BiasAlerts

ABC Decried Giuliani on Homeless; Stahl: Hillary "Knocked My Socks Off" 1) Homelessness. CBS blamed "the booming economy." ABC blamed Rudy Giuliani, crusading against his crackdown with a one-sided story tilted four-to-one soundbite-wise against protecting citizens. 2) CBS's Lesley Stahl on Hillary: "She's so smart. Virtually every time I've seen her perform, she has knocked my socks off." Plus, Stahl claimed Hillary showed "dignity and grace" during Lewinsky. 3) ABC and CBS stuck to Clinton's foreign policy comments at his press conference. Of the broadcast evening shows only NBC's David Bloom showed Clinton again disparaging others: "The mistake I made... continue reading

"Stupid" Tax Cut; "Alleluia" to Spending; Christmas "Saved" by Regulator 1) Washington media on the Bush tax cut. Evan Thomas: "It's stupid" policy driven by "wing nuts." Al Hunt: "This is a Trojan Horse which disproportionately gives huge tax cuts to the very wealthy." Eleanor Clift: "It is a huge income shifter." 2) Sam Donaldson heralded "alleluia" to the "enrichment of the welfare state" over a tax cut. 3) Not one word about the debates on ABC, CBS or NBC the next night. Ted Koppel focused on how Bush had to "fall back three times on that, sort of, tired... continue reading

Cochran's Gore Dinner Date; Hillary "Whispers"; FNC Up, CNN & Gumbel Down 1) ABC reporter John Cochran's dinner date with Tipper and Al Gore stirred controversy but he insisted it was a "working dinner." ABC fired Bob Zelnick for writing a book about Gore. Cochran claimed he has a "fair and tough" record, but the MRC documented his history of liberal reporting. Al Gore called Cochran "a friend." 2) Scolding Bush from the left, Newsweek's Howard Fineman found two faults in Bush's Meet the Press answers: praising Antonin Scalia and ruling out a meeting with Log Cabin Republicans. 3) Dan... continue reading

How to "pay" for Bush Tax Cut for the Wealthy; Tipper Not Pressed on Homeless 1) ABC and NBC worried how to "pay" for Bush's tax cut as NBC stressed how it's "even more expensive" than the House plan. CNN's Brooks Jackson fretted over how it doesn't aid those who don't pay income taxes with "no relief at all for millions at the bottom." 2) Clinton delivered the usual partisan rant about "risky tax cuts" that would have destroyed the Social Security surplus. The Washington Post cited the quote as evidence that Clinton avoided "sharp partisan rhetoric" and was "rather... continue reading

What Pain "Hurt" Hillary? Gumbel's Reagan Insult; FNC Picked Up Dirkhising 1) Hospital mistakes kill, but ABC and NBC Monday night didn't agree on how many. On the WTO the broadcast networks focused on liberal protesters with just ABC citing protest from the right. 2) NBC's Stone Phillips portrayed Hillary as a victim, asking Gail Sheehy: "Of all the pain she has been through, what do you think hurt the most?" Instead of seeing as damaging the news that she pushed bombing, Phillips approved: "Hillary the fighter." 3) Bryant Gumbel's ultimate insult: "We haven't seen that much schmaltz since Ronald... continue reading

Liberal "Centrist"; NBC Accented Hillsdale Scandal; Viewers Avoiding Gumbel 1) Time's Jack White complained about how the impeachment hearings were a "colossal waste of time" and CBS's Bob Schieffer judged Congress a flop for failing to enact more liberal laws. 2) Referring to a Senator who earned a 95 percent liberal rating, the Washington Post asserted: "On Saturday, Gore will get the endorsement of a centrist Democrat." 3) By once again playing a clip from the pop quiz given Bush, Friday night CBS and NBC provided evidence for Michael Kelly's theory about why the public find the media so "loathable."... continue reading

Gore-FALN Pardon Link Suppressed; ABC Discovered Boys & Girls "Different" 1) ABC's This Week delivered the first ABC television showing of Clinton's remarks on impeachment that the network had spiked a week earlier. Sam Donaldson called his take "really remarkable." 2) The Washington Post's ombudsman took on the MRC: "Those who are inclined to believe the David Dukes, Joseph Farahs and Tim Grahams of the world," who say the Jesse Dirkhising murder "has been suppressed so that homosexuals won't be portrayed negatively." 3) Ending a piece on corporate jets used by candidates, CBS's Bob Schieffer carped that it proves campaign... continue reading

Gumbel: Conservatives Ruin "National Prestige"; FNC Showed What ABC Spiked 1) Gumbel put himself to the left of Jesse Jackson, seeing race as paramount in the Decatur expulsions. On UN dues, he demanded of a GOP House leader if he was "comfortable" with "our national prestige being held hostage by the most conservative wing?" 2) CBS: Decatur fight video "hurts the school board case"; ABC: It "clearly undermined Jackson's argument that the punishment was too tough." CBS's Eric Engberg: "What does the U.S. have in common with" Moldova? The UN's "deadbeat club." Blame Chris Smith. 3) On the 10th anniversary... continue reading

Anchor to Clinton: "How Does It Feel Talking to Me?"; Focusing on Bush Quiz, Not Gore or Wolf 1) Monday night the networks focused on how Microsoft's stock fared. ABC found a culprit for malaria: "Some scientists say one reason for these unusual outbreaks is global warming." 2) Usually reporters credit Mikhail Gorbachev with bringing down the Berlin Wall. CNN's Christiane Amanpour blamed him, citing how "the unbridled capitalism that followed communism has unleashed misery on citizens who had all their social needs taken care of." 3) Fox's Brit Hume quipped that the Microsoft judge "is not the sharpest knife... continue reading

CBS Pushed Gun Control Again; Gumbel Denounced Entrepreneural "Greed" 1) Wednesday night CBS's Diana Olick lamented: "In the year of Columbine and Conyers, Georgia is there a very strong possibility that this Congress will not pass any new gun legislation?" 2) Bob Dotson on NBC Nightly News on Tuesday: "Workplace homicides are steadily declining." Tom Brokaw on Wednesday night: "It seems that no place is safe from workplace violence." 3) Millionaire Bryant Gumbel bemoaned "greed" amongst Internet entrepreneurs for whom money "doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does to you and me." About one he queried: "Is... continue reading