Coverage of Bitter Former CMS Head Berwick's Speech Ignores His Suppor

December 9th, 2011 2:58 PM
Awwww. Don Berwick is unhappy. In a speech at the annual conference of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement excerpted at the Boston Globe's White Coat Notes blog, the man whom Congress would not confirm as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator seventeen months after President Obama gave him a recess appointment lashed out at his critics, especially their use of…

NBC's Chuck Todd Lets Obama Off the Hook on Controversial Berwick Appo

July 16th, 2010 11:05 AM
NBC's chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd, in an interview with the President that was aired on Friday's Today show, actually questioned Barack Obama about his controversial recess appointment of the pro-health care rationing Dr. Donald Berwick to head Medicare, something, as Newsbusters has documented the networks have vastly ignored. However, Todd never explained to viewers why the…

NBC Offers Additional 35 Seconds to Story of Controversial Medicare Ap

July 9th, 2010 11:53 AM
NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams on Thursday became the first evening news broadcast to cover the recess appointment of Donald Berwick to run Medicare. Anchor Brian Williams asserted that "Republicans are angry, claiming it's antagonistic." He also observed, "Berwick has spoken about the need to ration medical care to control costs." NBC has offered the most reporting on Berwick: 20 seconds…

Evening Newscasts Downplay or Ignore Obama Appointee Berwick’s Pro-S

July 9th, 2010 10:27 AM
President Obama’s recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick – a controversial advocate of socialized medicine and of government rationing of health care, particularly for the elderly – as head of the Medicare and Medicaid programs has so far received no attention on ABC’s World News or on the CBS Evening News, while the NBC Nightly News on Thursday devoted just 38 seconds to the President’s…

Dems Inaccurately Claim GOP Blocked Berwick Nomination, Media Happy to

July 8th, 2010 12:34 PM
The GOP as the party of obstructionism: it's a tried and true media meme, but very often falls a tad short of the truth. Yet on occasion, even stubborn facts are not enough to dispel such accusations.Some in the media have taken President Obama's recess appointment of Donald Berwick to the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as an occasion to bash purportedly obstructionist…

Morning Shows Devote 52 Minutes to Lindsay Lohan, a Scant 20 Seconds t

July 8th, 2010 12:13 PM
Over the span of two days, the network morning shows have given just 20 seconds of coverage to the recess appointment of Donald Berwick, a pro-rationing doctor who will run Medicare. In contrast, Good Morning America, Today and Early Show devoted 52 minutes of coverage to every detail of Lindsay Lohan's sentencing. On Wednesday and Thursday's GMA, ABC hosts discussed Lohan for 14 minutes. CBS's…

Time: Obama Avoiding 'Nasty Confirmation Fight' of 'Unabashed' British

July 7th, 2010 11:32 AM
Last night the White House announced a recess appointment for a man who's gone on record praising Britain's one-size-fits-all single-payer National Health Service to head up the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Covering the development, Time magazine's Adam Sorensen cast the appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick (pictured at right) as a blow to "hyperbolic" Republicans who hoped to make…

Time Magazine Introduces Radical Obama Nominee, Says He's Not Radical

May 13th, 2010 10:17 PM
"Any health care funding plan that is just, equitable, civilized and humane must, must redistribute wealth from the richer among us to the poorer and the less fortunate. Excellent health care is by definition redistributional. Britain, you chose well." Was that a British socialist speaking in Parliament? Nope. It was Dr. Donald Berwick, a Harvard professor about to face Senate confirmation as…