BiasAlerts

In the days leading up to Margaret Thatcher's funeral on Wednesday, the three networks repeatedly hyped hateful, ugly attacks on the former Prime Minister of Britain, describing her as a "polarizing," "divisive" figure. On Rock Center , his low-rated Friday night show, Brian Williams explained that it was "sad, but necessary to report" that, while Americans may like Thatcher, " It's been a harsh couple of days ...Tonight, the number one song on iTunes in Great Britain is the Wizard of Oz classic [ Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead ], in this case celebrating the death of the Iron... continue reading

While for five weeks NBC News completely censored any mention of the Gosnell abortion trial from its airwaves, in an interview with President Obama conducted on Monday and aired on Wednesday's Today , co-host Savannah Guthrie wondered: "Have you been watching the Gosnell trial? It's a Philadelphia abortion doctor accused of gruesome crimes. Are you following it and do you think it animates a larger debate about abortion in this country?" [ Listen to the audio ] The President certainly wasn't "watching" the case on NBC since it was the first time viewers of the network heard anything about the... continue reading

Former Democratic congressman Barney Frank shamelessly used the Boston Marathon atrocity to promote his liberal political agenda on CNN and MSNBC on Tuesday morning, yet only MSNBC called him out for "making political hay" of the bombing. "I would say this is a terrible day for our society, but a day when I hope people understand the centrality of having a government in place with the resources, " Frank argued on CNN's Starting Point . " No tax cut would have helped us deal with this or will help us recover. This is very expensive." Yet co-host John Berman didn't... continue reading

A mere month after the trial began, the New York Times has, under pressure , sent a reporter to Philadelphia to cover the trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell on charges of mass infanticide. Trip Gabriel did indeed file from Philadelphia on Tuesday, under an unusual headline conceding that " Online Furor Draws Press to Abortion Doctor's Trial ." But his location was mostly irrelevant, as he only pinned two and a half paragraphs from what happened in court on Monday to the end of his report. Most of the story was a recap of the trial's "grisly details," accusations from... continue reading

Appearing on Tuesday's NBC Today , special correspondent Tom Brokaw warned his media colleagues about premature speculation regarding the motivation of the Boston bombing: "I think everybody has to take a deep breath...report what we know, and do the best we can with the information that we're able to get reliably." [ Listen to the audio ] That statement was prompted by co-host Savannah Guthrie observing: "It always bears reminding at this time, Tom, as a long-time practitioner of our craft, that early reports are often in error. I think we've become used to getting more information, even this soon... continue reading

The journalists of Good Morning America on Tuesday pointed a speculative finger in the wake of the Boston bombing. An ABC graphic wondered, "Could this be homegrown terror?" In a segment full of guesses, reporter Pierre Thomas featured leftist Mark Potok, the man who labeled the Family Research Council (FRC) a "hate group." Regarding the date that the explosion occurred on, Potok linked, " The real Patriots Day is April 19th. That is the date that counts for people on the extreme right in the United States. " [MP3 audio here .] Other than Potok, no other expert voices were... continue reading

In an exclusive interview with President Obama aired on Tuesday's NBC Today , co-host Savannah Guthrie began the exchange by fretting over gun legislation in Congress "hanging by a thread" and scolding the President for not pushing for gun restrictions sooner: "You are asking Democrats in conservative states to take a tough vote politically, something you, yourself, did not do. You didn't run on this in 2008 or 2012, not after Tucson, not after Aurora." Later in the discussion, Guthrie helped to portray Obama's budget plan as a centrist compromise that riled both Republicans and Democrats: "[Republicans] say it's not... continue reading

On Friday's Anderson Cooper 360 , hours after CNN finally covered the trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell for the first time in weeks, CNN's legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin scoffed at the notion of a liberal media bias responsible for the cover-up. "Well, the people making those criticisms by and large are conservatives, who are saying the liberal media is trying to protect abortion rights by not showing this horror show. I don't buy that at all ," Toobin asserted. [Video below. Audio here .] He defended the blackout as a "business decision": "They don't cover a story, it's a business... continue reading

On Monday afternoon, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and Michael Holmes both touted an op-ed by a Guantanamo prisoner titled "Gitmo Is Killing Me," where he tells of his hunger strike and complains of being force-fed, while held without trial for 11 years. Malveaux hailed it as a "powerful piece" and Holmes questioned U.S. hypocrisy on human rights: "I suppose politically it's a difficult [issue] for the U.S. too. Sort of how does the U.S. criticize other countries' human rights when they have got somebody in their custody saying I haven't even been charged with anything for 11 years?" If Holmes and... continue reading

CNN's national security analyst Peter Bergen thrice suggested that "right-wing extremists" could be behind Monday's Boston Marathon bombings. Yet near the beginning of its 5 p.m. ET coverage, CNN reported that Boston Police were not currently holding any suspect in custody. Appearing on CNN's live coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing with host Jake Tapper, Bergen was asked to explain if the bombing could have been an act of terror. Bergen answered in the affirmative, and proceeded to name possible suspects depending on the type of explosive used. [Video below. Audio here .] Although the type of bomb used was... continue reading