Skank-o-ween 2008 and Scary Sarah Palin

October 31st, 2008 2:01 PM
My 14-year-old daughter informed me that the many of the young teens in her school are dressing up as Sarah Palin for Halloween.  Given that she attends school in very blue Northern Virginia, I asked her if the girls were dressing up as Governor Palin because they thought she was "scary.""Oh, yes," she replied.Well, at least they'll be dressed conservatively.  A few less skankily-clad kids…

Cher Endorses Obama, Bashes Bush on 'Today

October 30th, 2008 5:52 PM
NBC's "Today" show, on Thursday, aired an "Access Hollywood," clip of Cher wearing a "Barack the Vote," t-shirt as she actually bashed George W. Bush, to his first cousin's face. The President's first cousin, and "Access Hollywood," host Billy Bush conducted the interview in which Cher declared: "I've been alive for 11 presidents and I feel that this is the worst time I've ever seen," and called…

NBC's Andrea Mitchell: Even the Weather is Against McCain

October 29th, 2008 12:16 PM
NBC's Andrea Mitchell devoted virtually her entire story, on Wednesday's "Today" show, to jotting down all the negatives going against the McCain campaign including Obama's advantages in fundraising, ad time, the polls and even the weather as she passed along this omen: Still at a time when everything can be viewed as a sign of how things are going, they [McCain campaign] called off their midday…

New CMI Study Reveals Three Major Media Narratives about Sarah Palin

October 29th, 2008 9:00 AM
In a just released study, "A Study in Character Assassination: How the TV Networks Have Portrayed Sarah Palin as Dunce or Demon," CMI analysts found that ABC, CBS and NBC are airing 18 negative stories for every one positive story on Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate. Is it any wonder that polls revealed a 17 percent increase in Palin's unfavorability ratings in just one…

Matthews Mocks Mention of Tightening Polls

October 29th, 2008 8:20 AM
If Obama wins on Tuesday night, Chris Matthews's mocking this morning of the notion that the polls are tightening will be soon forgotten.  But if McCain pulls off the upset, Matthews's smirking triumphalism will take its place in the halls of journalistic hubris near the famous photo of Harry Truman holding up the Dewey Defeats Truman front page.Just before Matthews came on, Andrea Mitchell ended…

NBC's Ron Mott Boasts Texas 'Surprisingly Competitive' for Obama

October 28th, 2008 1:02 PM
Well the media has officially gotten cocky when they start predicting that the reddest of red states could be in play for Barack Obama, and that's precisely what NBC's Ron Mott did on Tuesday's "Today" show, when he cheered that Texas, "May be surprisingly competitive." [audio excerpt available here]In a report on early voting, Mott noted the long lines for those willing to participate in early…

ABC and CBS Morning Shows Skip Obama 'Redistribution of Wealth' Tape

October 28th, 2008 12:39 PM

Broadcast Morning Shows Bury Obama Redistributionist Radio Rap

October 27th, 2008 8:33 AM
Imagine that a week before a presidential election, a radio interview surfaced in which the Republican candidate had called for, say, the abolition of Social Security. Now imagine the broadcast networks' reaction to that nugget: "We interrupt regularly-scheduled programming for this Breaking News," followed by 24/7 coverage with talking heads pondering the devastating impact on America's seniors…

Imperial Brian Williams Huffs: I Had to Wait '55 Days' to Talk to Pali

October 23rd, 2008 11:03 AM
If observers of this campaign have learned one thing, it's that you had better not stand up David Letterman or Brian Williams if you hope to run for high office, lest you risk their diva-like wrath and pouting. Promoting his exclusive interview with John McCain and Sarah Palin, on Thursday's "Today" show the anchor of "NBC Nightly News" repeatedly complained about how long he had to wait to…

'Today' Pumps Bachmann 'Million Dollar Mistake,' Still Ignores Mahoney

October 22nd, 2008 12:52 PM

Gregory Uses Lefty Columnist Coleman to Blast Bachmann

October 22nd, 2008 9:31 AM
The NBC/MSNBC family of networks has been getting maximum mileage out of Chris Matthews's interview of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) last week.  Matthews himself has been recycling clips ever since. This morning, David Gregory narrated a Today show segment about the interview and its aftermath.  The only journalist whose views Gregory aired were those of Nick Coleman, columnist at the…

MSNBC Contributor Preaches on Eco-evils of Halloween

October 20th, 2008 5:12 PM
Forget zombies, vampires, ghosts and goblins. TodayShow.com contributor Marisa Belger is spooked by how eco-unfriendly Halloween is (via Daily Gut):Halloween can be an especially eco-unfriendly holiday. There’s the single-use plastic of red devil costumes, countless candy wrappers (not to mention the refined sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and artificial color of the candies themselves) and…

Lauer to Obama: How Will You 'Manage Expectations' of Being 'Messiah

October 20th, 2008 1:55 PM
Reciting all the messianic nicknames given to Barack Obama, such as "The One," "The Savior," and "The Messiah," NBC's Matt Lauer, on Monday's "Today" show asked the Democratic presidential nominee, how he will "manage" such great, "expectations." During an interview, aired in two parts in the first hour of "Today," Lauer rarely hit Obama with a tough question, instead choosing to focus on recent…

Naomi Cries Wolf: NBC Entertains Theory of Bush Fascism on 'Today

October 18th, 2008 2:22 PM