1. ABC Again Hypes Small Anti-War Protests Three months ago, after a story on protesters against an Iraq war, Peter Jennings promised: "On this broadcast in the days ahead, other voices." Those "other voices" have yet to get such air time, but on Sunday night ABC devoted another piece to how, as Judy Muller reported, "thousands of Americans this weekend demonstrated against war with Iraq" and that "more and more, these crowds are filled with middle-class Americans who have never demonstrated before." Muller hoped: "As more and more troops head overseas, more and more Americans may head for the streets."... continue reading
1. CBS Challenges Don Evans on Tax Cut But Not John Breaux On Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer and Washington Post reporter Dan Balz pressed Commerce Secretary Don Evans to justify the tax cut given how it will hike the deficit and is skewed toward the rich, but the duo refused to challenge Democratic Senator John Breaux. Balz lectured Evans: "You're doing an enormous amount for those at the upper end of the bracket, and for people who pay payroll and Social Security taxes but no income taxes you're doing nothing. What's the equity in a plan like that?" 2... continue reading
1. Trumpeting Lack of "Smoking Gun" to Justify Iraq War Iraq is obligated to prove it doesn't have improper weapons, not the other way around, but ABC and NBC on Thursday night pounced on how Hans Blix said his team had yet to find a "smoking gun." ABC's Peter Jennings trumpeted "problems for the Bush administration if it really wants to overthrow Saddam Hussein militarily." Tom Brokaw proclaimed how "the UN weapons inspectors say there is no smoking gun so far," before he demanded of Colin Powell: "Don't you have to have irrefutable evidence...a smoking gun of some kind before... continue reading
1. ABC Blames Bush But Ignores Soaring State Spending Spending by states soared by 39 percent over the past five years, but ABC on Wednesday night managed to air an entire story about the budget shortfalls in states, and how "President Bush's plan to stimulate the economy is going to make matters worse for them," without noting how much spending has grown -- but with reporter Betsy Stark citing how "several state officials we spoke to today said it would be impossible to balance their budgets with spending cuts alone." 2. Kim Jong Il "Rational" Until Bush Made Him Go... continue reading
1. Portraying the Tax Cuts Through a Liberal Prism "Mr. Bush's plan has unleashed a very political debate about whether it will stimulate the economy or just further enrich the wealthy," intoned ABC's Peter Jennings who ignored elements which would be implemented immediately as he focused on how the dividend tax cut would not matter until 2004. Jennings also worried about "how much is this going to cost the government?" and he noted how an ABC News poll found that 50 percent "believe the tax cuts... favor the rich." Profiling the impact on two families, Betsy Stark failed to point... continue reading
1. Bush's Tax Plan "Gives the Most to the Rich" The broadcast networks on Monday night, especially CBS, pushed the liberal spin that the Bush tax cut proposals will unfairly benefit the rich. Assuming all money belongs to the government, CBS's John Roberts insisted "the President's plan would give the most to the rich." CBS's Byron Pitts highlighted how "a middle class wife" saw Bush's plan as "little more than a feel-good gift that won't give much to most Americans -- especially the middle class." ABC's Peter Jennings conveyed how Democrats "say that it grossly favors the wealthy." 2. ABC... continue reading
1. CBS's Enron Movie Blames Reagan for Starting It All CBS's Sunday night movie, The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron, got in a few very straight shots at the company's ties to the Bush administration. In addition to comments made by characters, the producers superimposed images of left-wing actor Mike Farrell, who played Ken Lay, into photos with George H.W. and George W. Bush, as well as Dick Cheney. Plus, it opened with Brian Dennehy basking in how he could become "filthy, stinking rich" thanks to "Reagan in the White House, tax cuts, deregulation." 2. ABC & NBC... continue reading
1. Return to the "Fiscal Discipline" of Bill Clinton? Question of the night: On CNBC Andrea Mitchell characterized Bill Clinton as the avatar of "fiscal discipline." She asked just-announced Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards: "Do you think we need to return to the fiscal discipline that Bill Clinton espoused?" 2. Glowing Evaluations of John Edwards from ABC & NBC John Edwards earned glowing assessments. "He's young, smart, Southern, a self-made millionaire trial lawyer," gushed Matt Lauer on Thursday's Today. ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas highlighted how Edwards "made his name convincing juries to give enormous awards to people who suffered terrible... continue reading
1. Cal Thomas on FNC, NY Post & Mike Rosen Highlight Best of NQ Today's New York Post, Cal Thomas on his Saturday night FNC show and Mike Rosen in the Denver Rocky Mountain News last week, all highlighted their favorite quotes in the MRC's "Best Notable Quotables of 2002: The Fifteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting." 2. Third Runners-Up Quotes in the MRC's Annual Awards The third runners-up quotes in the MRC's "Best Notable Quotables of 2002: The Fifteenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting." Cal Thomas on FNC, NY Post & Mike Rosen Highlight Best... continue reading
1. This Week Brings Aboard Al Franken to Take Shots at Bush ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos invited liberal comedian/actor Al Franken to join Michel Martin and George Will on the roundtable. In the guise of wry observations, Franken got off some shots at President Bush as Franken claimed that between the two Bush administrations "there has not been one new net job created" so "that if the Bush's had run the country from the conception to the present no one in this country would have ever worked." Later, he took a swipe at the claim the Clinton administration... continue reading