On Thursday's World News , ABC correspondent Jonathan Karl gave attention to the now-infamous Obama super PACc ad that blames Mitt Romney for a man's wife dying of cancer, labeling it "the single most outrageous ad of the campaign." Karl's piece was devoted to criticizing campaign ads from both sides, and, after a clip of President Obama complaining about ads from Romney's side, the ABC correspondent continued: But the single most outrageous ad of the campaign comes from a super PAC supporting the President, and run by his former spokesman. It features a man who once worked for a company... continue reading
On Thursday morning, the Big Three continued their complete blackout on the controversy surrounding a pro-Obama super PAC's new ad that points the finger at Mitt Romney for a woman's cancer death. ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today minimized their political coverage. Even worse, CBS This Morning had former DNC head Ed Rendell on, but instead bringing up the hot topic, they discussed the apparently fascinating topic of federal infrastructure funding. By contrast, liberal CNN slammed the Priorities USA ad on Tuesday and Wednesday , with The Situation Room , Erin Burnett's OutFront program, Anderson Cooper 360 , and... continue reading
For a network claiming to be non-partisan, CNN was quite partisan on Thursday when it used a Democratic talking point to fact-check a claim made by many conservatives. Anchor Brooke Baldwin focused on a Romney campaign ad claiming, as many conservatives are, that the Obama administration is infringing on religious liberty with its contraception mandate. "One, this article is an opinion piece," Baldwin said of a headline in the ad accusing Obama of waging "war on religion," adding that "it came out actually before the President made this compromise back in February when he compromised putting birth control mandates on... continue reading
On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams gushed over a speech Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made on a trip to South Africa: "...she talked about the strength she received from Nelson Mandela back when she was first lady and the Clintons were under daily political attack." Williams read a quote from Clinton: "I was beginning to get pretty hard inside. I was beginning to think, who do they think they are? What can I do to get even?" He then added: "She talked about Mandela's lesson of shedding bitterness and working toward reconciliation." Williams fawning over Clinton... continue reading
All three evening newscasts on Wednesday continued to ignore a super PAC ad by top Obama supporters that accuses Mitt Romney of, essentially, killing a woman. At the same time, CBS and NBC amplified the Obama administration's "war on women" talking point, playing up attacks from Sandra Fluke, who previously tangled with Rush Limbaugh over contraception. [MP3 audio here .] NBC and CBS uncritically parroted a vicious new campaign quote from the President: "They [Republicans] want to take us back to the policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century." NBC's Andrea Mitchell cheered, "Playing a starring role... continue reading
During a report about "why we love the British" on Thursday's NBC Today , special correspondent Tom Brokaw declared: "In one of our election years, the British watch America with a sense of bewilderment." Left-wing BBC anchor Katty Kay sniffed: "When we talk about God, guns, and government, those are the three big things we don't understand." [ Listen to the audio ] She then lamented: "The role of government here [in the United States] is much more complicated, people don't want it in America. In Britain, we expect government to provide things for us." Brokaw prefaced this portion of... continue reading
“On our broadcast tonight,” Brian Williams teased his lead story Wednesday night, “extreme heat, but more than that: the official confirmation that came today that it has never been this hot in America.” Citing a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report which pegged the average July temperature in the lower 48 at 77.6 degrees fahrenheit, Williams proceeded to hyperventilate over the “official word that arrived today that” July was “the hottest of all time since they started keeping records.” Yet, as fill-in CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer noted in a short item deep in his newscast, the “previous record... continue reading
On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News , as correspondent Andrea Mitchell filed a report recounting that President Obama is running ahead of Mitt Romney with female voters, Mitchell referred to liberal birth control activist Sandra Fluke's political activities as a push for "contraception rights" rather than more accurately relaying her desire to force health insurance to pay for birth control pills for women as if they could not choose to purchase such products on their own. As she concluded the story, Mitchell included a dig at Rick Santorum as she asserted to viewers that members of the Romney campaign "blame Rick... continue reading
CNN relied on liberal analysis and Democratic talking points to dismantle a new Romney campaign claim about Obama gutting welfare reform. On Wednesday morning the network twice cited PolitiFact calling Romney's new ad " Pants on Fire " and quoted former President Clinton calling it false. As NewsBusters reported , the July HHS directive does away with work requirements for welfare recipients, which was at the heart of the 1996 welfare reform bill. The memo would allow states to creatively redefine the work requirements and replace them with excuses for "work." Not so, says CNN, who even resorted to quoting... continue reading
On Wednesday's Morning Edition, NPR followed the example of its Big Three counterparts in failing to cover a new ad from a pro-Obama super PAC that points the finger at Mitt Romney for a woman's cancer death. Instead, the liberal radio network sent correspondent Ari Shapiro to " do some truth squadding " about the Romney campaign's latest ad slamming the Obama administration on welfare reform. Shapiro slanted towards the Democratic campaign's spin of the Romney ad, and concluded that the White House's move on welfare work requirements was " poor form by the Democrats, perhaps, but not the same... continue reading