Breaking the news this morning that Mitt Romney has chosen Paul Ryan as his running mate, ABC’s Good Morning America in a single hour employed no fewer than seven “conservative” labels to label Ryan and his supporters. But four years ago as Barack Obama tapped Joe Biden, there wasn’t a single “liberal” label to be found on GMA ’s coverage that Saturday morning. Ryan, ABC’s team accurately pointed out, is as fill-in co-host David Muir put it, “a favorite among conservatives;” a candidate who “rallies the conservative base,” as George Stephanopoulos later opined. According to the American Conservative Union, Ryan... continue reading
Appearing as a panel member on Friday's Inside Washington on PBS, Politico 's Roger Simon claimed to see racism in a campaign ad against President Obama which criticizes the President for granting waivers to some states to loosen work requirements for welfare recipients. After host Gordon Peterson recalled that fellow panel member Charles Krauthammer had called the ad "accurate," Simon launched into race-baiting: Maybe I'm being overly critical here, but I hear a dog whistle in that ad. Even though, in fact, more white people are on welfare than black people, that's not the public perception of welfare. The Politico... continue reading
MSNBC will be producing campaign documentaries on Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Romney's special will be hosted by Republican skeptic Chuck Todd. Obama's doc will be in the hands of liberal anchor Chris Matthews. Even the titles are biased. According to TV Newser , Romney's program is titled, "Mitt Romney: The Making of a Candidate." Obama's? "Barack Obama: Making History." Can anyone spot the difference? A press release promises that the documentaries will take "audiences undercover to investigate in-depth some of the most important stories of our time. " While Todd has been tough on Romney, Matthews famously told the... continue reading
On Thursday, several media reports used Obama campaign talking points to downplay a new Romney campaign ad that accused the President of a "war on religion" following the ObamaCare contraception mandate that would force religious institutions to cover birth control in employee health insurance plans. Articles for The Washington Post , USA Today , and The Wall Street Journal all touted the Obama White House reaching a supposed "compromise" with religious groups on the issue. The Post's Rachel Weiner explained : "In a compromise designed to quell criticism, church-affiliated employers (such as universities) do not have to directly provide contraception... continue reading
On Thursday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams eagerly touted ongoing trouble for the nation's largest breast cancer charity: "...the controversy involving the Susan G. Komen Foundation has soiled one of the great names and best-known brand names in all of charity....it was the symbol of the fight against breast cancer until controversy came along and Komen cut funds for Planned Parenthood , a decision it later reversed." Williams noted how "senior leadership has given way" as "founder, Nancy Brinker, whose late sister was Susan G. Komen, is stepping down from her role as CEO." He wondered: "But will... continue reading
Three days after CNN slammed the dishonest ad from the pro-Obama Priorities USA super PAC that blames Mitt Romney for a woman's cancer death, Friday's CBS This Morning finally got around to covering it. But correspondent Nancy Cordes downplayed the liberal group's spot by also targeting a Romney ad that was " panned " by unnamed fact checkers, and claimed that " other Romney ads have taken Mr. Obama's words out of context ." Cordes also dredged up the famous and entirely accurate anti-Michael Dukakis Willie Horton ad from 1988 as an example of negative ads being "a hallmark of... continue reading
ABC on Thursday night finally broke the network's silence about a dishonest Obama super PAC ad that, essentially, accuses Mitt Romney of killing a woman. On Friday, G ood Morning America's hosts and reporters vaguely, but haughtily, chided "both sides" for negative ads, as if they had been covering Obama's commercial all week. [MP3 audio here .] At the very end of a segment on Romney's possible VP choices, co-anchor George Stephanopoulos lectured, "It really seems to be, watching this time around, that both sides are willing to take all kinds of heat for getting accused of running misleading ads,... continue reading
At the top of Tuesday's O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, host Bill O'Reilly rightly observed "the American media overwhelmingly favoring Barack Obama over Mitt Romney" and predicted that the slanted news coverage "will give the President about 3% or 4% of the popular vote" in the general election. O'Reilly cited numerous studies over several years that demonstrated the media predisposition that "clearly favors the more liberal candidate, and has for decades." In 2004, then-assistant managing editor of Newsweek magazine, Evan Thomas, made a prediction remarkably similar to O'Reilly's when he admitted that media bias in favor Democratic presidential candidate John... continue reading
Still working hard to avoid mentioning an outrageous Obama super-PAC ad that basically accused Mitt Romney of being responsible for the cancer death of a woman, Thursday's NBC Nightly News had the gall to instead promote pro-Obama fluff, as anchor Brian Williams gushed: "Knowing a hot product when he sees one, the President today visited the U.S. Olympic training facility in Colorado." Williams made sure to inform viewers that Obama "Promptly took his shoes off, got on the mat, and said his grandmother would be proud there were no holes in his socks." After ignoring the nasty Priorities USA ad... continue reading
Appearing as a guest on Thursday's The Ed Show , MSNBC political analyst Jonathan Alter - formerly of Newsweek - advised the Obama campaign to argue that, if Mitt Romney is elected President, "a lot of people will die" when Obamacare is repealed. A bit earlier, as Alter, host Ed Schultz and liberal columnist Michael Kinsley discussed the infamous Obama super PAC ad that blames Romney for a man's wife dying of cancer, Alter complained that what media "should be focused on is what are the consequences of repeal of ObamaCare." He added: And the consequences, as Mike just indicated,... continue reading