ABC Touts Calderon's 'Sharp Words' Swipe at U.S. for Inadequate Gun La
With “Sharp Words” forming the on-screen graphic, ABC anchor Diane Sawyer on Thursday night championed the domestic gun control argument espoused by a foreign leader trying to shift the blame for his nation's criminal activity, a remark neither CBS nor NBC found newsworthy:Mexico's President Felipe Calderon today challenged a joint session of Congress on gun control, asking that they reinstate a…
NBC and CBS Repeatedly Touted Liberals' 'Boycott' of Arizona; Silent o
All three broadcast evening newscasts have repeatedly touted, as if it is a valid representation of national sentiment, the “boycott” of Arizona by liberal municipalities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles. But when the Arizona Corporation Commissioner on Tuesday made a tongue-in-cheek offer to help Los Angeles out in its boycott by shutting off the electricity flow, CBS and NBC were silent.…
On Oil, Mining and Banking Media Favor Regulation, Barely Notice Failu
Since Obama took office, there's been a leftward swing toward increased regulation. The news media have supported that tilt, generally failing to demand explanations for high profile failures of government regulators. From the financial crisis to the Gulf oil spill, a recent string of problems exposed serious failures of government regulators that are supposed to protect the public. But…
Nets All Showcase Fearful 2nd Grader's Question to FLOTUS on Lacking
ABC, CBS and NBC all showcased a second grader's question to First Lady Michelle Obama, about her apparently illegal mother. The girl pleaded: “Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn't have papers,” but “my mom doesn't have papers.” ABC suggested it demonstrates the need for immigration “reform” as anchor Diane Sawyer proposed “a child's fear brings a new focus to the debate” since “the…
Voters Throwing Out Pols Who Work Across Party Lines, Stephanopoulos F
After ABC's Jonathan Karl painted Senator Arlen Specter's (D-R-D-PA) troubles as emblematic of how “the national anti-incumbent wave has hit Pennsylvania” (complete with a matching full screen graphic), George Stephanopoulos fretted on World News about how voters say “they want the parties to work together, yet they seem to be most against now the Senators, the incumbents, who did work across…
As Polls Show Overwhelming Support for Arizona's Law, Nets Focus on 'U
The night after two major national polls confirmed overwhelming majorities support Arizona's impending immigration enforcement statute (59 percent per Pew and 64 percent per NBC/WSJ), CBS and ABC promoted the cause of activists in the minority. Both devoted full stories to the “uproar” and “emotional civil war” over the law and moves by a few liberal local government bodies to enact boycotts,…
Double Standard Anyone? Ten Times More 'Conservative' Labels for Alito
As the MRC’s Tim Graham documented yesterday, ABC and NBC's morning and evening newscasts have so far refused to tag Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan as a “liberal,” with CBS’s Jan Crawford offering the sole ideological label of the nominee on Monday's Evening News: “Her career has put her solidly on the left.”In contrast, all three networks made a major deal out of the last person nominated by…
Big Three Nets' Evening News Dives Deepen
Five weeks ago (covered at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), the Big Three Networks' combined evening news audiences dropped to below 20 million -- an audience about 5% less than what Matt Drudge in the summer of 2006 headlined as “TV’s Lowest Week.” Three weeks ago (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), their combined audience came in at 19.61 million, down over 12% from the previous year. For the week of…
Only CBS IDs Kagan as on Left; Others Tout Her as 'Powerhouse,' 'Accom
In quite a contrast to the immediate tagging of the Bush and Obama Supreme Court nominees as “conservative” (and that includes Sonya Sotomayor), on Monday night ABC and NBC refrained from applying any ideological description to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan while CBS snuck in one. CBS's Jan Crawford declared “her career has put her solidly on the left,” but contended “she will have…
Networks Fail to Distinguish Between Xenophobia and Law Enforcement
Liberal political pundits frequently remind Americans that words matter, which makes broadcast network reporters' coverage of Arizona's new crack down on illegal immigrants so appalling. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a law on April 23 that would make it a misdemeanor for immigrants to not carry documentation proving they are in the country legally. The bill gave state law enforcement the…
ABC Sees Optimistic Terrorist: Wife Enjoys American Sit-Coms While He
Before “a disturbing change” of character in early 2009, arrested terrorist Faisal Shahzad, ABC's Chris Cuomo asserted Tuesday night, “seemed to be living the American dream” with a wife whose Facebook page “says she loves Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends” while “his signature seems to suggest optimism -- it appears a heart is dotting the 'i' in Faisal” in a job application found outside his…
Nets Celebrate May Day Pro-Illegal Immigrant Protests, Barely Mention
“Angry backlash from coast to coast,” ABC’s David Muir teased Saturday’s World News, “huge rallies across this country tonight against that new controversial immigration law.” On CBS, Jeff Glor teased: “May Day Message. Immigrant right groups rally from coast to coast against Arizona's controversial new law.”ABC reporter Eric Horng touted how “this is the fifth year in a row that nationwide…
CBS Ignores, NBC Reports and ABC Frets Over Supreme Court Ruling of Mo
Given the contentious debate over the proper role of religion in American public life, you'd think an important Supreme Court ruling on the issue would be a big story to the network news. But the Court's April 28 finding regarding a cross on a World War I memorial in the Mojave Desert elicited a yawn from CBS's "Evening News," a 78-word report from NBC's "Nightly News," and a one-sided segment…
ABC and NBC Champion ‘Growing National Backlash’ Against ‘Laughi
Extending the kind of respect they never provided the Tea Party activists, ABC and NBC on Tuesday night promoted what NBC anchor Brian Williams embraced as “the growing national backlash against the state of Arizona over its tough new immigration law that says police can stop people just on the suspicion they might be there illegally.” ABC’s Barbara Pinto touted how “the call for an economic…
