At the top of Monday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams proclaimed: "Firestorm. A Congressman's words about rape rocket across the country...women's issues are front and center again." Introducing the lead story moments later, Williams announced how "suddenly" Republican Todd Akin's comments "exploded well beyond the borders of Missouri." Correspondent Andrea Mitchell began her report by nationalizing the gaffe made by Akin during a local news interview: "Republicans fear their hopes for the White House and control of the Senate could turn on what happened at a St. Louis TV station..." Mitchell later touted: "In a race where the... continue reading
CNN's Soledad O'Brien defended the stimulus bill on Monday's Starting Point, calling it a "big thing" that President Obama accomplished and adding that police officers and firefighters kept their jobs because of it. "[I]f the stimulus hadn't been passed, then what would have happened to the economy?" she threw a Democratic talking point at Rep. Mike Burgess (R-Tex.). "Didn't that to a large degree help the economy? You're not going to argue certainly that it didn't?" [Video below. Audio here .] "And I think there are firefighters and teachers and police officers whose jobs were kept, would not have had... continue reading
Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman on Monday's Hardball compared the Republican vice presidential candidate to a congressman who is under fire for discussing what makes a "legitimate rape." Fineman attacked: "Because Todd Akin is the Paul Ryan of Missouri." [MP3 audio here .] Akin on Sunday was asked about women who get pregnant after being raped. He replied , "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Fineman connected: "What matters is that the views that Todd Akin has espoused and the legislation he's supported is exactly in line with... continue reading
CNN already understands why the Family Research Council (FRC) was labeled a "hate group" by the liberal Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). On Saturday, CNN gave more credibility to the SPLC as anchor Randi Kaye cited the group as a credible source on "hate groups" in the U.S. right after quoting their explanation for the FRC's "hate group" label. "Statistics show hate groups are on the rise in this country. The Southern Poverty Law Center counted more than 1,000 known hate groups operating in the U.S. last year, and the FBI reported nearly 7,000 hate crimes," reported Kaye during the... continue reading
Mere hours after Politico reported on Republican Congressman Kevin Yoder's admitted skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee in Israel, CBS highlighted the story on its Monday morning newscast. By contrast, the network was slow to report on former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner's lewd photo scandal in 2011. On June 1 of that year, ABC and NBC's morning shows reported on the " underwear uproar ," while CBS's Early Show punted on the story . The following day, CBS played up conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart's early role in spreading word of the New York liberal's indecent Twitter pic: "Supporters of Weiner... continue reading
Appearing on Monday's NBC Today, political director and chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd used reports of a Republican congressman skinny dipping during a 2011 trip to Israel to slam the GOP: "...a bunch of freshman House Republicans who came to Washington trying to stop things...create this confrontation with the President over the debt ceiling...created all sorts of economic havoc....they partied, got drunk and one of them went skinny dipping in the Sea of Galilee." [ Listen to the audio ] Co-host Savannah Guthrie teed up Todd by wondering if the actions of Kansas Congressman Kevin Yoder on that trip... continue reading
All three morning shows on Monday highlighted gaffes involving two Republican congressmen, touting the "firestorm" that followed a GOP senatorial candidate who discussed "legitimate rape." Both NBC and CBS attempted to link that incident (and one of a congressman swimming naked in the Sea of Galilee) to the Republican presidential ticket. On CBS This Morning , Nancy Cordes trumpeted "comments made by Missouri Republican Todd Akin [that] have caused a firestorm" and added, " national Democrats are already seizing on his comments as they try to push the notion that Republicans are out of touch when it comes to women's... continue reading
At the top of Monday's NBC Today , co-host Savannah Guthrie seized on controversies involving Republican members of Congress and proclaimed: "Hot water....Two distractions for the GOP with the convention now just one week away." Introducing coverage of the incidents, fill-in cost Lester Holt similarly declared: "...some high-profile distractions for the Republican Party. Two congressmen under fire this morning, one for what he did, the other for what he said." Chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell touted a Politico report detailing Kansas Republican Kevin Yoder skinny dipping during a 2011 trip to Israel and concluded that it would be "a... continue reading
CNN is harping on the "partisan" connections of a group of military veterans criticizing President Obama, likening it to Swift Boat, yet it has helped further liberal partisan attacks in the past through its own biased coverage. "A new group of veterans, including former Navy SEALs, accuses President Obama of taking too much credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden. The group says it's nonpartisan. But a CNN investigation finds it has close links to the Republican Party," reported Joe Johns on Thursday's The Situation Room. "I know you know some of the criticism, and the criticism is that... continue reading
In spite of a Washington Post poll showing 74 percent of Americans favor government-issued photo ID mandates at polling places, CNN skipped those numbers this past week in six separate segments on voter ID laws. As a MediaIte study noted , MSNBC aired 19 segments on voter ID laws from Monday through Thursday without mentioning the poll. While CNN's coverage was largely balanced, the poll numbers still should have been reported in their discussions on voter ID laws. In one instance of liberal bias, anchor Fredricka Whitfield teed up liberal guest Professor Jonathan Turley on Thursday by asking if ID... continue reading