BiasAlerts

The media's full-throttle attack on Mitt Romney's condemnation of Barack Obama's weak handling of the Libyan crisis isn't surprising given they invested so much time praising the President's Libyan policy in 2011. During the Arab Spring of 2011, Time's Mark Halperin called the administration’s policy toward Libya "deft" and CBS’s Norah O'Donnell declared Obama's "victories" in the Middle East would "burnish his credentials as a world leader." NBC's David Gregory hailed that since Obama "has been tested" in the foreign policy "arena" he would use the experience as "a club against Republicans." The following quotes are the worst examples of... continue reading
At the top of Wednesday's MSNBC Daily Rundown , host Chuck Todd denounced Mitt Romney for daring to criticize the Obama administration's handling of the attack on U.S. embassies in Egypt and Libya: "[The Romney campaign] wish they had that press release back, because as the hours unfolded....this statement looks crass and tone deaf in the light of this day." [ Listen to the audio ] Todd was referring to the Romney campaign condemning a statement by the U.S. embassy in Cairo that essentially apologized to the Islamist protesters attacking the diplomatic grounds. Todd proclaimed: "Now here's what we don't... continue reading
Angry journalists repeatedly lashed out at a defiant Mitt Romney, Wednesday, pushing the Republican at a press conference to renounce his criticism of Barack Obama's handling of the crisis developing in Libya. In a statement on Tuesday, the presidential candidate slammed the administration's "disgraceful" response to the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Libya, which ended with the murder of ambassador Chris Stevens. An unidentified reporter complained, " The statement from the President was a very toughly worded statement last night. Do you regret the tone at all, given what we know now ?" Another asked, given how quickly events... continue reading
Each morning, the MRC has been showcasing the most egregious bias we have uncovered over the years — four quotes for each of the 25 years of the MRC, 100 quotes total — all leading up to our big 25th Anniversary Gala September 27. (Click here for details and ticket information.) If you’ve missed a previous installment, recounting the worst of 1988 through 1997, you can find them here . Today, the worst bias of 1998 : Journalists disparage Ken Starr for investigating Bill Clinton's tawdry scandals, while an ex- Time magazine correspondent reveals the depth of her appreciation for... continue reading
Uniquely among the broadcast network evening newscasts, ABC's World News on Tuesday failed to mention Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criticism of the Obama administration for not being aggressive in preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons. The CBS Evening News included a plug in its opening teaser and then devoted a full report to the story. Anchor Scott Pelley previewed: "David Martin on Israel scolding the U.S. for not being tougher with Iran." Then came a clip of Netanyahu: "If Iran knows that there's no deadline, what will it do?" A bit later, after Pelley introduced the report recounting that... continue reading
CNN's Anderson Cooper smacked the Romney campaign Monday night for alleged dishonesty. He claimed they were talking too much about social issues while saying the economy is their real focus. "The question tonight, and not just from the opposition, have the Romney forces been moving away from dollars and cents and jobs, and shifting toward more red meat, hot-button culture war mode?" Cooper asked. "I mean what's up with the culture stuff suddenly?" he posed later. If CNN thinks this is so deserving of an investigative report, perhaps they could have also scrutinized the spotlight on birth control at the... continue reading
Eight weeks before the presidential election, Tuesday's CBS This Morning marked the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by helping Vanity Fair's Kurt Eichenwald forward his accusation that the Bush administration ignored warnings about a possible terrorist strike as early as May 2001. Eichenwald claimed that "the CIA did a spectacular job...the White House and others said, well, they didn't tell us enough. No, they told them everything they needed to know to go on a full alert, and the White House didn't do it ." The morning show also helped the former New York Times reporter promote his new... continue reading
Early in the 8 a.m. et hour on Tuesday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer led a panel discussion on whether the September 11th attacks were staring to be forgotten: "...some people are saying that the attention for this event, these anniversaries, is waning, and that people have moved on. 20 years from now, are our children going to grow up – be in a world where the significance of this event, those attacks, is lost?" [ Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump ] A little over thirty minutes later, NBC fulfilled that fear by... continue reading
Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday attacked Bob Woodward and his new expose from the left, worrying that " Speaker Boehner [is] using your book as a sign that voters should turn away from President Obama." [MP3 audio here .] Woodward appeared on ABC to promote The Price of Politics , his new book on the 2011 battle over the debt ceiling. According to Stephanopoulos, Woodward paints a picture of a president who failed to "work [his] will." The former Bill Clinton operative parroted Obama talking points, complaining, "As you know, the White House takes exception to the... continue reading
Promoting his fawning profile of President Obama for the October issue of Vanity Fair on Tuesday's NBC Today , contributing editor Michael Lewis described a game of basketball he played with the commander in chief: "...it was actually very revealing...he doesn't let anybody treat him like the president. If you're watching the game, you'd have no idea who – which one is the president...he likes a really challenging environment...it's a relationship among equals." [ Listen to the audio ] The gushing from Lewis was prompted by co-host Matt Lauer wondering: "What did you see about the way he [Obama] handles... continue reading