1. NBC/MSNBC Team Up to Repress Anti-Kerry Ad, Fret Over "Loophole" NBC Nightly News and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann on Friday night denounced the ad from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, treating the group's expression of free speech as a "loophole" in campaign finance law that must be plugged. Unencumbered by any restrictions on their free speech, NBC's Tom Brokaw and Andrea Mitchell and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann launched their own independent attack on the Vietnam vets who are detractors of John Kerry in order to discredit those with a viewpoint NBC/MSNBC apparently wants to keep hidden from the American... continue reading
1. Nets Condemn Anti-Kerry Ad by Vets and Focus on Bush's 7 Minutes CBS, CNN and MSNBC on Thursday night decried a new anti-Kerry TV ad produced by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. CBS anchor John Roberts stressed criticism of it: "A harsh new television ad that attacks John Kerry is being denounced as quote, 'dishonest and dishonorable' by a Bush supporter, Republican Senator John McCain." (Just last week on the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather trumpeted "John Kerry's band of brothers from Vietnam on one last mission.") CNN's NewsNight didn't inform viewers of the views of the veterans in... continue reading
1. Olbermann Lashes Out at Editorial that Cited CyberAlert Quote On a day when both the New York Times and NBC News reported fresh intelligence about active al-Qaeda moves inside the U.S., MSNBC's Keith Olbermann lashed out at an editorial "in a thing called the Investor's Business Daily," which had picked up on a CyberAlert quotation of Olbermann, to denounce it for supposedly doubting his patriotism when he questioned if politics were behind Sunday's terror warning: "I got ripped. Anybody who said anything other than, 'Yes, sir, Homeland Security, thank you for the information, we'll do what you say,' was... continue reading
1. Franks Admits "Combat Over" His Idea, Koppel Takes Shots at Bush ABC's Ted Koppel plowed right through retired General Tommy Franks' admission that President Bush's May 2003 announcement that major combat was over was his idea, motivated by a desire to bring "closure" to troops and to convince nations which promised troop support as soon as combat was complete to provide those troops. But instead of exploring those rationale, Koppel fired at Franks with snooty statements about President Bush, such as, "you didn't suggest he put on a flight suit and sit backseat on a plane landing on an... continue reading
1. CBS Trumpeted Gore's Bounce, But CBS Ignores Kerry's Non-Bounce Kerry's non-bounce doused by CBS. Four years ago, on the Monday after the Democratic convention, August 21, CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer introduced a full story by trumpeting how "a CBS News poll out tonight shows that Al Gore got a big boost from the Democratic convention. He's up ten points and is now in a dead heat with George W. Bush." But this year, after a CBS News poll found no bounce for John Kerry as he held at 49 percent, the CBS Evening News didn't find their... continue reading
1. ABC News on Ridge's Sunday Warning: "Timing Smacks of Politics" Politically-inspired terror warning? Barely four hours after Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge announced specific terrorist targets in New York City and Washington, DC, ABC anchor Don Dahler recalled how "the last press conference that Secretary Ridge made happened to fall right after Senator Edwards was announced as a vice presidential candidate" and "there are those who are already saying that the timing smacks of politics." Richard Clarke, now an ABC consultant, rejected the notion, but nonetheless rebuked Ridge for how Ridge went "out of his way to praise... continue reading
1. ABC Continues Praising Kerry Speech: "Doubts Dispelled." On Friday morning, network news reporters continued their praise of John Kerry's Thursday night convention speech. ABC's Charles Gibson was thrilled: "For those who doubted John Kerry could pull off a stirring speech, doubts dispelled. For those who doubted John Kerry could unite a traditionally fractious party, doubts dispelled." George Stephanopoulos was even more over the top: "John Kerry went out there and he went right into the teeth of Republican issues. I mean, it was the political equivalent of turning toward enemy fire and charging the hill." 2. CBS Political Analyst... continue reading
1. Rave Reviews for Delivery and Substance of Kerry's Speech Rave reviews for the delivery, and mostly too for the substance, of Democratic Party presidential candidate John Kerry's Thursday night convention speech. "This is the best speech I have ever heard John Kerry make," CBS's Bob Schieffer decided. "The best speech I've ever seen John Kerry deliver, by a mile," echoed ABC's Mark Halperin after George Stephanopoulos agreed Kerry "drew blood" with his remarks, pointing to how Kerry said "that he will wage the war with the lessons he learned in war. That's going to be tough for the Republicans... continue reading
1. Gush Over Edwards, Pitts: Now Up to Kerry to Give Party "Soul" The moment Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards finished his Wednesday night speech, the ebullience for Edwards and John Kerry could certainly be felt from some network reporters. CBS's Byron Pitts gushed: "He took this massive convention center and turned it into a courtroom, some 15,000 people into 12 jurors, and he spoke to each one. If John Edwards put the face on the Democratic Party, youthful and hopeful, it will be Senator John Kerry's job tomorrow night to give it its soul." John Roberts passed along... continue reading
1. CBS's Byron Pitts Narrates Fawning Profile of John Kerry On Thursday's Early Show, CBS's Byron Pitts narrated a profile of John Kerry that could easily pass for a Democratic campaign commercial. The more than three-minute story included quotes only from Kerry, his wife, laudatory soundbites from liberal Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant, and Pitts' fawning narration: "Tonight's acceptance of the Democratic nomination is more than merely a day, it's his destiny." 2. CBS Again Avoids Sharpton Rant, But NBC's Couric Presses Him As CBS did during their Wednesday night convention coverage, CBS's Early Show failed to mention Al Sharpton's... continue reading