BiasAlerts

NBC, ABC, and CBS marked the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis being elected leader of the Catholic Church with positive stories about the Pontiff's personal style while impatiently pleading for him to reject the moral values he swore to uphold. [ Listen to the audio ] On Thursday's NBC Today , correspondent Anne Thompson summed up a discussion she had with a group of students at Loyola University by proclaiming: "Now, these young Catholics don't expect change on the divisive issues of contraception, gay marriage, or abortion. But they are thrilled that that's not all the Pope talks about." She... continue reading

On Wednesday’s edition of The Arsenio Hall Show , the host mocked Fox News for a graphics error and slammed: “Then again when does Fox News ever get anything right?” The hit on Fox News may have been a signal to Brian Williams (who Hall has been trying to get on his show ever since the NBC Nightly News anchor apologized for snubbing him) that he will be given a cozy spot on the interview couch from the fellow liberal. The following excerpt is from Hall’s opening monologue, as it was aired on the March 12 The Arsenio Hall Show... continue reading

A clearly worried Chris Matthews attempted to rally the Democratic Party to avoid a midterm massacre, openly suggesting that the party's goals should be "angering" voters with "scary" Republicans. On Thursday morning, the MSNBC anchor conceded that the U.S. Senate will go Republican in November. By Thursday night, he pivoted, lecturing Democrats: "... You can give the angry voter out there something really scary to vote against, a direction to really direct his or her anger." [MP3 audio here .] "Time to attack," roared Matthews. Jumping from issue to terrifying issue, the Hardball host hyperventilated, "Want something else to fear?... continue reading

MSNBC's Ronan Farrow marked the one-year anniversary of the election of Pope Francis on Thursday by browbeating the Catholic Church for supposedly thwarting the fight against AIDS in the developing world, and for the Church's apparent lack of action in stopping genocide. Farrow played up how " Church social policies often fly in the face of skyrocketing HIV rates ," and bemoaned how " the Church does still ban contraception in those places. Is that costing lives? " The neophyte TV host asked one of his priest guests, " You don't think that it's irresponsible, given the emphasis on mercy... continue reading

Apparently, Ed Schultz doesn't mean it when he says "get your tapes rolling at home." The MSNBC anchor on Wednesday attempted to rewrite his bogus, boastful prediction about ObamaCare. As noted by the Washington Post, on December 11, 2013, Schultz prognosticated: "I'm going to make a prediction tonight. It's going to hit five million by March 1st. That's right. Five million people signed up by March 1st. Get your tapes rolling at home folks 'cause it's going to be a big 'I told you so.'" The just-released ObamaCare numbers for the end of February state that 4.2 million Americans have... continue reading

Reacting to Idaho passing a law to allow teachers and students to carry guns on college campuses, Thursday's NBC Today promoted a Boise State University professor opposed to the legislation who authored a New York Times Op/Ed absurdly titled: "When May I Shoot a Student?" [ Listen to the audio ] Co-host Matt Lauer hyped how the satirical essay was "spurring debate over guns on campuses." Fill-in co-host Tamron Hall fretted over the "controversial measure" to let citizens exercise their Second Amendment rights and declared professor Greg Hampikian's Times article to be "eye-opening." In the report that followed, correspondent Joe... continue reading

Chris Matthews on Thursday morning conceded Republicans likely would win the Senate in November. On Wednesday's Hardball , the host lashed out at voters. Speaking of a House special election won by the Republicans on Tuesday, he fumed, "Well, this election in Florida yesterday was about one word: 'No.' Because no worked, it will be worked again from now until November. By all means, no. That's the Republican message this year." [MP3 audio here .] Grappling with the reason why it is so "hard" for Democrats to fight in this midterm election, Matthews lectured, " Well, for one thing, Democrats... continue reading

Talking to Donald Trump on Thursday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer complained about the Celebrity Apprentice host and CPAC speaker criticizing President Obama's poor handling of the Ukranian crisis: "You've been critical of the President and his handling of the situation with Ukraine and Crimea. I think you said, I'm paraphrasing here, but basically Putin was playing with or toying with Obama. That is kind of a common refrain of yours....you always think that Obama is being weak." [ Listen to the audio ] Trump, on to promote the 2014 Miss USA pageant set to air on NBC in... continue reading

CBS was the only network on Wednesday evening to report President Obama's plan to bypass Congress and force businesses to pay management employees extra for overtime work. NBC and ABC both ignored the news. Yet CBS reported the news in a positive manner, noting how "an estimated 10 million workers stand to benefit from the President's plan." White House correspondent Major Garrett said it was "part of President Obama's push to reduce income inequality." Garrett did provide both sides of the story, quoting "business groups" who opposed the move saying it would limit job creation. However, the overall tone of... continue reading

After a Republican won a bellweather congressional election in Florida on Tuesday night, the broadcast networks made no mention of it on Wednesday evening. That came after they gave a pittance of coverage to the victory on Wednesday morning. CBS was the only network to report on the race Tuesday evening, but even they were nowhere to be seen the night after. Correspondent Nancy Cordes had made it clear Tuesday that the race had serious implications: "Both parties see this race as a referendum on the President's health care law." Cordes added that "both parties are looking for bragging rights... continue reading