Michelle Bernard: McCain's Moves 'Like an Epileptic Fit
September 30th, 2008 9:07 PM
How unbalanced was MSNBC's "Race for the White House" panel this evening? The two Obama-friendly panelists—Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and Richard Wolffe of Newsweek—were ostensibly offset by Philly radio talker Michael Smerconish and Independent Women's Forum head Michelle Bernard. But channeling Dem congressman James Clyburn on this morning's Today, Smerc called the House…
Andrea Mitchell Goes After Palin Again
September 30th, 2008 1:38 PM
For the second day in a row, NBC's Andrea Mitchell depicted Sarah Palin as a bumbling neophyte, as she claimed that even the McCain camp is concerned: "The McCain campaign is so worried about Palin's ability to debate Joe Biden, she's gone home with the McCains, for debate camp in Arizona." However Mitchell didn't point out that Joe Biden himself is taking time off the campaign trail to prep for…
Blame Game: Lauer Calls Clyburn Out
September 30th, 2008 8:27 AM
Let's award a point of light to Matt Lauer. On this morning's Today, he called out Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for calling for an end to the blame game . . . right after the congressman blamed John McCain for failing to rally his Arizona troops to vote for the bailout. But that didn't stop Clyburn from continuing to try to pin the tail on the elephant.JAMES CLYBURN: We promised 50% of our…
GE Signs Multi-Billion Iraq Deal: Time for NBC to Declare 'Civil War
September 29th, 2008 5:05 PM
On the November 27, 2006 edition of Today, as noted here, Matt Lauer portentously declared: After careful consideration, NBC News has decided the change in terminology is warranted and what is going on in Iraq can now be characterized as civil war.On that evening's Countdown, Keith Olbermann chimed in, suggesting that NBC's pronouncement was comparable to Walter Cronkite's 1968 declaration that…
Mitchell Uses Tina Fey to Pick On Palin
September 29th, 2008 12:22 PM
On Monday's "Today" show, NBC's Andrea Mitchell loved Tina Fey's parodying of Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live," so much that she played a clip the "30 Rock" star mocking Palin's inexperience, while simultaneously airing an actual clip of Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric, as Mitchell charged: "the reviews have been withering for her interview with Katie Couric, only her third since…
Liberal Media’s Debate Spin: No Winner, So Obama Won
September 27th, 2008 12:22 PM
Watching Saturday’s network morning shows, the talking heads seemed to agree that Friday night’s debate did not produce “a clear winner” or any “knockout punch,” and that it was unlikely that any “needle was moved” among undecided voters. Yet those same networks tried to also argue that Obama had really won the debate, superficially suggesting that McCain’s “disdainful” body language poorly…
Andrea's Pro-Obama Editor's Cut
September 27th, 2008 7:52 AM
Andrea Mitchell gave it the old Hollywood try for Obama this morning. Summarizing the debate on Today, Mitchell managed to cobble together a video clip that showed McCain's only stumble, while snipping out what many including her colleague Chris Matthews saw as the debate's most salient feature: the multiple times Obama expressed agreement with McCain.And so it was that Andrea treated us to…
Media Jumped on Pro-Obama Poll, But Was the Sample Screwy
September 26th, 2008 12:51 PM
Wednesday morning, ABC News and the Washington Post released a new poll showing Barack Obama leading John McCain by 9 points, 52% to 43%. The next day, NBC News and the Wall Street Journal released a poll showing a much tighter race — 48% for Obama, 46% for McCain.Any guesses as to which poll excited the press more? And which poll has come under fire for over-sampling Democrats?ABC, naturally,…
PBS Ombudsman Raps Anti-Palin Wisecrack
September 19th, 2008 9:33 PM
On PBS's Web site today, ombudsman Michael Getler writes of complaints over an incident during last Sunday's pledge drive. He describes the cheap shot taken by actor Mike Farrell against vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin:According to Joseph Campbell, vice president of fundraising programs, here's what happened:
Oops! Nets Wrong On Warming; Arctic Ice Still There
September 18th, 2008 8:36 AM
Wrong again! It must stink being a network global warming alarmist. They just can't seem to get their stories straight. It's only been a couple months when the networks were screaming about Arctic ice disappearing this summer. And, no surprise, they were entirely wrong. By 1.74 million square miles.As Maxwell Smart used to say: "Missed it by that much."Less than three months ago, NBC's Anne…
Vieira Challenges Begala on Obama's Lipstick Smear
September 11th, 2008 6:49 PM
On Thursday's "Today" show, co-host Meredith Vieira actually challenged former Clinton administration advisor Paul Begala about the significance of Barack Obama's recent "lipstick on a pig" comment. As was typical for this shameless pol, Begala viewed the McCain campaign's complaints concerning this remark as a distraction "from the fact that, you know, in the eyes of most people, the economy's…
