On Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams followed a story on the late October northeast snow storm by ominously proclaiming: "Everybody out east said the same thing about this freak snowstorm, 'This kind of thing didn't used to happen. This never happened before.' And while that is true, it may also be true that we'll all have to start getting used to this kind of thing over the long haul." In the report that followed, correspondent Anne Thompson warned viewers: "Around the world it seems like the weather is going to extremes.....record breaking flooding in Thailand. 1,400 new highs... continue reading
Over a period of just three and a half days, NBC, CBS and ABC have developed an insatiable hunger for the Herman Cain sexual harassment story, devoting an incredible 50 stories to the allegations since Monday morning. In contrast, over a similar period these networks mostly ignored far more substantial and serious scandals relating to Bill Clinton. This pattern continued on Wednesday night and into Thursday as the evening newscasts and morning shows highlighted the story 19 times. On Good Morning America, Brian Ross offered innuendo and slung gossip, recounting, "But behind the scenes, several of the campaigns are still... continue reading
At the top of Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry reported on Herman Cain's campaign blaming Rick Perry for dredging up sexual harassment allegations against the Republican front-runner and then wondered: "Will this intra-party fight hurt the Republican Party's chance of taking back the White House?" [ Audio available here ] Later, in an interview with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus Curry touted the back and forth among the GOP primary candidates as a "serious feud" and asked: "Do you think this scandal has affected your party's ability to unseat Barack Obama?" Curry began the interview by worrying: "The... continue reading
When Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain briefly raised his voice at reporters on Wednesday and his staff moved them aside, CNN reported the incident hour after hour in the afternoon as another addition to the candidate's negative coverage. CNN condemned the ordeal as "nasty," and a "melee," that Cain got "very testy" and "lashed out at reporters." Readers can view the video below to determine if the confrontation was indeed a "melee." On Wednesday morning Cain was pressed about his allegations of sexual harassment after refusing to answer questions on the matter. He yelled "Excuse me!" to reporters and his... continue reading
Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman appeared on Wednesday's Hardball to mock Republican presidential candidates as simplistic. He exclaimed, " But, they're advertising their ignorance, is what I'm saying! " Fineman, who now is the political editor at the more overtly liberal Huffington Post, dripped with condescension as he described the potential GOP nominees. The journalist berated, "What I find fascinating about [Cain's] candidacy, and really the tenor of a lot of what the Republican candidates are saying, including Rick Perry, is they are saying, 'We don't need to know all those fancy facts.'" [MP3 audio here .] Continuing with his... continue reading
While being grilled by co-host Ann Curry on Wednesday's NBC Today on Arizona's illegal immigration law causing racial discrimination, Governor Jan Brewer hit back and declared: "I believe truly that the media and others have tried to throw out that race card to shut down the debate. It's not about that. It's about illegal immigration." [ Audio available here ] Earlier, Curry fretted: "Now what would justify such a law that required people, essentially, to carry papers, identification, something that proved that they're American citizens?" Brewer replied: "...it's under reasonable suspicion, it's no different than what law enforcement actually does... continue reading
The network evening newscasts on Tuesday and the morning shows on Wednesday continued to hype the Herman Cain "firestorm," creating 12 more stories in less than 24 hours. Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos led the show on Wednesday by trumpeting, " Republican front-runner Herman Cain changes his story again as one of his accusers now says she wants to go public on charges of sexual harassment." On NBC's Today, Chuck Todd hyperbolically announced, " Struggling to move beyond the firestorm that is engulfing his candidacy, Herman Cain again denied he sexually harassed anyone ." On that same program, guest Chris... continue reading
Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today, MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews urged Herman Cain to admit to sexually harassing women and even predicted what the Republican front-runner might say: "I think even if it's really bad he has to put the context to it. He has to say, 'It was an extraordinary night, I had too many drinks, I normally don't act like that, this is not me.'" [ Audio available here ] The segment began with co-host Matt Lauer going after Cain for suggesting racial motivations behind the dredged up accusations: "He believes race is playing a role in this... continue reading
On Tuesday, the morning shows of the Big Three networks omitted the party affiliation of Jon Corzine as they reported on the federal investigation into his brokerage firm, something that even the liberal New York Times gave in their coverage of the story. ABC's Good Morning America also failed to include Corzine's name during their news brief on the investigation. News anchor Josh Elliott noted in a 13-second brief that " a Wall Street brokerage firm run by New Jersey's former governor is filing for bankruptcy. Regulators say some $700 million belonging to MF Global's customers is apparently missing ."... continue reading
New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal, better known as James Taranto's punching bag at Opinion Journal, has a new blog at nytimes.com, 'The Loyal Opposition.' On Tuesday Rosenthal posted the provocatively titled ' Herman Cain and the 'Liberal Media ,'' where he broadcasts his alarm at how 'quickly the right wing jumps on an issue almost in unison,' blames Republicans for injecting racial fears into modern-day politics with Willie Horton, even claiming the phrase "community organizer" is racist when applied to Obama. I've always been impressed, well alarmed really, at how quickly the right wing jumps on an... continue reading