The journalists at Good Morning America on Friday altered a quote from an ESPN reporter, turning a question about Tim Tebow into a declaration that the faith of the quarterback is why he's such an "astonishingly polarizing," "divisive figure." On ESPN 2's First Take , Skip Bayless wondered, "Do you believe your faith is the biggest reason you're such an astonishingly polarizing figure, a divisive figure in the country? Everybody has a strong opinion, love him or hate him, on Tebow." During the Josh Elliott segment on GMA, Bayless's query became a proclamation: " Your faith is the biggest reason... continue reading
Following Democratic National Committee talking points to the letter at the top of Thursday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams saw Donald Trump's endorsement of Mitt Romney as an excuse to bash the Republican frontrunner: "New fallout from Mitt Romney's choice of words about the very poor, and tonight a new endorsement from a man who's catchphrase is 'You're fired.'" In the report that followed, correspondent Peter Alexander gleefully touted Democrats smearing Romney in the wake of Trump's backing: "For Romney, the endorsement of a billionaire businessman with this as his signature line [clip of Trump saying "You're fired"]... continue reading
Good Morning America reporter Claire Shipman on Friday offered a one-sided, misleading segment on Susan G. Komen's "political" decision to defund Planned Parenthood. (Later on Friday, the Komen Foundation backed down and restored funding, according to media reports .) Shipman inaccurately described a women who got a breast screening "through a Planned Parenthood screening." The organization doesn't do such procedures. Yet, an ABC graphic misrepresented that Monique Benoit "received a mammogram through Planned Parenthood." Benoit is featured on Planned Parenthood's YouTube account . There, a more accurate explanation was given: The group "gave me a referral slip to somewhere for... continue reading
Appearing as a guest on Thursday's The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, ABC's Christiane Amanpour characterized conservatives as several years ago "frog-marching" the U.S. to war with Iraq as she and host Colbert discussed the likelihood Israel will soon attack Iran to prevent the Islamic state from producing nuclear weapons. After Colbert queried, "There's no choice, right?" Amampour played along with his shtick as an exaggerated right-wing commentator as she asserted that "your gang" pushed the country into war with Iraq. Amanpour: Well, that's what they're saying if the sanctions don't work. And what they've got is a, you know,... continue reading
The Big Three networks continued their blackout on covering the controversy involving the Obama administration trying to force Catholic institutions to include coverage of abortifacients and contraception in their health plans without a co-pay. Instead, Diane Sawyer on Wednesday's ABC World News highlighted Pfizer's recall of birth control pills that could " raise the risk of accidental pregnancy ." The same evening, both CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News aired reports on Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation discontinuing its funding of abortion perpetrator Planned Parenthood, with NBC's Brian Williams hyping how " thousands of women ...[may] pay the... continue reading
Since announcing that it would no longer provide funding to Planned Parenthood on Wednesday, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation has been subject to a vicious smear campaign by the abortion provider, a campaign which NBC News has worked to advance over the past 48 hours. At the top of Wednesday's NBC Nightly News , anchor Brian Williams sounded the alarm: "Caught in the middle. Two of the biggest names in women's health, tonight in a bitter fight over money and it may be thousands of women who pay the biggest price." In a later tease of the upcoming... continue reading
The journalists at Good Morning America on Thursday gave an assist to the Obama administration, helpfully creating an anti-Romney highlight reel. The David Muir segment repeated Romney's "poor" comment three times in less than three minutes. Romney on Wednesday told CNN, "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there." After showing that, Muir then played a video montage of "Mitt's moments." The clips included, "Corporations are people, my friends. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. I'll tell you what, $10,000 bucks? 10,000 bet? I'm not concerned about the very... continue reading
A leading breast cancer charity decided to sever financial ties with Planned Parenthood over Congressional investigations into the organization, and instead of reporting a balanced story CNN hyped Planned Parenthood's cries of foul play on Wednesday's The Situation Room. Correspondent Mary Snow aired a pretty one-sided piece including statements from Planned Parenthood's president Cecile Richards, evidence supporting her claims of right-wing "bullying," and even vitriolic Facebook posts decrying the de-funding. "Planned Parenthood blames bullying by the right," Snow first reported. The group's president Cecile Richards later condemned an "ugly and aggressive campaign by right-wing organizations to bully the Komen Foundation... continue reading
Sounding like an Obama campaign spokesman on Thursday's NBC Today , correspondent Peter Alexander touted how a recent gaffe by Mitt Romney was "not the first time...Remember that he said corporations are people, or there was the $10,000 bet during the debate." Alexander proclaimed it to be, "just one more item that could go on to the president's re-election campaign team's greatest hits reel against Romney." At the top of the broadcast, co-host Ann Curry hyped: "GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney deals with a backlash to this controversial comment." The edited sound bite that followed ignored the full context of Romney's... continue reading
On Tuesday's NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams fretted over winter doing a "disappearing act" and proclaimed: "It was so warm today across much of the country, as you know, they're calling it June-uary. It's got a lot of people wondering whatever happened to winter?" The headline on screen pondered: "Where's Winter?" In the report that followed, chief environmental affairs correspondent Anne Thompson added to the alarmism as she declared: "This most unusual January ending on a remarkably mild note across the country....2,890 daily high temperature records broken or tied." She later cited climatologist and global warming proponent Dr. Gerald... continue reading