In a report for Monday's NBC Today , political director Chuck Todd described how "Democrats seem comfortable with the idea of a coronation of Hillary Clinton" in 2016, as "many of them are almost begging her to run." Meanwhile, he asserted that Republicans, "nervous about the influence of the Tea Party," were looking to former Florida Governor Jeb Bush as a potential candidate. [ Listen to the audio ] The segment played a clip of one of Clinton's adoring fans pleading for the former secretary of state to run: "If you don't represent women in politics in America as future... continue reading
First Lady Michelle Obama spoke to students at Peking University in China over the weekend and spoke of the need for China to limit its censorship of information and controlling access to the Internet. Despite both ABC and NBC hyping Mrs. Obama’s “strong message” about the need for an open Internet in China, both networks skipped the irony of the White House not allowing American press to travel with the First Lady to China. Instead, ABC promoted how Obama decided to tackle “hot-button issues” as “she’s making headlines over what she said about the Internet. ” On Saturday March 22,... continue reading
Friday's CBS Evening News and ABC's World News both glowingly harkened back to a prominent past example of bilateral exchange between the U.S. and China, as they reported on Michelle Obama's trip to the East Asian country. But they continued their blackout on covering the White House's ban of journalists accompanying the First Lady. During a news brief, CBS's Scott Pelley trumpeted how "education is the focus of her [Mrs. Obama's] week-long trip, but there was also time for a little bit of ping-pong diplomacy ." The ABC evening newscast surpassed their competitor, however, with David Muir touting " the... continue reading
On Thursday’s PoliticsNation on MSNBC, host Al Sharpton was irritated that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) dared to suggest that President Obama should be more concerned about NSA spying because of our country’s history of civil rights leaders being spied upon. Sharpton thundered, “[W]ho is Rand Paul to make this point? This is a cynical use of race from some on the right .” It was “cynical,” according to Sharpton, because some Republicans have done the opposite of Paul and criticized Obama when he does talk about race. But who is Al Sharpton to accuse someone else of the cynical use... continue reading
All three network morning shows on Friday fawned over First Lady Michelle Obama's visit to China, but the broadcasts refused to mention that reporters had been banned from accompanying her on the trip. On Thursday, NBC's Today and CBS This Morning both insisted the overseas travel was "not political" while ignoring the press corps being left behind. In a full report for Friday's Today , White House correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: "This trip is really focused on building good will. White House aides are confident that the First Lady's personal story will also resonate with the Chinese people....It's a highly... continue reading
On Thursday, NBC's Today and CBS This Morning dutifully parroted the White House line that First Lady Michelle Obama's trip to China was "not political" but ignored the fact that the press corps was banned from traveling with her on the overseas junket. ABC's Good Morning America skipped the topic. [ Listen to the audio ] On Wednesday, Politico's Dylan Byers described his frustrating attempt to get an answer from the White House on why reporters were not allowed on the high-profile trip. That morning, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof tweeted out his paper's report on the press ban,... continue reading
Michael Rothman hyped Johnny Weir " amazing style and eye-catching outfits " in a Thursday item for ABCNews.com about the openly-homosexual figure skater's "split from his husband." Rothman labeled Weir " the man who stole the show at the Sochi Olympics ," after the former Olympian provided on-air commentary in his "flamboyant outfits," including "black leggings...ankle-high boots" and even a tiara . Rothman's short write-up included Weir's Tweets on his break-up with Victor Voronov: "It is with great sadness that I announce that my husband and I are no longer together. My heart hurts, and I wish him well," he... continue reading
During a report on Thursday's NBC Today about the impact of NCAA March Madness office pools on worker productivity, correspondent Kerry Sanders casually touted: "March Madness, an American distraction....Even the President takes a break from world affairs to fill out his bracket." [ Listen to the audio ] At no point did Sanders offer any criticism of Obama taking a "break from world affairs" during the Ukrainian crisis. Co-host Savannah Guthrie introduced the segment by wondering: "Does March Madness really interfere with getting actual work done?" Amid clips of employees filling out their brackets, Sanders declared: "If you're calling a... continue reading
Bill Plante acted as a stenographer for the Obama administration on Thursday's CBS This Morning , as he spotlighted the "multi-tiered state and national effort to get young people enrolled" in ObamaCare before the end of March. Plante touted the " supportive celebrity Tweets and videos ....and a tongue-in-cheek tool kit that teaches parents how to get on social media and 'nag' their children 'mercilessly.' " The correspondent again noted Zach Galifianikis' mock interview of President Obama, which the Big Three networks spent 100 times more coverage on than the low enrollment the previous week. However, CBS This Morning at... continue reading
On Thursday's NBC Today , co-host Savannah Guthrie touted an exclusive preview of Fortune magazine's list of the world's 50 greatest leaders and wondered about one name that was absent from the ranking: "Bill Clinton comes in at number five and makes the cover. There are a lot of other notable names here. Tell you what, though, there may be some talk about one leader who did not make the list, the leader of the free world, President Obama. Fortune tells us he was not overlooked, he just did not make the cut." [ Listen to the audio ] Co-host... continue reading