George Stephanopoulos and the reporters at Good Morning America did not treat Dan Rather like a discredited journalist who disgraced CBS with faked documents. Instead, Rather was extolled as a "legendary newsman," and a "news legend." Those two terms were used four times on Monday. Stephanopoulos interviewed the ex-CBS anchor who was let go after using discredited documents in a 2004 story about then-President George W. Bush. The GMA co-host sympathetically explained how Rather is "upset" by his abrupt exit: "... You felt that your team at CBS and its corporate ownership at Viacom, didn't back you up in that... continue reading
On Monday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry could barely contain her glee over President Obama's comedic performance at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner: "I mean, he is Shecky, Shecky Obama. I'm telling you, he knows about timing. He's terrific." Curry was referring to famous stand-up comedian Shecky Greene . [ Listen to the audio ] Fellow co-host Matt Lauer asked Curry and weatherman Al Roker about being guests at the event. Roker declared: "It was a good time, it really was. I thought the President did fantastically. Jimmy Kimmel, I think was a little nervous, but boy, he delivered." Curry... continue reading
Catching up with Bryant Gumbel from a couple of weeks ago, on the April edition of his Real Sports show on HBO, the NBC News and CBS News veteran came to the defense of Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen, who caused outrage amongst Cuban-Americans when he declared “I love Fidel Castro.” In an end of the program commentary, Gumbel couldn’t resist taking a jab at conservatives, charging: Whipping up a frenzy over slights real and imagined is a play straight out of a far right handbook and Florida’s electoral cloud has often given Fidel’s critics far more leverage than their... continue reading
At the top of Thursday's NBC Nightly News, fill-in anchor Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: "Fired for trying to get pregnant. Tonight, the teacher versus the Catholic school." Guthrie was referring to I ndiana Catholic school teacher Emily Herx claiming she was fired after receiving in vitro fertilization treatments and touted the case as "another legal showdown over religious and reproductive rights." In the report that followed, correspondent Katy Tur declared: "It is one woman's battle against infertility and the restrictions of the Catholic Church." After promoting Herx's allegation that parish Monsignor John Kuzmic called her "a grave immoral sinner" for having... continue reading
When it comes to social issues, you can expect to get mostly one side of the story from CNN's reporting – the liberal side. On Thursday morning, that trend continued as anchor Kyra Phillips sympathized with a Catholic school teacher fired because she was using sick days to receive in vitro fertilization, a practice condemned by the Catholic Church. Phillips started off with this jab at the Church: "Well, in vitro fertilization is a godsend for millions of infertile couples who long to have children, but the Catholic Church says it's a sin." So tell us where you really stand... continue reading
When liberal Catholics protested Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) speaking at Georgetown University on Thursday, CNN jumped all over the story and gave it 11 full minutes of coverage during the 9-11 a.m. hours of Newsroom. In contrast, when the Obama administration issued its birth control mandate and Catholic bishops voiced their staunch opposition, CNN mentioned the story once in ten days. Anchor Carol Costello brought on two guests protesting Ryan's budget, and hosted no supporter of Ryan although she did read his own statement in defense of his budget. She reported the "collision of politics and faith" and that the... continue reading
In a supposed discussion of financial ethics with left-wing Harvard professor Michael Sandel on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry decried people being able to pay more money to get through airport security faster: "...there's an inherent unfairness to it....it's about those with money having an easier life than those who don't. And there's something fundamentally unfair about that." [ Listen to the audio ] Sandel was on to hawk his new book, "What Money Can't Buy," which Curry touted as, "a hard look at what's up for grabs in our society and asks, even if we can buy something,... continue reading
ABC News has, thus far, ignored its own revelation that, contrary to insinuations made by Barack Obama, the then-private citizen and his wife " were making enough to be considered 'wealthy' by the president’s own definition in the years before his loans were paid off. " ABC relegated this story to a posting on its website , not mentioning it on Wednesday's World News or Nightline . The story was similarly skipped on Thursday's Good Morning America . World News did touch on student loans, but only to accuse Mitt Romney of flip-flipping on the issue. David Muir dug up... continue reading
On Wednesday, two out of the Big Three broadcast networks yawned at Mitt Romney's wins in five primaries the previous evening and minimized covering this story on the morning newscasts. ABC's Good Morning America didn't air one report on Romney's victories, and NBC's Today offered just two news briefs. By contrast, NBC devoted a full report and a news brief to a woman spilling frozen yogurt on President Obama. ABC also covered the " embarrassing " yogurt encounter on GMA, but with only one brief. CBS This Morning, on the other hand, devoted one full report and a discussion segment... continue reading
CNN continued to show its unvarnished support for the GLAAD cause on Wednesday. Anchor Kyra Phillips was dripping with sympathy for a lesbian mother recently removed by the Boy Scouts as local cub den leader because of her orientation. Phillips fawned over the subject's son as she asked him such questions as "tell me what makes your mom such a great den leader" and "Do you think it's pretty cool to have two mommies?" CNN claims to be a serious news network, but Phillips' "interview" could have passed for Oprah any day of the week as she helped Jennifer Tyrrell... continue reading