1. NBC Sees "Extreme" & "Hardline" Gay Marriage View Only on Right By nearly two-to-one, 59 percent to 32 percent, Americans oppose gay marriage, but on Wednesday night NBC's Jim Avila portrayed Republicans and conservatives as the ones who could turn off voters on the issue. He saw the "extreme" and "hardline" position on as the right against gay marriage, not on the left for it. "Swing voters," Avila warned, "are often turned off by extreme rhetoric" and he found a couple turned off by Republican "hardline rhetoric." Avila charged that "this year's trap for the Bush campaign, say political... continue reading
1. Networks Stress Anti-Bush Protests in Britain Over Pro-Bush Poll Silencing the silent majority in Britain. A poll published in the left-wing Guardian newspaper in London discovered that 62 percent see the U.S. as "a force for good, not evil" and, by 43 percent to 36 percent, more welcome than don't Bush's visit. CNN's Aaron Brown noted a Guardian headline, "Majority Backs Bush Visit," then sarcastically mused: "A cynic might say yes, all the better to protest." The other networks on Tuesday night stressed protest and anger at Bush over the more cordial poll numbers. ABC's Peter Jennings asserted that... continue reading
1. Networks Rue How Schwarzenegger's Car Tax Cut Will Swell Deficit Hours after Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as Governor, the networks painted his decision, to fulfill a promise and rescind a 300 percent hike in the car tax, as an irresponsible act which will increase the deficit. ABC's Brian Rooney deplored how "after running for Governor because the state had an enormous deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger's first official act was to plunge California another $4 billion further into debt." On CBS Monday night, Dan Rather charged that "his first act added billions to the projected deficit." NBC's Tom Brokaw insisted... continue reading
1. Clift Calls Dean "Mainstream," Dionne Insists He's "Centrist" Howard Dean: A mainstream centrist? On the McLaughlin Group over the weekend, Newsweek's Eleanor Clift rejected Pat Buchanan's characterization of Dean's "radicalism," insisting: "What you call radical, Pat, the rest of us call mainstream." Over on CNN's Capital Gang on Saturday night, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne asserted that Dean "is a closet centrist" and the Wall Street Journal's Al Hunt echoed: "He's not really a liberal." 2. Stephanopoulos Ignores Spending: "What Taxes Would You Raise?" George Stephanopoulos' one-track mind: Reduce the deficit by raising taxes, not cutting spending. After gushing... continue reading
1. Nets Portray Both Parties as Equally Guilty of Blocking Nominees Network stories this week have ignored the unprecedented nature of the Democratic tactic in the Senate to use the filibuster threat to block votes on judicial nominees voted favorably out of the Judiciary Committee and supported by the majority. Instead, both parties have been painted as equally guilty of playing political games in efforts to block the nominees of a President from the other party. For example, on Thursday night's NBC Nightly News, without explaining how they are unconstitutional, Chip Reid noted how "Republicans say the Democrats' tactics are... continue reading
1. ABC Rebukes GOP, Ignores Unprecedented Democratic Filibuster Peter Jennings and Linda Douglass failed to inform viewers of how Democrats are using the filibuster threat in an unprecedented manner as Jennings referred only to how Democrats "object" to some judicial nominees while, surreally, Jennings described how "the Democrats say they're doing what the Constitution requires." Douglass relayed a Democratic talking point about how "the Senate has approved 98 percent of Mr. Bush's judges this year, compared to 61 percent approved in Bill Clinton's last two years" and, without explanation, she noted how Republicans "said Democrats are using unconstitutional tricks." She... continue reading
1. NBC Cues Up Talking Points for Daschle, Pounds at Richard Myers NBC's Today this week went soft on a politician but hit hard at a military man. On Monday, Matt Lauer tossed a series of softballs to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, prompting him to agree with criticisms of Bush policy and to praise the Democratic presidential candidates. The next morning, however, Katie Couric marked Veterans day by criticizing the war effort as she pounded at Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers on a political level, raising the lack of weapons of mass destruction, noting declining support as... continue reading
1. NPR's $200 Million Benefactor Saw It as "Objective," Not Liberal Most unintentionally ludicrous claim of the year: In a Washington Post story on Friday about Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, leaving $200 million in her will to National Public Radio (NPR), the spokesman for Kroc's estate maintained: "'She was a bit of a news nut,' said Dick Starmann, Kroc's longtime friend and spokesman. 'She loved NPR and its unfiltered presentation of the news....It wasn't liberal and it wasn't conservative. It was as objective as you're going to find.'" 2. ABC News/ Time Joint Effort Describes... continue reading
1. FNC's Gabler Misconstrues MRC Report on CBS News Reagan-Bashing FNC's Neil Gabler isn't very good at discerning what's on CBS News and what is not. Friday night on FNC's Hannity & Colmes, Gabler, who holds the liberal slot on FNC's Fox Newswatch, filled in for Alan Colmes. After Sean Hannity recited two Reagan-bashing quotes from Lesley Stahl as listed in a Media Reality Check distributed by the MRC, Gabler rejected the notion that the collection of quotes proved hostility by CBS News toward Ronald Reagan since "only two of the seven statements" in the MRC report "were made on... continue reading
1. CBS Rues "Cost" of War, Cites Greenspan But Skips Anti-Tax View Downbeat Dan. Dan Rather opened Thursday's CBS Evening News by reciting "the cost of the War in Iraq measured in lives of the brave," a "mounting federal debt" and a reservist who has declared bankruptcy. John Roberts warned that the new "spending has the nation's top money man worried that the bill will come back to bite Americans. Alan Greenspan said today the long term effects of deepening debt 'could have notable, destabilizing effects on the economy' and put at risk Social Security and Medicare benefits for retiring... continue reading