ABC's Good Morning America hasn't once reported on U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's claim on the September 16 edition of This Week that the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya was " a spontaneous - not a pre-meditated - response to what had transpired in Cairo ." Even worse, the morning show hasn't reported on the subsequent developments on the consulate attack over the past 12 days that cast doubt on Ambassador Rice's statement. NBC's Today show also hasn't covered Rice's talking points on the attack, after she appeared on Meet the Press on the same day as... continue reading
On Monday, CNN's Piers Morgan said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "makes perfect rational sense" when talking about broadly about "Afghanistan and Iraq and America's response to 9/11." On Wednesday night, he cast Ahmadinejad's UN speech as "for him, relatively low key, dare I say almost reasonable." New York Times columnist Nick Kristof was quick to provide some context. "It was reasonable by Ahmadinejad standards," he noted. "Not by sort of normal conventional standards." "I mean, after all he suggested that 9/11 was some kind of dark conspiracy, and for him to accuse other countries of nuclear responsibility is a little... continue reading
ABC's David Muir on Thursday hyped the presidential election as "slipping away" from Mitt Romney and pushed the idea that next week's presidential debate is "do-or-die" for the Republican. Talking to the candidate, Muir pressed, " I'm curious what you would say to some of your supporters tonight, your donors who might be concerned this could be slipping away? " [See video below. MP3 audio here .] Trying ro raise expectations for the former governor, Muir insisted, "In fact, some are already calling [the October 3 presidential] debate a do-or-die moment." In 2008, ABC and George Stephanopoulos declared Barack Obama... continue reading
Leading off Wednesday's NBC Nightly News , fill-in anchor Savannah Guthrie declared the presidential race in one key battleground state all but over: "Tonight, both candidates are in Ohio as a spate of new polls shows the all-important bellwether may be slipping away for the Republican challenger." In the report that followed, correspondent Ron Allen reiterated that "new polls show Ohio slipping away" from Romney and quickly asserted the cause: "Romney down by ten points in a new poll out this morning, and nearly that in another recent poll, after that video of Romney talking disparagingly about the 47% who... continue reading
Norah O'Donnell was ready to tie the toe tag on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign on Wednesday's CBS This Morning , as the morning newscast hyped the latest numbers from the Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll, especially President Obama's 10-point lead in Ohio. After mentioning Romney's latest 60-second TV spot, O'Donnell twice wondered, " Is it too late? The voting in Ohio starts next week ." Charlie Rose spotlighted the President's " growing lead " in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida, according to his network's poll. But it took the program more than an hour to mention only in passing that... continue reading
ABC News found scant time for the just-passed political conventions, coming in dead last according to a Media Research Center study. But the network on Tuesday did manage to, yet again, obsessively focus on John F. Kennedy, a man whose presidency ended 49 years ago. Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos interviewed Caroline Kennedy about newly released tapes of her father. He played clips of JFK discussing serious issues and also playing with his daughter. Stephanopoulos marveled, " But here's the president on the one moment talking about the Cuban Missile Crisis, – boom – complete switching of gears. "... continue reading
Good Morning America on Wednesday touted "stunning" new polls out of Ohio that show Mitt Romney trailing. ABC reporter David Muir pushed a minor comment by the Republican as a "sudden shift." Muir hyped, "After repeatedly saying President Obama raised taxes during his first term...suddenly Romney appeared to be saying the President hasn't raised taxes." [Video below .] Romney's remark that Obama "did not" raise taxes was in reference to income taxes. Yet, this slight change in phraseology led Muir to position himself as a surrogate for the President, defending, " Romney's comments made immediate headlines. In fact, the President... continue reading
At the end of an interview with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Monday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer turned to the subject of climate change and fretted: "We've had a crazy week in this – year in this country of extreme weather. Are you seeing around the world the kind of motivation and will that's necessary to, A, admit there's a problem, and then address the problem?" [ Listen to the audio ] Blair replied in part: "This climate issue is real, and we are very irresponsible for future generations if we don't deal with it and... continue reading
The Media Research Center has been showcasing the most egregious bias we have uncovered over the years — four quotes for each of our 25 years, 100 quotes total — all leading up to our big 25th Anniversary Gala tomorrow evening. (Click here for posts recounting the worst of 1988 through 2011 .) Today, the worst bias of 2012 (so far): Newsweek sees Barack Obama as “grotesquely underappreciated,” afflicted by critics who are simply “dumb;” Chief Justice John Roberts becomes a media hero by voting to save ObamaCare; and an ex-CNN correspondent charges Republicans are trying to take the country... continue reading
In a pre-recorded interview with former President Bill Clinton aired on Tuesday's Piers Morgan Tonight , CNN host Morgan fawned over the former Democratic President and complained about the "God damned Twenty-Second Amendment" as he suggested that Clinton should be President "for the next 30 years." He then invited Clinton to run for Prime Minister of Great Britain if the law were changed to allow it. A bit earlier, as the two discussed the possibility of an Iran with nuclear weapons, the CNN host also brought up the ludicrous argument by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that, if the U.S. and... continue reading