BiasAlerts

Despite billing his interview with Barack Obama as "no holds barred," Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday skipped several tough questions and only gently quizzed the president on others. On the issue of the closing of White House tours due to sequester cuts, the former Democratic operative delicately wondered, " Was canceling them really necessary?...So, no reconsideration?" [MP3 audio here .] Other than this brief query, Stephanopoulos showed no interest in whether the administration hyped the sequester cuts to an over-the-top level. (Perhaps, this could be because ABC did the same thing. GMA's Josh Elliott on March 1 pronounced... continue reading

Introducing a report on Monday's NBC Nightly News about a New York City ban on large sugary drinks being overturned by a New York State Supreme Court judge, anchor Brian Williams touted how Mayor Michael Bloomberg "is saying this isn't over yet." In the report that followed, correspondent Rehema Ellis proclaimed: "In a city of more than 8 million, where health officials say the obesity epidemic is responsible for more than 5,000 deaths a year, the Mayor says his fight to make New Yorkers healthier will continue." Ellis noted the judge's ruling that the proposed ban was "arbitrary and capricious"... continue reading

Count Soledad O'Brien as another CNN fan of Mayor Bloomberg's nanny state crack down on big sodas. Even while reporting on the law's demise at the hands of the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday's Starting Point , O'Brien revealed that she's been "a long supporter of it." " I've been a long supporter of it. I actually think it's a good idea. But I do think the judge has some interesting points," O'Brien said of the ban, which was struck down by the New York Supreme Court on Monday. On Monday night, CNN's Piers Morgan defended the city's ban... continue reading

On Sunday's Reliable Sources , the CNN panelists laughed at how "easily the press corps is manipulated" by White House spin over "reaching out" to congressional Republicans. On Tuesday's Good Morning America , the show's journalists fit this description perfectly. GMA co-host George Stephanopoulos enthused, " But we're going to turn to Washington where President Obama takes his charm offensive to Capitol Hill. Today, his latest personal diplomacy to get Republicans and Democrats to strike a deal on the budget ." [MP3 audio here .] An ABC graphic promoted, "Obama's 'Charm' Showdown." Later in the show, fill-in news reader John... continue reading

On Sunday's Reliable Sources , the CNN panel scoffed at the media for getting "manipulated" by the White House last week into hyping Obama's meetings with the GOP as a "charm offensive." CNN's own reporting shows that it played right into those talking points. " I love how easily the press corps is manipulated ," remarked The Washington Post 's Dana Milbank. "So, the President takes a few senators out to dinner at the Jefferson Hotel and has lunch with Paul Ryan, and suddenly, he's reaching out and there's all these efforts to have kumbaya. He's had two meals. "... continue reading

In a report on Monday's NBC Today about declining penguin populations in Antarctica, correspondent Kerry Sanders didn't take long to lay the blame on man-made climate change: "Penguins are most certainly the ambassadors to the bottom of the world....But the ambassadors are also sounding an alarm.... ten of the world's 18 penguin species are in trouble....The ice that dominates this landscape is melting faster than ever before." [ Listen to the audio ] Sanders fretted to biologist Fabrice Genevois: "Is that a canary in the coal mine for us as humans?" Genevois agreed: "Yeah, I mean that could be the... continue reading

For weeks, ABC hyped sequestration spending cuts as a threat that could "vaporize" America and "cripple" travel in the country. On Sunday's Good Morning America , however, George Stephanopoulos admitted that the President's plan isn't "working." Perhaps helping Obama shift strategies, the GMA segment focused on the Democrat "reaching out" to the Republican Party. Talking with Dan Harris and Bianna Golodryga about the President's dinner meeting with members of the GOP, Stephanopoulos conceded, "... The outside game at least in the short term wasn't working for the President. It was trying to raise all these alarms about the sequester but... continue reading

During an interview with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush for NBC's online Meet the Press Press Pass , which is also aired by some NBC-owned stations following Meet the Press on Sundays, moderator David Gregory referenced Bush being at the Reagan Presidential Library and employed the tired liberal talking point that Ronald Reagan would be too moderate for the modern GOP: "...the president you speak of and so many conservatives do, raised taxes, was for immigration reform, that a lot of modern-day conservatives would – would find quite distasteful. Could he exist? Could he get elected in today's Republican Party?... continue reading

Charles Krauthammer credited President Obama’s charm offensive toward Republicans to his losing the news media which couldn’t any longer abide his ridiculous sequester “cut” exaggerations. “Obama’s strongest constituency, which is not the left, it’s the mainstream media, could no longer cover for him without being entirely embarrassed,” Krauthammer observed Friday night on FNC, “It had to expose the one exaggeration after another on the sequester.” Audio: MP3 clip On the March 8 Special Report with Bret Baier , Krauthammer offered his explanation for Obama's “charm offensive”: The only thing that truly changed is that his numbers have gone down from... continue reading

CNN couldn't stop talking about former President Clinton's op-ed on Friday. Every hour between 5 a.m. and 3 p.m. ET, the network touted Clinton asking the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act that he signed as president, spending over a half hour of coverage on it. Anchor Don Lemon reported the op-ed four times between 9 and 11 a.m. ET. Anchor Ashleigh Banfield ran two segments on it during the 11 a..m. ET hour. Lemon, openly-gay, voiced his support: "I mean, when you sit right down and just look at it, it's really all about civil and... continue reading