GMA's Love-In for Hillary; CBS Let Cox Call Wen Ho Lee a Scapegoat 1) Network reporters again cited Hillary Clinton's "candor," "candid interview" and "frank talk." Only FNC's Jim Angle bothered to point out: "The First Lady is now admitting a history of infidelity by Mr. Clinton," which both had long denied. 2) Talk's Tina Brown boasted about her "very intimate and warm portrait of Mrs. Clinton." So was the Monday GMA interview as she claimed the Clintons' passion "for making life better for other people...has brought them together with...a spiritual intensity." 3) FNC's Carl Cameron noted delays in sentencing... continue reading
CBS Bought Hillary's "Candor"; $90,000 Skipped in AM; "Stupid Tax Cut" 1) Fox's Brit Hume said "it sounds like such twaddle. It doesn't have the ring of truth." But on Sunday night ABC and CBS reporters called Hillary's Talk comments "frank." CBS saw "a picture of a man who couldn't help himself and a woman who wouldn't give up." 2) Judge Wright's $90,000 fine of Clinton ignored by ABC's Good Morning America and CBS's This Morning. Today gave it 15 seconds. Actor Richard Gere denounced U.S.-supported "brutality." 3) Linda Tripp's indictment generated full stories on all the evening shows except... continue reading
Gerth on Citibank Tanked; FNC Revealed Trie Leads Being Suppressed 1) In the same paragraph the New York Times applied different ideological labeling standards to a liberal and a conservative. 2) The New York Times published Jeff Gerth's exclusive about how Citibank is impeding an investigation of money transfers from China, but didn't put it on page one. The networks ignored it. 3) FNC's Carl Cameron outlined how Justice failed to pursue leads in the Chung and Huang cases and "political pressure" is now suppressing pursuit of Trie's charge that top Democrats "knew he was receiving illegal foreign contributions." 4)... continue reading
Ted Kennedy: Champion of "The Little Guy"; AP Re-Wrote Clinton's Lie 1) Peter Jennings has moved on. Unlike CBS and NBC on Monday night ABC avoided JFK Jr.'s death. "They're all so beautiful," Today's Katie Couric oozed over boyhood photos. "I spent so much time last night just staring at them." 2) Ted Kennedy the Great, Part 1: On Today Jonathan Alter agreed he "is one of the towering figures" in the Senate "in the whole second half of this century." Washington Week in Review panelists competed to offer the most effusive praise. 3) Ted Kennedy the Great Part 2:... continue reading
JFK Jr. a "Sun God"; ABC Wanted to Hire Him; Tax Cutters Have Low IQ 1) Jonathan Alter tagged JFK Jr. as a "Sun God," ABC's Cokie Roberts suggested the Kennedy family is full of "character," Steve Roberts claimed Ted is not liberal but "a very flexible, pragmatic person," and a JFK aide admitted "Camelot" was really a "joke." 2) It's Jacqueline's fault. The Washington Post relayed an author's spin that because his mother made sure JFK Jr. was "more courteous to women" than other Kennedys he took the fatal detour. 3) Choking back tears, Friday night Peter Jennings suggested... continue reading
Tax Cut Helps Rich; Clinton's JFK Jr. Tale False But Media Buy It 1) JFK Jr.'s death again led all the networks with multiple stories Thursday night as ABC and CBS examined the "solace" the Kennedy family finds in the sea. 2) "Thousands for the rich. Pocket change for working Americans. That's the Republican tax deal," thundered liberal John Lewis in a soundbite highlighted by ABC, CBS and CNN. But the rich pay more. 3) CNBC's Chris Matthews proved Clinton's claim, that he afforded JFK Jr. his first chance to visit the White House since 1963, was false, but USA... continue reading
Ted Tribute; Kennedy Family "Values" in "National Bosom"; No Scandal Qs 1) "Yet another test of Ted Kennedy's resiliency, yet another test of his endurance," ABC's Morton Dean extolled Wednesday night. CBS marveled at how people who never met JFK Jr. are grieving for him. 2) Today wondered who will "pick up the mantle" of Camelot. Jonathan Alter advocated Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Couric lamented how the massive coverage "takes a sweetness and specialness out of the images that we see." 3) CNN's Chris Black admired how "the legacy of values and a significant achievement has endured" in the Kennedy family... continue reading
"Chubby" Ted; ABC Discredits a Tax Cut; PBS List Sharing: Newt's Fault 1) ABC and CBS, but not NBC, cut way back on Kennedy coverage Tuesday night, though both still led with it. NBC profiled Senator Ted Kennedy whom Tom Brokaw said had evolved from "the chubby youngest child" into "the family patriarch." 2) Peter Jennings and Barbara Walters goofed and substituted the name President Kennedy for Senator Kennedy and President Clinton. 3) In a eulogy to John F. Kennedy Jr. for paying proper respect to him, Geraldo Rivera tossed in a shot at Richard Scaife as a "right-wing zealot."... continue reading
Reviving the Myth of Camelot; Dan Rather Awed by "Kennedy Mystique" 1) ABC and CBS employed "An American Tragedy" graphic for the Kennedy story Monday night. NBC ended with a whitewash of the Kennedy family history: "The life of the Kennedys is one of the great American sagas" for which "they paid a terrible price." 2) A U.S. News editor conceded that when it comes to the Kennedys, "you suspend normal news judgment." Network stars used JFK Jr.'s passing as a chance to revive the liberal myth of the Kennedy presidency as "Camelot"; the family as American royalty. 3) Dan... continue reading
Chappaquiddick a Kennedy "Tragedy"; Rather Fooled & Broke Gun Vow 1) JFK Jr's death generated massive coverage over the weekend, allowing NBC to showcase liberal historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Plus, Mike Barnicle rehabilitated as an expert by the networks and ABC and CBS listed Chappaquiddick as a Kennedy family "tragedy." 2) Even after a "Coast Guard Lieutenant" referred to Bababooey and Howard Stern, Dan Rather believed his report: "This just in, the Coast Guard Lieutenant says they have found debris." ABC also gullibly put on a Stern fan, but Peter Jennings realized it. 3) Previewing a series on guns, Dan... continue reading