Thursday's CBS Evening News and Friday's CBS This Morning spotlighted the Washington Post's reporting on the accusation that Mitt Romney supposedly bullied a high school classmate almost 50 years ago. Evening News anchor Scott Pelley trumpeted how " what [Romney] said about it today made it relevant again ." Political director John Dickerson touted how " the reporting of the story seems pretty solid ." Correspondent Jan Crawford reported on the Romney issue on the evening and morning newscasts. During the Thursday report, Crawford highlighted how one former classmate of Romney's labeled the alleged incident an " assault and battery... continue reading
Leading off Thursday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams en thusiastically touted the President's fundraising efforts: "President Obama cashing in the day after his gay marriage announcement." Moments later, Williams proclaimed: "Tonight, it is clear President Obama is hoping, at least, to capitalize on the history he made yesterday , becoming the first American president to come out in favor of same-sex marriage." Williams fully embraced the cynicism of Obama's sudden flip-flop on the issue, noting how the President would be "appearing before a sympathetic audience tonight" of big-money campaign donors who "might not have been so sympathetic to the... continue reading
After President Obama publicly supported gay marriage on Wednesday, CNN continued its cheerleading well into Wednesday evening. During CNN's 6-9 p.m. coverage, 9 of the guests voiced their support of President Obama's position on-air, while only two objected. Another guest, Mike Signorile, did not give verbal support but writes for the Huffington Post "Gay Voices" blog and has called for President Obama to "kick down the closet door" and publicly support same-sex marriage. In contrast, only two of the guests voiced their disapproval of President Obama's position. And CNN's Piers Morgan had some nasty words for one of them –... continue reading
In a rather blatant show of a double standar d, CNN's Soledad O'Brien interrupted and grilled the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins over his opposition to same-sex marriage, but she gave an exceedingly soft interview to a guest who was "elated" at President Obama's open support of same-sex marriage. The interviews kicked off Thursday's 7 a.m. hour of Starting Point. CNN was quite one-sided in its Wednesday afternoon coverage of Obama's announcement in favor of gay marriage, and O'Brien simply carried that bias into Thursday morning. She sought the "reaction" of guest Mitchell Gold to the President's remarks, and Gold... continue reading
Contrary to the media's lack of coverage of President Obama's high school escapades, CNN's Soledad O'Brien promptly jumped on a Washington Post story featuring accusations of Mitt Romney being a high school bully – even though the story may already have a hole. O'Brien discussed the "harrowing" story on Friday's Starting Point. O'Brien wondered if Romney "actually owes a bigger apology" for an incident that allegedly happened almost 50 years ago. "Do you think Governor Romney actually owes a bigger apology or needs to say something more about this or is 'I don't remember and if I did something bad,... continue reading
Even though CNN's Suzanne Malveaux admitted she had no clue what Mitt Romney actually did in high school, she and a guest psychologist tried to speculate away on Friday afternoon's Newsroom. The conclusion: Romney may not recall the incident he has been accused of, but his apology for it reveals the probability of guilt for a "very violent" act of forcibly cutting someone's hair. "I have no idea what Romney did or didn't do," Malveaux admitted ignorance, before intoning that Romney was probably still in the wrong. "[T]he bullies never recall what they did. I mean it's absolutely astonishing the... continue reading
Conservative columnist Tim Carney appeared on MSNBC, Friday, to slam MSNBC's "ridiculous" coverage of Mitt Romney's supposed teenage bullying, berating the liberal network's "absurd premise." MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall became so irritated at having her world view challanged that she cut Carney's mic off. Regarding the cable outlet's coverage, Carney asserted, " I think that the focus that has come on it from the media, from MSNBC, in particular, has been absurd ." He dismissed, "But trying to make an issue out of Mitt Romney bullying somebody nearly 50 years ago is ridiculous and it is a big part of... continue reading
At the end of a full report on Friday's NBC Today, based on a Washington Po st hit piece that accused Mitt Romney of bullying of a gay high school classmate, correspondent Peter Alexander admitted the story may be false: "NBC News isn't naming the student who was allegedly bullied....Late last night, his sister told NBC News that his portrayal in the Washington Post story is 'factually incorrect'..." Despite that important detail, the network morning show still decided to promote the accusations. At the top of the show, co-host Ann Curry teased: "Prep school bully? Mitt Romney responds to a... continue reading
ABC on Thursday and Friday breathlessly hyped the "troubling" details of Mitt Romney's "teenage bullying," events that ocurred 47 years ago. On Friday's Good Morning America , co-anchor George Stephanopoulos, a former Democratic operative, introduced, " It's your voice, your vote and new questions today about whether Mitt Romney's teenage pranks went too far. " On Thursday, World News was the only evening newscast to actually lead with the story. Reporter David Muir, who covered the story on GMA and World News , managed to use the world troubling twice in one sentence, insisting that the bully victim's family is... continue reading
Joining the rest of the media in mourning the primary defeat of Republican Indiana Senator Richard Lugar on Tuesday, on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams praised th e "old-school moderate" who "was attacked for working to compromise with the White House" and lamented: "His defeat comes clos e to ending the era of centrist Republicans in the Senate." Williams reported on Lugar being "trounced in the Indiana Republican primary last night by Tea Party-backed opponent Richard Murdoch" and touted the 80-year-old Senator's bitter farewell: "[He] unleashed a 1,400-word document examining these hyper-partisan times. He blamed outside groups that... continue reading