lot Americans have looked at the bill and found things they liked and pressed the RNC chairman: "Do you want to be in a position of taking something away?" For his part Steele fired back: "I disagree with your premise…

NBC's Meredith Vieira opened Monday's Today show declaring, "Good morning. It passed. Congress approves historic legislation to reform health care" and then a few seconds later noted, "Democrats are using words like 'historic' to describe the sweeping overhaul that was approved." Interesting to see the Today co-anchor acknowledge the Democratic theme and still use it, something that was done…

Jenna Wolfe's introduction of her guest on health-care on this morning's Today would surely have led viewers to believe he was an objective, apolitical voice.  What Wolfe didn't tell viewers is that Andrew Rubin is a HuffPo blogger and such an avid ObamaCare advocate that he urged his readers to call Congress to lobby for it. Here was Wolfe's intro: "The politics surrounding the health-care bill…

NBC's Savannah Guthrie gave little time to the GOP view on health care, on Monday's Today, as the reporter offered only one soundbite to a Republican compared to four Democrats in favor of the health care bill. In a report headlined: "One More Last Chance, Will Democrats Pass Health Care Reform This Week?" Guthrie began the piece: "Well we've said it before, but this is it. The White House press…