Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Friday AM Edition 1) "Presidential" Bush Won Over Media, But...; "I'll Tell You the Surprise, I Thought It Was a Very Good Speech." Cokie Roberts: "To talk about tearing down the wall between poverty and wealth in America, something you're not used to hearing at a Republican convention." NBC: How can he "afford" tax cuts "for the rich"? 2) ABC & CBS Run Own Bush Bios: "1st in Capital Punishment, 2nd in the Number of Uninsured Children." Bill Whitaker: "Is George W. Bush prepared to lead the most powerful nation on earth? A question compounded... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Thursday PM Edition 1) "Nasty" Speech, "Religious Right" Assailed; Couric Amazed: "Mild-Mannered Dick Cheney. Who Knew?" 2) Stephanopoulos Touts Gore's Advantages; "Charlie, You Make A Good Political Strategist" Stephanopoulos suggested after Gibson recommended Democrats say the next four years under Gore would "be the same as the last eight -- prosperity, full employment, no international problems." 3) Quote of the Morning: David Bloom says Cheney threw "red meat to the lions" 1 Front page story. "Nasty" Speech, "Religious Right" Assailed; Couric Amazed: "Mild-Mannered Dick Cheney. Who Knew?" At least NBC showed the entire speech Wednesday... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Thursday AM Edition 1) Cheney's "Red Meat" Dissected: "I Thought This Was the Convention of Sweetness and Light." Dan Rather advised: "Consult Shakespeare, Henry the 4th, Prince Hal, the son who wanted to restore what was once his father's." 2) Party Not Tolerant Enough for NBC: "Is the Republican Party Held Hostage...By Its Views on Abortion?" asked Tom Brokaw. David Bloom demanded of J.C. Watts whether Cheney as VP sends "the wrong message to the black community?" 3) "Compassion Clashes With His Record": ABC Took on Bush on Health Insurance, Tax Cuts, Environment. Dean Reynolds:... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Wednesday PM Edition 1) Lynne Cheney Called "Right-Wing Warrior: "Katie Couric Grills VP Nominee's Wife About Conservative Views 2) CBS Host Asks, Is GOP Just "Pandering"? Bryant Gumbel Says Blacks Have Right to Suspect Republicans. Gumbel: "As long as the Republican Party...is populated by the Pat Buchanans, the Jesse Helmses, the Jerry Falwells, the Bob Barrs, don't blacks have a right to be suspicious?" 3) CNN Asks Is GOP "Ready or Not" for Gays: "Ever Feel Like An Outcast?" Gay Congressman Asked by CNN 4) Sidebar items: Gibson Pledges to Grill Gore on Abortion; McCain... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, Wednesday AM Edition 1) "Inclusive Party"? Networks Say No. Tom Brokaw: "Isn't It About Intolerance?" Gerald Ford asked if "disappointed" by non pro-choice VP. Tom Brokaw: "This is the convention of inclusion, so-called. The platform, however, represents the ideology of these convention delegates. It is very conservative." 2) Brokaw & Rather: McCain in 2004: McCain Offered "Honest Dialogue" on Campaign Finance Reform. Dan Rather hoped: "If he [Bush] doesn't win, you'd make another run, wouldn't you?" 3) McCain Has Now "Released" the Press? Rather, Brokaw & Jennings Attended Dinner Hosted by McCain. 4) Back in... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, AM Edition 1) Powell Appearance Used to Rebuke GOP: "Have to Think About Minorities...Not Just Every Four Years." Peter Jennings suggested Powell's appearance provided the GOP with an "unusual sense of inclusion" and during Nightline he asked Powell: "Do you ever feel used by the Republican Party?" 2) Bush, Cheney & Platform Too Conservative: GOP Interviewees Hit With Liberal Agenda Questions on MSNBC. Claire Shipman on abortion: "What would you say to women who are worried that George W. Bush will appoint people to the Supreme Court who might try to take away that right?"... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, PM Edition 1) NBC's Today Skeptical of "Made-for-TV" GOP: Powell Quizzed on Mandela, Confederate Flag and Abortion. Katie Couric to Colin Powell: "Only four percent of the delegates in the convention hall are African Americans. Do you feel troubled at all by this, and do you feel used by your party?" 2) "He Did Vote Against Head Start": Journalists Continue Cheney-Bashing For Seventh Day. Couric again: "Do you have any problems with the fact that he did vote against Head Start -- because you care so deeply about education -- and against a resolution that... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, PM Edition 1) Page one article: CBS Asks How An African-American Could Support Cheney; "Warm and Fuzzy" With No "Red Meat." Jane Clayson to J.C. Watts: "I have to ask you, as an African-American, if you have any difficulty supporting a man who voted against releasing Nelson Mandela from prison?" 2) CNN Looks For Party Splits; MSNBC Shows Viewers "T&A"; Where Are All the Floor Fights? 3) Four Campaigns, Eight Conventions...But Just One Spin; Study Documents Sixteen Years of Liberal Bias 4) What Part of "No" Don't You Understand? And, Cokie's Socialist Sisterhood >>> This... continue reading
Conventions 2000: Media Reality Check, AM Edition 1) Cheney Quizzed on Sunday About Past Votes; Donaldson: Should Someone Who Used Cocaine Be President? 2) Platform: "A Hard-Right Document...Softened This Year"; But Still Too "Anti-Abortion Rights" 3) Us Biased? Conservatives Must Be Crazy; CNN Distorted Study to Show Media as Pro-Bush & Anti-Gore. 4) Dan Rather Style Welcome; Marilyn Quayle: "Scowling Face of Conservatism"?; CBS News President: MRC "Extremists of the Right" >>> This week the MRC is producing a twice-daily Media Reality Check analysis of network coverage of the Republican convention. Below is the text for the three-page Monday Morning,... continue reading
Cheney "Outside" Mainstream; Convention Controversy; Cheney Pounded in the AM; CBS "Cuddling" 1) Thursday's CBS Evening News again inspected Dick Cheney's "rock solid conservative record" and "rigid conservative votes, "which are supposedly "prompting new questions," though CBS repeated the same old Democratic talking points. Dan Rather questioned if Cheney is "too outside the American mainstream?" 2) ABC and CBS discovered a Republican convention controversy even before the convention has opened. Dan Rather: "There's word your tax dollars are being spent there in a special sideshow for Republicans put on by the U.S. military." 3) Dick Cheney was pounded from the... continue reading