1. Big Three, But Not FNC, Frame Partial-Birth Around Left's Agenda The broadcast networks on Tuesday night, especially ABC and CBS, framed the Senate vote against partial-birth abortion around the agenda and terminology of abortion proponents, while all but ABC, which did so only vaguely, avoided describing the procedure, and none showed drawings of it -- all in stark contrast to FNC's approach. Dan Rather teased: "Abortion rights take a historic hit from Congress. What do women face?" Jennings and Rather outright refused to utter the phrase "partial-birth abortion." FNC's Brit Hume and Major Garrett appeared to be in a... continue reading
1. CBS Equates Malaysian PM's Anti-Jewish Screed with Boykin Remark CBS's John Roberts drew a parallel on Monday night between the hateful, anti-Jewish comments of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last week and of those of Lt. General William "Jerry" Boykin from months ago who painted the U.S. war on terrorism as a battle against Satan. Roberts complained that "White House officials, who were quick to condemn Mahathir's remarks as reprehensible, have yet to publicly criticize Boykin's comments." 2. Jennings & Johnson Shoot Down Anti-Universal Health Care Points ABC's "Critical Condition, Health Care in America" series: Critically Slanted, Part One... continue reading
1. Totenberg on Gen. Boykin: "I Hope He's Not Long for This World" Eight years after NPR's Nina Totenberg, on Inside Washington, wished death upon Senator Jesse Helms ("If there is retributive justice, he'll get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it"), on the same show over the weekend she seemingly desired to hasten the death of Army General Jerry Boykin for having supposedly expressed the view that the war on terrorism "is a Christian crusade against Muslims." Totenberg hatefully advocated: "I hope he's not long for this world." 2. NPR's Bob Edwards Unloads on... continue reading
1. Journalists Rebuke Army General's Christian Views as "Divisive" Stop the presses! A Christian man has expressed Christian views while speaking inside some Christian churches. A night after Tom Brokaw labeled the comments as "divisive" as he trumpeted how "NBC News has learned that a highly-decorated General has a history of outspoken and divisive views on religion, Islam in particular," the other networks piled on Thursday night, treating a few remarks made months ago by Lt. General Jerry Boykin as suddenly scandalous. ABC and CBS put up a "Holy Warrior" graphic as each teased their respective evening newscasts. Peter Jennings... continue reading
1. CBS Hypes as "New" Anti-Powell Charges Moyers Featured in June CBS hyped as "new questions tonight," allegations it played at the top of Wednesday's 60 Minutes II, from former State Department intelligence bureau official Greg Thielmann, that Secretary of State Colin Powell's February 5 presentation to the UN Security Council contained inaccurate and unsupportable claims about Iraq's pursuit of nuclear weapons. But CBS was playing loose with the facts in putting self-promotional marketing ahead of accuracy since CBS itself featured the same basic charge from Thielmann back on July 9 and he leveled his allegations, against Powell and other... continue reading
1. Bush Rebounds in Poll, But ABC Insists He "Doesn't Do That Well" "President Rallying Support in Polls: Rebound Sets Campaign Team into Action," declared the Washington Post headline Wednesday morning about a new Post/ABC News poll which "found the President's approval rating stabilizing," at 53 percent, "after a steady drop since Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was ousted in April." But ABC's Peter Jennings led World News Tonight the night before by declaring that in the very same poll "the President doesn't do that well." 2. Top Reporters Agree Media Too Soft on Bush, Too Tough on Clinton While the... continue reading
1. Rather Frets Over "Soldiers Caught Up in Propaganda Campaign" The networks on Monday treated as a major scandal a story that USA Today, which had it first, thought merited only the bottom of page 7. "U.S. soldiers caught up in an apparent propaganda campaign," Dan Rather teased at the top of the CBS Evening News as he demanded: "Who really wrote their letters home?" ABC dedicated a story to how the identical letter, signed by different soldiers in the same unit, appeared in a bunch of stateside newspapers a month ago. Peter Jennings offered an insight as to the... continue reading
1. CBS's Schieffer Fixates on How Schwarzenegger Must Raise Taxes CBS's Bob Schieffer displayed a fixation, on Sunday's Face the Nation, with getting his guests to agree that in order to fix California's problems, Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger must rescind his no tax hike pledge. Schieffer opened his program by asking: "How can he fix the state's fiscal problems without raising taxes?" Schieffer repeatedly pressed guest David Dreier on the issue and had the same question for Leon Panetta: "Can he do this without raising taxes?" 2. Al Hunt Urges Schwarzenegger to Raise Taxes Just Like Reagan Now that they can... continue reading
1. Nets Raise "Voodoo Economics," Push Arnold to Rescind Tax Pledge The day after Arnold Schwarzenegger's victory network reporters began their own recall campaign to have him rescind his no tax hike pledge. CBS and CNN even resurrected the derisive "voodoo economics" characterization as they worked to undermine the credibility of Schwarzenegger's pledge to balance the budget by cutting spending while holding the line on taxes. CBS's Jerry Bowen employed the "even Republicans" argument as he asserted: "Now Governor-elect Schwarzenegger has to talk specifics, how to balance the budget without raising taxes. Even some fellow Republicans say it can't be... continue reading
1. Mark Shields on Saturday: "The Recall Will, In Fact, Fail" Columnist Mark Shields owes a six pack to his Capital Gang colleagues, all of whom on Saturday predicted the recall would win while he bet a six pack that it would not. Shields had declared: "I will bet a six pack that the recall will, in fact, fail, closely." 2. Gergen Advises Schwarzenegger to Get Along by Raising Taxes Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger has won after a pledge to not raise taxes, what should he do? He should raise taxes, David Gergen of U.S. News & World Report advised... continue reading