View co-host Rosie O'Donnell on Thursday broadened the non-indictment in the Eric Garner case as proof of "systemic racism in the United States." While the other co-hosts focused on the case, O'Donnell generalized that racism is "prevalent in America and we need to look at ourselves." She continued, "The conversation about systemic racism in the United States needs to be opened up for all of us in a dialogue not just when atrocities like this happen." [MP3 audio here .] On November 25, an MSNBC panelist said that the problem with the Ferguson decision is that people are not dealing... continue reading
While both ABC's Good Morning America and CBS This Morning on Thursday offered brief reports on seventeen states suing the Obama administration over the President's executive order granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants without congressional approval, NBC's Today completely skipped the legal challenge to the controversial action. Good Morning America news anchor Amy Robach informed viewers that "the first major lawsuit has been filed against President Obama's executive order on immigration." After noting the number of states involved, she added, "It accuses the President of failing to enforce laws enacted by Congress. The President insists he is acting within... continue reading
On Wednesday night, ABC became the only major broadcast network to not have covered the controversy over President Obama’s choice to name former soap opera producer and Obama reelection campaign bundler Colleen Bell the new United States Ambassador to Hungary. The network’s zero coverage of this story came more than a day after ABC’s own chief White House correspondent, Jonathan Karl, grilled White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on what exactly did Bell have in terms of qualifications for the job (to which Earnest was visibly stumped). [MP3 audio here ; Video below] Fellow networks CBS and NBC have both... continue reading
In theory, a major cabinet official going to Capitol Hill and being grilled by members of Congress would be news. But Barack Obama's Department of Homeland Security secretary faced withering questions on Tuesday and the networks ignored it. Another thing newscasts seem to like (particularly when it involves Republicans) is claims of hypocrisy. But when Secretary Jeh Johnson was forced to defend Barack Obama's flip flops on his executive order, ABC, CBS and NBC skipped the fireworks. Congressman Lou Barletta hit Johnson on illegal immigration, demanding, "We keep talking about the illegal immigrant. Here we go again, talking about the... continue reading
After a two-month leave of absence following her violation of an Ebola quarantine, NBC's chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman returned to the network with an appearance on Wednesday's Today and finally took personal responsibility for her actions: "I'm very sorry for not only scaring my community and the country, but adding to the confusion ....I stepped outside the boundaries of what I promised to do and what the public expected of me. And for that, I'm sorry." That apology was in stark contrast to the initial statement Snyderman put out in October, when she completely avoided any blame for... continue reading
Appearing on Tuesday's Tonight Show , NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams joined host Jimmy Fallon in "slow-jamming the news" about President Obama's executive order granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. The comedy skit made sure to include the media's liberal spin on the topic – that obstructionist Republicans were just preventing Obama from getting things done in Washington. After Williams declared that the presidential power grab "granted temporary legal status to 5 million undocumented workers," Fallon claimed Obama was "taking a hard stance on immigration," adding, "He wants to let everyone inside, but you gotta do it the... continue reading
The same networks that hyped a Republican staffer's comments about Barack Obama's daughters are now ignoring the sexual assault conviction of a Democratic congressional aide. According to the Washington Post , Donny Ray Williams "pleaded guilty to third-degree sexual abuse, two misdemeanor counts of sexual abuse and one count of misdemeanor threats." Williams was a staff director for the Senate majority and previously worked for panels run by Democrats as Mary Landrieu and Elijah Cummings. The conviction on Tuesday has received, so far, no coverage on ABC, CBS and NBC. In contrast, the same networks devoted 14 minutes (over two... continue reading
On Tuesday afternoon, Jonathan Karl, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent, confronted White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest over President Obama’s appointment of Colleen Bell, a major Obama donor and producer of the soap opera The Bold And The Beautiful , to be the ambassador to Hungary. Despite the controversy surrounding the appointment, ABC has yet to cover Karl’s questioning on television, but CBS This Morning found the news worth reporting and gave the story more than a minute of coverage during its Wednesday morning broadcast. During her report, CBS co-host Gayle King highlighted how “there is controversy in Washington... continue reading
On Monday, ABC News chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl grilled White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on what exactly did Obama campaign donor and former soap opera producer Colleen Bell have in terms of qualifications for becoming the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. When it came to ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir mentioning or playing video of that exchange on Monday evening, the program stayed silent. Instead, video of Karl’s exchange was relegated to ABC News’s website. Bell, who was a campaign bundler for the Obama campaign, had previously worked as a producer for the CBS soap opera... continue reading
On the same evening that MSNBC’s Hardball seemed rather excited about a possible run for President in 2016 by Republican and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, NBC Nightly News was busy doing the same thing during on a news brief on Tuesday. Anchor Brian Williams opined that Bush was “the latest in the Republican Party to speak truth to power or at least try to” during an event sponsored by The Wall Street Journal on Monday evening. [MP3 audio here ; Video below] During the event, Williams said Bush was thinking about a White House run, but also “put forth... continue reading