The network newscasts on Wednesday downplayed Democratic obstruction of Barack Obama's jobs bill, offering only minor coverage. Good Morning America and Early Show allowed brief mentions. In an otherwise unrelated segment, GMA's Jon Karl admitted that the President "has a problem with [congressional] Democrats." Karl added, "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday, he does not plan to have a vote on the jobs bill in its entirety, rather he's gonna try to pass bits and pieces of it." CBS's Early Show highlighted the President's complaints about Republicans. Reporter Bill Plante explained, "...[Obama] attacked Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor by... continue reading
CBS and NBC led Wednesday night with glowing stories about the growth and diversity of the far-left 'Occupy Wall Street' protests, though without any ideological label applied nor any critics allowed, a promotional approach the networks never provided in Tea Party coverage. 'We begin tonight with what has become by any measure a pretty massive protest movement,' NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams announced. 'While it goes by the official name 'Occupy Wall Street,' it has spread steadily and far beyond Wall Street, and it could well turn out to be the protest of this current era.' ABC's Cecilia Vega... continue reading
Touting Sesame Street's newest muppet character, a young girl living in poverty, MSNBC host Martin Bashir on Wednesday slammed Republican efforts to curb spending and urged: "...perhaps they do well to change the channel just for a moment from Fox News to PBS.... on Sesame Street they will see the sad face of a hungry doll whose family doesn't have enough money to buy food." [ Audio available here ] Bashir began his rant by announcing: "One in four children under the age of 6 now lives in poverty.....And it's gotten so bad, that even Sesame Street can no longer... continue reading
At the top of the 8 a.m. ET hour of Wednesday's NBC Today, fill-in news anchor Tamron Hall proclaimed: "Today could be the biggest day yet for the 'Occupy Wall Street' protests in lower Manhattan." Correspondent Mara Schiavocampo followed by gushing: "Three weeks in, and no signs of slowing. The 'Occupy Wall Street' protest growing in size and scope." Schiavocampo touted how the "coalition is growing quickly, as several labor unions have now vowed to join demonstrators in their protests against corporate interests....demonstrations spreading to more than 50 cities, from Boston to Los Angeles." The headline on screen throughout the... continue reading
Both ABC and NBC on Wednesday used a new Pew Research Center poll of military veterans to claim that, as ABC news reader Josh Elliot put it, 'one-third of those who've served in Afghanistan and Iraq now say the wars were not worth fighting,' while NBC's Tamron Hall told viewers 'one-third of U.S. veterans believe the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting.' But that's not really what the poll found. Pew surveyed 1,853 veterans, including 712 whose service took place after September 11, 2001. They found 50% of the post 9/11 veterans thought the war in Afghanistan... continue reading
In Tuesday's ' Anti-Wall Street Protests Spreading to Cities Large and Small ,' New York Times reporters Erik Eckholm and Timothy Williams bolster the 'populist' left-wing activists protesting against greedy bankers (among other items of the standard left-wing wish list) in Lower Manhattan. While the Times' coverage of conservative Tea Party rallies invariably pointed out the most extreme and ' fringe ' elements present, the paper has thus far eschewed labels like "far-left" or "liberal" for the Wall Street crowd, and has ignored the cadre of Communists and offensive posters decrying 'Nazi bankers' in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan. And... continue reading
Decrying the rise of obesity in America, CNN's Jack Cafferty on Tuesday all but argued for a "Fat Tax" in the U.S., on foods high in saturated fat. The CNN commentator, during the 4 p.m. EDT hour of The Situation Room, pointed to Denmark's record of taxing fatty foods, sweets, alcohol and tobacco, and lauded the health of their citizenry. "Whatever Denmark's approach, it works," sounded Cafferty, before excoriating America for being so obese. Although he put the question to the audience of whether or not America should have a tax, Cafferty was obviously leaning toward one. "As a nation,... continue reading
For the 33rd consecutive day, ABC's Good Morning America on Tuesday omitted any mention of the Obama administration's Solyndra scandal, even though co-host George Stephanopoulos asked the President about it in an interview on Monday and elicited a newsworthy defense of the more than $500 million loan to the now-bankrupt company. Tuesday's show instead focused on other questions from the ABCNews / Yahoo! online interview, like the best piece of advice the President has received from his wife and whether or not he would stop Bank of America's new monthly debt card fee. Stephanopoulos pressed Obama on Monday about his... continue reading
As co-host Matt Lauer reported Denmark implementing a "fat tax" on certain foods during the "Today's Professionals" panel on Tuesday's NBC Today, advertising executive Donny Deutsch and NBC chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman literally applauded the move. [ Audio available here ] Snyderman then demanded: "...there should be a tax on colas with sugar in it, foods you don't need , the necessities should be cheaper, so that people can get good fruits and vegetables and meats and the junk that's processed should be taxed higher. I have no problem with it at all." Only panelist and attorney Star... continue reading
CBS Evening News distinguished itself among the Big Three networks on Monday by devoting an entire segment to the ongoing controversy over the "Fast and Furious" program, where the federal government smuggled guns to Mexican drug cartels. NBC hasn't mentioned the story on its news programs since April 17, while the last time ABC covered it was a news brief on June 15. Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reported that " new documents obtained by CBS News show Attorney General Eric Holder was sent briefings on the controversial 'Fast and Furious' operation as far back as July 2010. That directly contradicts his... continue reading