Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden continued her fawning, multi-part profile of Michelle Obama on Monday night, worrying about the "extra responsibilities" that Mrs. Obama faces as an African American First Lady. She then offered this softball: " Is it different to be a black child growing up in America today than it was four years ago? " [MP3 audio here .] Fellow co-anchor Bill Weir bragged that his colleague had been "granted rare access" to Mrs. Obama. McFadden wondered if the President is "a bit intimidated, a little bit afraid" of his wife. The journalist then pushed Mrs. Obama to brag... continue reading
Ed Morrissey at Hot Air provided some insight into the double standard in the New York Times ' coverage of two mediocre September jobs report released on the eve of two presidential elections: The current race, pitting a Democratic incumbent against Republican challenger Gov. Mitt Romney, and the 2004 race between sitting Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. Morrissey uncovered a contemporaneous account of the September 2004 jobs report by Times reporter Eduardo Porter. (Porter would later become a liberal economics columnist for the paper). Porter had no trouble finding weakness in a report... continue reading
ABC's Cynthia McFadden was dripping with sugary admiration on Monday for President Obama's "not-so-secret weapon," First Lady Michelle Obama. She touted Obama as a big hugger" and "very warm in person." Obama made statements like this that went unchallenged by McFadden: "I rarely step foot in the West Wing. In fact, people are shocked when they see me there." That sentiment of a hands-off policy flatly contradicts Jodi Kantor's reporting in the New York Times of definitive friction between the First Lady and the President's staff. [Video below the break. Audio here .] "She was sometimes harder on her husband’s... continue reading
CNN's Soledad O'Brien omitted a key portion of Mitt Romney's remarks back in May as she tried to convict him of hypocrisy with his own words on Monday. Conservative blog The Right Scoop reported earlier on this. Just hours before Romney's key address on foreign policy, O'Brien reported, "So here's what we know he is going to say in his speech this – later today. He's going to say 'Finally I will recommit America to the goal of the democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel.' And as you... continue reading
None of the Big Three broadcast networks noted the release Friday of the Congressional Budget Office’s final determination of the fiscal year 2012 federal budget deficit: $1.1 trillion, the fourth year in a row of trillion-dollar deficits . ABC, CBS and NBC’s Friday evening newscasts and Saturday morning news programs were silent about the statistic — even though Obama’s massive spending and broken 2008 promise of halving the deficit are central issues of this year’s presidential campaign. A look back shows that the networks were also silent last year, when the deficit came in at $1.299 trillion for fiscal year... continue reading
The 2007 video of then-Senator Barack Obama hinting at racism in the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina isn't the only news story that NBC's Today show stuck up its nose at during the first days of October. The morning newscast has conspicuously ignored covering the latest developments in the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. It hasn't devoted a full segment or even a news brief to the issue since September 29. As Today devoted air time to how Mitt Romney's debate performance was supposedly " completely overshadowed " by " hunting " Big Bird, ABC's... continue reading
In Caracas reporting on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez winning an "unprecedented third term" for Monday's NBC Today, reporter Kerry Sanders seemed to be swept up in the excitement: "For Chavez's supporters, his reelection is an emotional moment in history. Fireworks filled the skies as a street party continued well into the early morning hours. A Chavez victory, say supporters, means his brand of socialism is here to stay." [ Listen to the audio ] Sanders promoted Chavez as "a star among the poor in South America" and propagandized for his dictatorial regime: "Chavez's socialist revolution has captured the imagination of... continue reading
During the Week in Buzz segment on Sunday's NBC Today , Ericka Souter, editor of the celebrity gossip blog The Stir, trashed Mitt Romney for announcing plans to cut federal funding of PBS, including Sesame Street, ranting: "Everything else Romney said was completely overshadowed by the fact that Big Bird felt attacked or people felt Big Bird was attacked, and he's like an icon to millions of moms and kids." [ Listen to the audio ] As Souter denounced Romney for supposedly attacking Big Bird, the headline on screen read: "Romney Goes 'Bird' Hunting." A picture appeared that showed a... continue reading
Liberals, Peggy Noonan noted on Sunday’s This Week roundtable, want Mitt Romney “to be more specific so that you can rouse people against” budget cuts to any program. Indeed, earlier in the program, host George Stephanopoulos cited Romney’s wish to end the federal subsidy for PBS, pointing out how PBS “only takes about 1/100th of one percent of budget” and asking if “it a mistake to target” Big Bird? On Friday night, NBC’s Brian Williams provided a full brief in defense of PBS’s subsidy, misleadingly suggesting the end of the federal subsidy would mean the end to children’s television programming... continue reading
CNN's Soledad O'Brien twice implied Mitt Romney is lying, on Friday's Starting Point . She pointed to the candidate's admission to being wrong about his 47 percent comments after previously standing by them as a "flip-flop," and something "which some could define as lying." Meanwhile, on Wednesday she barely touched a 2007 video of then-Senator Obama pandering to a largely black audience and implying the federal government cared less about majority-black New Orleans than it did New York and Florida. O'Brien did not question whether Obama would now "flip-flop" on what he said then. [Video below. Audio here .] "So... continue reading