Bill Whitaker did his best to depict former San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor as a tragic figure on Friday's CBS This Morning , but glossed over her Democratic affiliation. Whitaker sympathetically asked O'Connor, " What's the worst of it for you? " The correspondent also spotlighted how the former mayor " brought in light rail, a convention center – helped transform San Diego from a sleepy navy town to the country's eighth largest city." Anchor Norah O'Donnell introduced Whitaker's four and half minute-long report by labeling the politician a " beloved former mayor, " Whitaker later followed suit by pointing... continue reading
CNN only had soft questions and praise on Thursday for Jimmy Carter's grandson who had unearthed the tape of Mitt Romney's "47 percent" remarks. Host Wolf Blitzer gave a warm interview to James Carter IV on The Situation Room and Piers Morgan later teed up former President Carter to brag about his grandson on Piers Morgan Tonight . " How does it make you feel that your grandfather is so proud of what you did? What has he said to you? " Blitzer asked his Democratic guest. " He certainly was proud of you in the interview with Piers Morgan... continue reading
Appearing on Friday's Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC to discuss the upcoming budget sequestration, Bloomberg View columnist Margaret Carlson touted President Obama's ability "to manipulate some of these cuts so that they're going to hurt and people are going to see them," in order to put pressure on congressional Republicans. [ Listen to the audio ] Carlson then proclaimed: "I think we'll start hearing, you know, squeals , when, as [Transportation Secretary] Ray LaHood predicts, you know, we see those first lines at the airport. And it may even hurt, you know, those wealthy Republicans who don't have private jets... continue reading
Apparently, objectivity just isn't needed on some issues. On March 16th, Good Morning America's Josh Elliott, Sam Champion and Lara Spencer will co-host the 24th annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) awards. The event will honor another journalist, Anderson Cooper , for being "an advocate for the LGBT community." This isn't the first time Elliott, supposedly a neutral journalist, has appeared at the GLAAD event. On March 24, 2012 , the anchor accepted a media award and declared of ABC: "I'm proud to work at a place that believes in advocacy journalism!" Elliott fawned over the group, saying... continue reading
After dismissing the argument that President Obama was to blame for the sequester as "dumb" on Thursday's MSNBC Daily Rundown , NBC political director Chuck Todd further mocked the notion on Friday's program: "Republicans have been playing, well, an inside game, the inside the Beltway game, trying to build support for their position against the cuts and begging the media to say it's Obama that started the sequester, not them." [ Listen to the audio ] Earlier in the show, Todd gleefully touted: "The White House PR campaign meanwhile, has depended on local headlines...on sequester being bad enough to apply... continue reading
The journalists of Good Morning America on Friday adopted White House talking points, foreseeing a "fiscal emergency" that will "cripple" flights in the United States. Jon Karl warned, "When it comes to air travel, the first thing we'll all see are longer lines at airport security. Expect ten percent fewer TSA agents on the job." An ABC graphic blared, " Seven Days to Fiscal Emergency: Air Travel Could Be Crippled." [See video below. MP3 audio here .] Karl highlighted Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and former chief of staff to Bill Clinton. It's true that Bowles is now on a bipartisan... continue reading
CNN's getting more love from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) as prime-time host Anderson Cooper will be honored at the organization's upcoming Media Awards for his work as an "openly gay media professional" in "promoting equality." Cooper's not being honored as a journalist, but as an advocate. "Anderson Cooper has long been an advocate for the LGBT community," the group stated . GLAAD continues: "His wide range of subjects includes the bullying of LGBT youth, families supporting their transgender children, and the dangers of so-called 'ex-gay conversion therapy.'" The Huffington Post says the award is GLAAD's "most... continue reading
On her 1 pm ET hour MSNBC show on Thursday, host Andrea Mitchell mounted her high horse in condemning Republican Senators who questioned Defense Secretary nominee Chuck Hagel about his connection to what turned out to be a fake organization : "Without even checking the factual basis for their questions....You can ask anything and create a sound bite, and then people pick it up in social media, and it's off and running." [ Listen to the audio ] People in glass houses should not throw stones. Mitchell infamously aired a deceptively edited clip of Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential... continue reading
MSNBC's Chuck Todd on Thursday echoed a liberal columnist and mocked the idea of blaming Barack Obama for sequester spending cuts, even though it was the President's idea. On Thursday's Daily Rundown , Todd sneered, " Of all the dumb things Washington does, this 'who started it' argument has proven to be one of the dumber ones, especially since we're so close to the actual cuts going into place." [MP3 audio here. ] Todd's talking points sound very similar to assertions made by liberal Newsweek /Daily Beast writer Michael Tomasky . On Tuesday, he admitted that Obama came up with... continue reading
Wednesday's NBC Today featured a full report on Tiger Woods praising President Obama's golf game, with White House correspondent Peter Alexander cheering the weekend outing as the "most talked about golf pairing in years" and that Woods "was to golf what the President wants to be to politics, the guy who can't stop winning." [ Listen to the audio ] In between clips of Woods, Alexander proclaimed: "And reflecting on their weekend round together, this ruthless competitor admits he was impressed by his presidential partner." After a sound bite of Woods saying Obama could "get to where he's a pretty... continue reading