While playing a game of "Never Have I Ever" on Friday, the hosts of NBC's Today made a series of embarrassing confessions – everything from admitting to having "sexy dreams" about each other, to being drunk on air, to seeing each other naked. Co-host Matt Lauer began the bizarre segment: "Everybody knows this game called "Never Have I Ever," right?...Let's try our own version....Here we go. Never have I ever had a sexy dream about one of my co-anchors." Equipped with signs reading "I Have" or "I Have Never," Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, and Al Roker all held up "I Have"... continue reading
All three networks on Friday morning promoted Barack Obama's "interesting," "unconventional" interviews with YouTube personalities, including one who is famous for taking a bath in milk and Fruit Loops. Good Morning America journalist Amy Robach cheered the President for reaching "people who might not otherwise have heard what he had to say." Yet, ABC's hosts didn't point out that one of the questions, by a 19-year-old fashion blogger, was nearly identical to one by veteran journalist Barbara Walters. YouTube's Bethany Mota queried, "If you had any superpower what would it be?" On December 23, 2011 , Walters asked Obama, "If... continue reading
On Thursday night, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC each covered the news that the United States-backed government in Yemen had fallen after rebels stormed the capital city of Sana’a and surrounded the presidential palace on Tuesday. While the networks gave this story airtime, they only gave it to the tune of one minute and 59 seconds and avoided any mention of how President Obama had, just months prior, declared Yemen to be a success story for the United States in fighting terrorism. In comparison, the three networks devoted 11 minutes and 16 seconds on Thursday evening to... continue reading
On Wednesday night, ABC’s World News Tonight and anchor David Muir restarted the media promotion of Chelsea Clinton’s new baby with Bill and Hillary Clinton as grandparents by spending 24 seconds informing viewers of the competition between Bill and Hillary for “who gets to read to Charlotte.” Muir also took particular interest in how Hillary spends her time with the newest member of the Clinton family, remarking that Hillary has been “trying her hand at lullabies” and then joked that “we want the video of that.” Following an eight-second tease, Muir had the following brief during the program’s “Instant Index”:... continue reading
In a nasty screed against American Sniper on Wednesday, Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi claimed the Oscar-nominated film was "almost too dumb to criticize" but proceeded to do so anyway, declaring: "Even by the low low standards of this business, it still manages to sink to a new depth or two." Taibbi's main problem with the movie becomes clear a few paragraphs in as proceeds to rant against the Iraq war and the Bush administration: "Sniper is a movie whose politics are so ludicrous and idiotic that under normal circumstances it would be beneath criticism. The only thing that... continue reading
Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, has been reporting from Cuba since Wednesday, covering the first face-to-face meetings between U.S. and Cuban officials in decades, and has used her visit as an opportunity to promote the country of Cuba. On Thursday, Mitchell interviewed former Cuban diplomat Carlos Alzugaray on her daily MSNBC program Andrea Mitchell Reports . The NBC reporter seemed perplexed that her guest would dare compare Cuban President Raul Castro to President Obama because President Obama is a “youthful American president” and Castro is an “elderly Cuban president.” The MSNBC host began by wondering how anyone... continue reading
The three major networks, through Thursday morning, have devoted a staggering 67 minutes and 49 seconds to obsessing over every aspect of whether the New England Patriots cheated in their AFC championship win on Sunday. Yet, only ABC allowed a scant 34 seconds to the Obama administration's release of five terrorists out of Guantanamo Bay and back to areas connected with extremist violence. The contrast is 120-to-1. NBC was, by far, the most lopsided in terms of journalistic priorities. From Monday through early Thursday, the network's morning and evening shows produced 33 minutes and 35 seconds to the so-called "Deflategate."... continue reading
Introducing a segment on Thursday's NBC Today about parents saving for college, co-host Matt Lauer and the show's financial editor Jean Chatzky spent a scant twenty-four seconds on President Obama's recently announced proposal to hike taxes on college savings accounts. Lauer noted: "Talk to me a little bit about what President Obama was referring to when he gave the State of the Union address and he talked about proposing changes to 529 accounts." Chatzsky explained the significance of the plan: "Yeah, he didn't actually say it, but he issued some language about it and essentially he's looking at taxing money... continue reading
On Thursday, NBC’s Today gave Hillary Clinton some free publicity following a policy speech she gave in Canada on Wednesday. During a news brief in the 7:00 a.m. hour, Natalie Morales gushed how Mrs. Clinton “may try her hand at comedy. During a policy speech in Canada on Wednesday, Clinton described a mock conversation that Vladimir Putin had with himself about becoming Russia’s president again after initially leaving office.” The Today co-host then aired a clip of Mrs. Clinton attempting to imitate Vladimir Putin by saying “Vladimir, you think you'd like to be president again? I think I would actually... continue reading
Following NBC Nightly News ’ infomercial for Cuba on Wednesday night , on Thursday morning, NBC’s Today offered up more of the same as the network eagerly cheered the “historic talks” between the United States and Cuba. In a live report from Havana, Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent, boosted the talks and touted how “for these American college students from Brown University, studying in Havana, born after the Cold War, it's a chance to witness history.” The NBC reporter began her coverage by hyping how “the president's new opening to Cuba is broadly popular according to our... continue reading