Good Morning America' s Reena Ninan on Saturday let Barack Obama off easy. The ABC reporter allowed the President to escape blame for the sad story of a group of Iowa sixth graders who had their White House tour cancelled. Ninan blandly explained, "The tour canceled the result of automatic spending cuts brought on by the sequester." Parroting Obama, she reminded, " In an interview with ABC News, the President said, don't blame him. " Ninan then played a clip of the President swearing, "This was not a decision that went up to the White House." [MP3 audio here .]... continue reading
On Monday's NBC Today , news reader Natalie Morales hyped how "Republican infighting broke out this weekend at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference." In the report that followed, political director Chuck Todd bolstered the meme: "...the party is trying to rehabilitate its image, solve an identity crisis, and it means that feuds are breaking out all over..." [ Listen to the audio ] Todd particularly focused on one such "feud" between Sarah Palin and Karl Rove, with the headline on screen throughout the segment reading: "Family Feud; Sarah Palin & Karl Rove Trade Barbs at CPAC." Todd derisively remarked... continue reading
The Obama administration in 2009 dropped the Bush administration’s plan to add missile interceptor capability against North Korea, yet on Friday, when Obama’s Pentagon realized their error and scrambled to announce a reversal to implement the Bush plan, ABC, CBS and NBC failed to mention Obama’s dereliction. (Charles Krauthmmer zinged “Democratic resistance” to missile defense. “Reagan was right.”) FNC’s Mike Emanuel, in contrast, on Special Report with Bret Baier , noted: “That interceptor expansion had originally been proposed by the Bush administration until President Obama, in 2009, stopped it.” Even CNN’s Erin Burnett squeezed in how the new Obama plan... continue reading
On Thursday's World News , ABC News correspondent Terry Moran acted like it was a big surprise that newly-elected Pope Francis stands by the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality: "Now, as the world comes to know him, it turns out, on many issues, Pope Francis is a staunch traditionalist. He compared abortion to a death sentence; called gay marriage 'destructive of God's plan.' " By contrast, CBS surprisingly reported on the continuing persecution of the Catholic Church in China on Friday's CBS This Morning. Though he didn't explicitly label the Chinese government as communist, correspondent Wyatt Andrews noted how "... continue reading
CNN's Carol Costello spent her entire interview Friday with the CPAC chairman badgering him about the inclusion of gay Republicans in the conference. A few minutes before, Costello had led off the 9 a.m. hour of Newsroom touting GOP Senator Rob Portman (Ohio) and his newfound support for gay marriage. " Will CPAC ever change its position and allow gay Republicans to sit at the table? " she pressed the chair of the American Conservative Union, Al Cardenas. "Were there gay people included in those panel discussions?" she followed up. [Video below. Audio here .] Costello probably wouldn't show as... continue reading
CNN's Don Lemon smacked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) on Friday for being "inaccurate" and "misleading" in grilling Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on the Second Amendment. Lemon didn't provide any transcript or video of what Cruz actually said, and it turns out he was the one being "inaccurate" and "misleading." First, Lemon falsely claimed that Cruz argued Second Amendment protections were unlimited, and he cited the Heller case against Cruz: " But it also says – it also says the same thing, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. Is not unlimited ." Then, Lemon cited MSNBC's "conservative" Joe Scarborough calling... continue reading
On Friday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer touted "breaking news" that Ohio Senator Rob Portman, "a leading figure in the Republican Party," was now in favor of gay marriage after learning that his son was gay. Leading off the report that followed, White House correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed that Portman "...is now joining a growing list of Republicans to come out in support of gay marriage..." [ Listen to the audio ] Turning to coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference, Alexander asserted: "The Republican Party now faces an identity crisis, with no clear leader and no clear path... continue reading
In an interview with New York's Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Thursday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer worried about the age of the newly elected Pope Francis: "...there was some stunned silence for a second. I think some had expected a younger man, he's 76.... When you looked at that image of the new pope standing with some members of the Church hierarchy, visually, Cardinal Dolan, it didn't exactly scream a modern Church." [ Listen to the audio ] At the same time Lauer was worried about the Church not projecting a more "modern" image, NBCNews.com offered a "to-do list"... continue reading
Tavis Smiley invited ultra-liberal Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on his show Tuesday night for a friendly chat about the American economy. Predictably, Krugman used the appearance as an opportunity to bash Republicans, and on a taxpayer-subsidized television program no less. Krugman and Smiley both complained that the American people have not yet become “sufficiently outraged” over the budget cuts brought by sequestration. Smiley demanded to know why the outrage has not appeared and when it will come. Don’t worry, Krugman reassured him, pain from the sequester will take time to kick in. The outrage will... continue reading
In the midst of generally positive coverage, CBS played up newly-elected Pope Francis' "conservative" views on issues like abortion, same-sex "marriage", and birth control. On Thursday's CBS This Morning, Norah O'Donnell underlined how the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was " described as a staunch conservative ". Mark Phillips also used the "conservative" label, and pointed out how the Pope's doctrinal stand has " not made him popular with relatively progressive Jesuit brothers ." Charlie Rose also pressed New York City Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan during the morning newscast about " doctrinal changes on ordination of women, on celibacy, on divorce... continue reading