12 of 13 Top Slate Editors For Gore; Gumbel Baffled Gore Not Way Ahead; Rather Pre-Released His Spin -- Back to today's CyberAlert 1) 92 percent of people in editorial/news positions at a major Web site planned to vote for Gore, not one for Bush. Amongst the Gore backers at Slate.com: Veterans of Newsweek, U.S. News and the Washington Post. Slate is challenging other journalists to also come clean. 2) Bryant Gumbel was baffled this morning by why Gore, a "better qualified and more experienced" candidate is not way ahead given the "unparalleled prosperity." 3) Dan Rather revealed the spin... continue reading
"Too Close to Call"?; Sour on "Interminable Campaign"; "Gore!" an Actress Shouted on the Tonight Show; Dan Rather's Broken Promise -- Extra Edition 1) The networks predicted a very close race. "It's too close to call," insisted NBC's Tim Russert. CBS's Dan Rather claimed "it could be one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history." NBC's Katie Couric saw "the closest, least predictable presidential election in four decades." 2) ABC's Peter Jennings opened Monday night with a sour spin on the process as he cited the end of the "interminable campaign." 3) Actress Gillian Anderson used her election eve... continue reading
Gumbel Blind to Gore's Race-Baiting; Rosie O'Donnell Played Barbra's Anti-Bush Diatribe -- Back to today's CyberAlert 1) Media Reality Check. "What If Bush Called His Opponent 'Evil'? Vice President's Outrageous Rhetoric Is Largely Unrebuked During Campaign's Final Hours." CBS's Bryant Gumbel interviewed Al Gore Monday morning but didn't mention how Gore had likened Bush to an evil, slave-holding racist. 2) Morning show questions to Al and Tipper Gore. Gumbel posed a tough one to Al Gore, recounting how Gore claimed, "I need your help to take this country back." Gumbel wondered: "Back from whom?" 3) Rosie O'Donnell today played the... continue reading
Gore's Low Blows Ignored; Clinton Could've Used Bush's Excuse; Media Too Easy on Bush; Media Stars Predicted Gore Victory -- Extra Edition 1) Al Gore connected George Bush's pledge to appoint "strict-constructionist" judges to how blacks were once considered three-fifths a person and as Fox's Jim Angle put it, "suggested the election is a choice between good and evil." Both comments were raised during Sunday morning shows, but not Sunday night. 2) ABC and NBC on Sunday night relayed new poll numbers that put Bush ahead of Gore. NBC found Bush's drunk driving arrest was not considered relevant by 81... continue reading
Bush "Veracity" Questioned; Real Victim: Gore; FNC Unearthed Judge's Politics; Perot Spiked; Streisand's ABC Forum 1) Drunk driving disclosure undercut Bush trust message, the networks contended Friday night. Because Bush has "attacked Al Gore's credibility," ABC's Dean Reynolds argued, "his own veracity was suddenly drawing greater scrutiny." CBS's Bill Whitaker raised worries about damage to an "image as the honest antidote to the Clinton-Gore years." 2) The real victim of the Bush disclosure: Al Gore. "There was little rejoicing about this" by Gore's team, insisted NBC's Claire Shipman. ABC's Terry Moran stressed how the Gore camp is "worried it could... continue reading
Gore Pot Use Not Hyped; Last Year Networks Jumped on Bush & Drugs After Avoiding Rape Charge Against Clinton -- Back to today's CyberAlert or the Extra Edition 1) Media Reality Check. "Media Promote Last-Minute Anti-Bush Hit Job: Despite Being Smeared With Democratic Fingerprints, Networks Hype Story of Bush's 1976 Arrest." 2) "Another Late Hit: The media at work." An NR Online article about how "the media have not required solid evidence in the past to justify last-minute attack segments on surging Republican candidates." Remember Iraqgate and election-eve Weinberger indictment? And the networks never jumped on a Newsweek reporter's discovery... continue reading
No Leaker ID on Morning TV; Bush Failed "Smell Test"; Bush "Trust" Undercut and Couric Pushed Democrats to Exploit -- Back to today's CyberAlert and see the Weekend Edition 1) Drunk driving Bush led the morning shows and while all raised questions about the agenda of the leaker, none reported he was the Democratic candidate for Governor in 1998. The Portland TV reporter who broke the story appeared on ABC, CBS and NBC but proved herself deceitful or clueless as she never said his political activity went beyond just being a Democratic convention delegate. 2) ABC's George Stephanopoulos asserted Bush's... continue reading
Nets Jumped on Bush "Deception"; ABC's Liberal Spin on Bush's Tax Cut; Bush Flub; Cher Distressed by Bush; Streisand's ABC Soapbox -- Extra Edition and Weekend Edition 1) FNC reported the Bush drunk driving arrest before MSNBC or CNN, but it consumed most of prime time on those two cable channels. The Portland TV reporter who first disclosed the arrest told Ted Koppel her source was a delegate to the Democratic convention. On Today, Matt Lauer noted Bush has accused Gore of "deception" and wondered if Bush is just as guilty. 2) ABC's John Martin described Bush's tax cut as... continue reading
Anti-Bush Ad Not Rebuked; Lieberman-Cheney Inaugural?; Nets Bought Gore's Global Warming Hype; More Gore Agenda in NBC's Prime Time -- Back to today's CyberAlert 1) All three morning shows today played the Gore ad which ends by asking of Bush: "Is he ready to lead?" But unlike Tuesday morning when of a Bush ad which asked "Really?" after showing Gore insist he's never said anything untrue, the morning shows did not wonder if the ad had gone "too far," been too "harsh," defined "scare tactics" or contradicted a promise to not go negative. 2) Lieberman-Cheney could really occur, Tim Russert... continue reading
Dan Rather Easy on Gore, Rough on Bush; Gore Ad Not Tagged "Harsh"; White House E-Mail Problem Worse Than Thought -- Extra Edition 1) Al Gore and George Bush were not treated the same by Dan Rather in taped interviews shown Wednesday night. He portrayed Gore as a victim of an ungrateful nation not rewarding him for prosperity and prompted Tipper about how she's said Bush is "not quite ready yet." But with Bush, Rather demanded he respond to the charges he has less "knowledge" than Gore and that his tax cut skews "to the wealthiest." 2) Tom Brokaw delivered... continue reading