During a syrupy interview with Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards on Monday's Last Word , MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell was so impressed with her that he concluded the segment by declaring that she is worthy to be ambassador to the United Nations. O'Donnell: Cecile Richards, you now have my nomination for America's ambassador to the United Nations. Your artful diplomacy and how you have handled yourself in this relationship with your former partner who is now again your partner, the Komen foundation, has been something to behold. A bit earlier, he seemed to give a glimpse into his circle of... continue reading
NBC Nightly News on Monday lifted its two-plus week blackout of the Obama administration's decision to force religious institutions, such as Catholic hospitals and charities, to provide birth control coverage in health insurance provided to employees, but ABC's World News and the CBS Evening News have still yet to utter a syllable about what has enraged people across the political spectrum while having plenty of time to champion Planned Parenthood's attacks on the Komen foundation. NBC's Chuck Todd on Monday evening found a few seconds in a larger story to relay how the Republican presidential candidates 'are hitting the Obama... continue reading
On Sunday New York Times columnist Ross Douthat highlighted the blunt favoritism shown by the media toward Planned Parenthood in last week's headline-making spat with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, the breast cancer charity, after it announced it would no longer fund the prominent abortion provider: 'The Media's Abortion Blinders .' Douthat compared the popularity of the pro-life position among Americans with the unanimous hostility the media unleashed on Komen, and the universal respect accorded Planned Parenthood: '... on the abortion issue, the press's prejudices are often absolute, its biases blatant and its blinders impenetrable.' In the... continue reading
CNN's blatant double-standard in covering religious and social issues was manifested in its lopsided coverage of two different stories over the past few weeks. When prominent religious leaders condemned an Obama administration mandate as an attack on religious freedom, the network gave the controversy one brief mention in ten days. But when liberal outrage ensued over a cancer charity pulling its funding of leading abortion provider Planned Parenthood, CNN reported the story the next day and promptly followed it up with more coverage. On January 20, the Obama administration required religious organizations to pay for birth control for employees, even... continue reading
ABC, CBS, and NBC spotlighted the Komen foundation's about-face on funding Planned Parenthood on their Friday evening newscasts, and played up the apparent role of social media in getting the charity to reverse its earlier decision. On World News, ABC's Diane Sawyer trumpeted the " dramatic day for people power ," while on Nightly News, NBC's Lester Holt concluded, " score one for the power of social media ." The Big Three outlets also covered the 180 by the breast cancer organization on their Saturday morning shows. Altogether, the networks added seven more reports to the 13 from the first... continue reading
After pounding Mitt Romney on taxes and wealth for weeks, ABC touted a new poll on Monday finding that the Republican is "struggling on this key issue of taxes," according to co-host George Stephanopoulos. Reporter Jake Tapper trumpeted this result: " And the more that the American people hear about Mitt Romney, the more they don't like ." He added, "They heard about Romney paying only that 15 percent rate, which is all he's legally required to pay when it comes to investments and they don't like it." Stephanopoulos helpfully forecasted that the "White House is going to continue to... continue reading
Once again touting the latest cover of New Yorker magazine , NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer lobbed this softball to President Obama in a pre-Super Bowl interview: "...you watching the big game on TV...on screen it's not the Patriots and the Giants. It's Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, same team, and they are pummeling each other. And look at the smile on your face there. Is art imitating life here?" [ Listen to the audio ] Obama began to answer: "Well, you know, look, I've been through these primaries, they're tough." Lauer quickly followed up: "But does this help you?"... continue reading
The broadcast network evening and morning newscast blackout, of the Obama administration plan to force health insurance offered by Catholic charities and hospitals to cover sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and contraception without a co-pay, continued over the weekend, yet the ABC and NBC Sunday morning talk shows took up the topic. Meanwhile, the media double standard in ignoring the ObamaCare imposition on religious institutions while jumping to defend Planned Parenthood when Komen pulled funding, is being noticed by media observers ranging from from Fox News to even a New York Times columnist. Guest Newt Gingrich raised, on both CBS's Face the... continue reading
On Sunday's syndicated Chris Matthews Show , host Matthews dismissed NBC's Andrea Mitchell when she tried to correct his claim that President George H.W. Bush had never seen a checkout scanner before when he visited a supermarket during the 1988 presidential campaign. He mentioned the since debunked Bush gaffe as he opened the show previewing a dicussion of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's supposed gaffes, leading guest Mitchell to address the Bush story, but Matthews was still unconvinced and declared, "I'm still not letting him off on that." As Mitchell was finishing her first turn to speak near the beginning... continue reading
While Mitt Romney is polling strong in Nevada – as her own network had reported – CNN's Ashleigh Banfield still questioned how anyone in the state could "connect" with him over his laissez-faire approach to the foreclosure crisis. Banfield's question came at the bottom of the 1 p.m. hour of Friday's Newsroom. The CNN host dismissed Romney's free market solution as hurtful to his own campaign, as if Nevada voters might not support such a remedy for the housing market. "[H]ow is it that anybody in Nevada, conservative or not, could connect with Mitt Romney when he says something about... continue reading