NBC hasn't covered the ongoing Bob Filner sexual harassment scandal an almost a week, despite a fifteenth woman – a 67-year-old great grandmother – coming forward on Thursday, accusing the former congressman of making lurid comments to her. The last time that NBC's morning and evening newscasts covered the Filner story was on August 10, 2013. On Friday, ABC and CBS's morning newscasts aired news briefs on the latest development in the Filner controversy, but both failed to identify him as a Democrat. Mere seconds before reporting on the San Diego mayor, CBS This Morning pointed out the Democratic party... continue reading
The MRC's blog, NewsBusters, reported that during a debate on guns, CNN's Piers Morgan falsely claimed that according to FBI statistics, Virginia had the highest murder rate in the country in 2009. Over 38 hours later, Piers apologized and admitted "It didn't." This came at a pivotal moment in the debate as Morgan's pro-gun opponent had cited Virginia's falling violent crime rate coinciding with its rising gun sales. By labeling Virginia the number one murder state as of only four years ago, and appealing to authority to support his claim, Morgan put his guest on the defensive with a completely... continue reading
What's going on at CNN? On Thursday afternoon CNN's Athena Jones called the Missouri rodeo clown controversy a "firestorm," but CNN's tone changed within a matter of hours. On Thursday night's Piers Morgan Live , Morgan admitted " it's all a bit silly " and agreed with Newt Gingrich that the outrage over the stunt " is all a bit ridiculous ." Then on Friday morning, anchor Carol Costello huffed, "May I be blunt? This whole controversy is being blown way out of proportion and it's just kind of stupid now. " [Video below. Audio here .] Costello's ire was... continue reading
In an impressive display of journalistic gymnastics on Friday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie and Meet the Press moderator David Gregory managed to have an entire discussion about U.S. policy in Egypt without mentioning President Obama by name. [ Listen to the audio ] Plenty of vague substitutions were used, including "the President" "the White House" "the administration" and most popularly, "the U.S." Anything to avoid actually holding Barack Obama accountable for the internal strife plaguing a key ally in the Middle East. Even the headline on screen during the morning show segment read: "Chaos in Egypt; What Options Does... continue reading
CNN's Chris Cuomo had a sharp message on Thursday's New Day for Republicans looking to get re-elected simply for opposing ObamaCare. " Any jackass can kick down a barn. But it takes a good man or woman to build one ," Cuomo lectured Republicans. "The politics of 'they stink' is not enough anymore. You need to get better than that," he added before noting that "both parties" are to blame. [Video below. Audio here .] CNN was in the middle of covering Obamacare's latest delay for only the second time since a New York Times story brought attention to it... continue reading
Thirteen GOP state attorneys general sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sebelius on Wednesday detailing serious concerns over ObamaCare's privacy protections and warning of a "privacy disaster waiting to happen." As of Thursday afternoon, CNN has yet to report the letter that Politico and The Washington Times picked up. "As chief legal officers of our states, we are concerned that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") has failed to adequately protect the privacy of those who will use the assistance programs connected with the new health insurance exchanges," the letter began. As NewsBusters reported , CNN initially... continue reading
On Thursday morning, neither ABC nor CBS labeled former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. a Democrat as they reported on his 30 month jail sentence. NBC's Today did not report Jackson's sentence on Thursday, but on Wednesday they covered it without identifying him as a Democrat. "Jesse Jackson, Jr. will spend two and a half years in prison. The former Illinois congressman was sentenced Wednesday," reported Charlie Rose, co-host of CBS This Morning . ABC's Josh Elliot said on Good Morning America that "former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for misusing campaign funds, spending... continue reading
Norah O'Donnell and Charlie Rose acted as apologists for President Obama on Thursday's CBS This Morning , after former presidential assistant Reggie Love revealed the Democrat's apprehension to monitor the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden. O'Donnell worried that "some people are going to take that headline out of context today", and underlined that it was " clearly a tension-filled day ." Rose was even more blatant in his defense of the President: " I want the President to do whatever he needs to do to clear his mind, so he can make the most effective decision he... continue reading
While NBC marked the one-year anniversary of the Bin Laden killing with a fawning Inside the Situation Room profile of President Obama, on Thursday, the cast of Today chided former White House aide Reggie Love for revealing that he and the President "must have played 15 games of spades" during the 2011 operation. [ Listen to the audio ] After playing the sound bite of Love, co-host Matt Lauer quickly added: "We should note, from what we understand, the President was in the Situation Room during all of the actual raid." He then remarked: "We wonder how they feel about... continue reading
Perhaps in response to the backlash against a planned miniseries on Hillary Clinton, Thursday's NBC Today aired an unusually critical story about the "chaos" at the Clinton Foundation and the possible negative political fallout for the would-be 2016 presidential contender. [ Listen to the audio ] White House correspondent Peter Alexander informed viewers: "As first reported by the New York Times , a 2011 review of the foundation raised concerns about infighting, bad management, and conflicts of interest. Observers say, echoing problems in Bill Clinton's White House and his wife's 2008 campaign." Sound bites were featured of Times reporter Nicholas... continue reading