BiasAlerts

Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today, Meet the Press host David Gregory discussed the political fallout of sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain and the possibility of the Republican presidential candidate being urged to drop out, declaring: "Well, there is no, you know, grand wizard in the party right now who can really force the issue." [ Audio available here ] The term "grand wizard" was used as a leadership title in the Ku Klux Klan. Gregory later apologized via Twitter : "'Wizard' remark this morning was a very poor choice of words. Did not mean to make that connection at... continue reading

Before being tapped to be one of the moderators at CNBC's upcoming Republican presidential debate, John Harwood was ranting against the GOP for causing the summer debt crisis. Appearing on NBC's Today in July , Harwood warned: "...the House Republican caucus...would not accept what President Obama needed to make a deal...It's crazy politics, what they're doing..." When the U.S. later lost its AAA credit rating in August, Harwood again appeared on Today to proclaim that the downgrade had provided President Obama with "a tangible consequence to point to for Republican brinksmanship on the debt and deficit reduction deal.' At the... continue reading

On Wednesday, all three network morning shows found time to tout the defeat of an Ohio law curbing union power in Tuesday's election, while ignoring passage of another ballot initiative that made the ObamaCare heath insurance mandate illegal in the state. On NBC's Today, news anchor Natalie Morales declared: "In Ohio, voters rejected a new law that would limit the collective bargaining rights of some 350,000 unionized public workers. Labor unions there are calling the news their biggest victory in decades." On ABC's Good Morning America, Josh Elliott similarly announced the "big victory for labor unions." On CBS's The Early... continue reading

Good Morning America's Brian Ross on Wednesday highlighted fears that Herman Cain supporters might physically attack the women who have accused the Republican of sexual harassment. Meanwhile, the total number of Cain harassment stories reached an astonishing 117 stories in less than 10 days . [MP3 audio here .] Reporting for GMA, Ross intoned, "Overnight, [accuser Karen] Kraushaar told ABC News she had tried to stay out of the news, for fear of retaliation by Cain supporters. And now she has hired a security team to guard her home outside Washington." The journalist later added that all four accusers might... continue reading

Talking to liberal author Michael Lewis on Monday's Rock Center on NBC about the Greek financial crisis, anchor Brian Williams wondered: "...what's the one thing you want to shout from the mountaintops, a message that is in all of your books that people aren't hearing, aren't paying attention to?" Lewis called for an end to big banks: "...we still have at the center of our life these massive banks that are too big to fail. And they should've been broken up three years ago....why we are sitting here today...with these institutions that basically have us at their mercy...is beyond me."... continue reading

The same networks that ignored sexual allegations against Democrats for months all leaped on Tuesday to interview Sharon Bialek and her liberal advocate Gloria Allred on the morning after she came forward. Between them, ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC devoted over 21 minutes to Bialek, who accused GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain of groping her over a decade ago. CNN had Bialek on for eight and a half minutes, and played up how Rush Limbaugh apparently said " not so nice things " about her [audio clips available here ]. CBS's The Early Show gave the softest interview, failing to... continue reading

The CBS and NBC morning shows on Tuesday both ignored an embarrassing gaffe committed by Barack Obama: Being caught on an open mic , mocking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Only ABC's Good Morning America covered it with a single news brief. News anchor Josh Elliott explained, "At last week's G20 summit, the BBC reports that President Sarkozy was overheard calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a liar. In response, President Obama told Sarkozy, and I quote, 'You may be sick of him, but I have to deal with him every day.'" NBC's Today and CBS's Early Show found no... continue reading

In only eight and a half days, NBC, CBS and ABC have devoted a staggering 99 stories to sexual harassment charges against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain . In comparison , eight days into Bill Clinton's scandal's with Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick, there were a combined eight reports. Additionally, the three network newscasts on Monday offered scant information about the fact that Cain's accuser, Sharon Bialek, has hired the extremely liberal lawyer Gloria Allred. On NBC's Nightly News, reporter Kelly O'Donnell described Allred as a "high profile attorney." On CBS's Evening News, Jan Crawford referred to her... continue reading

In a fawning interview with Bill Clinton on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry played an ad from the former president's 1992 campaign and remarked: "First of all, how cute were you and your hair hasn't changed. But number two, but number two, you talk about vision there and leadership. So what is President Obama's vision on the economy?" [ Audio available here ] Moments later, Curry noted high disapproval of Obama's handling of the economy and wondered: "You know, you often speak of your wife's extraordinary gifts. Do you ever think that the country would be better off if... continue reading

CNN on Monday provided a rosy look at President Obama's efforts to campaign for re-election, touting that the President is distancing himself from Washington in an "anti-Rose Garden" campaign. Ironically, a few minutes later Obama was scheduled to speak in the Rose Garden itself. In reporting on Obama's efforts to wash his hands of Washington, CNN had ignored his harsh partisan rhetoric toward Republicans in October as he was promoting his jobs bill in the heartland. Obama said Republicans want "dirtier air" and "dirtier water" on one particular tour stop, and has been regularly hitting Republicans for not supporting his... continue reading