On Wednesday's All Things Considered, NPR's David Folkenflik erroneously claimed that NBC's Meredith Vieira " notably failed to contradict Donald Trump or others casting doubt on where Mr. Obama was born. Vieira ... acknowledged those remarks passively ." In reality, the Today show challenged the billionaire about the birth certificate issue, twice asking, " Do you believe he's [Obama's] lying? " [audio clips available here ] The media correspondent began his report by noting how "there comes a moment in almost every American presidency when the commander-in-chief turns media-critic-in-chief." After playing two clips from President Obama's press conference earlier in... continue reading
After Barack Obama bitterly complained that the "birther" issue dominated the news instead of budget matters in recent weeks, ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper on Wednesday exposed an "untruth" by the President online, but skipped the same information while reporting for World News. In his Political Punch blog, Tapper noted the falsity of Obama's claim that the media was aiding and comforting conservative conspiracy theorists. In a White House speech, Wednesday, the President asserted that the birth certificate became the "dominant news story" during the budget battle, saying that was "true on most of the news outlets that were represented... continue reading
CBS's Early Show on Wednesday played up how opponents of Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan shouted down GOP representatives at recent town hall meetings, but downplayed them as " less than friendly ," and marveled at their apparently " poignant " questions. The network, which omitted how liberal groups targeted these meetings, in 2009 had trumpeted the "nasty national shouting match" at health care town hall meetings. News anchor Jeff Glor noted how "House Republicans are back home for the first time since passing an aggressive deficit cutting plan , including the architect of that plan, Congressman Paul Ryan." Glor... continue reading
CNN's Deborah Feyerick took the offensive Tuesday and emphasized the negative effects of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's cuts to education funding. Feyerick highlighted the plight of an illiterate kindergartner from a "high risk" neighborhood as an example of student who could be affected by budget cuts. The segment ran during the 8 a.m. EDT hour of Tuesday's American Morning on CNN. CNN featured a young girl from a "high risk" school district, who needs a literacy tutor to ensure she can read at her classmates' level. CNN then aired Trenton Public School superintendent Raymond Broach's dour reaction to the... continue reading
Meet the Press host David Gregory on Wednesday derided the Republican National Committee Chairman as "low-minded" for his response to the release of Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate . Jansing and Co. guest host Savannah Guthrie lauded the President for looking " like the most reasonable man in Washington. " Appearing just minutes after the President completed a press conference on the release, Gregory responded to a statement by Chairman Reince Priebus which both dismissed birtherism and attacked Obama for playing up the issue. The NBC host opined that the Republican operative was both "high-minded and low-minded at the same... continue reading
Picking up from flustered colleague Bob Schieffer, who on the April 17 Face the Nation demanded of Congressman Paul Ryan, "Why do these rich people need another tax cut? I mean, they're already rich," CBS reporter Nancy Cordes on Tuesday night asked him: "Do you think that you would be getting more support out there if you didn't include this big tax cut for the wealthy?" Cordes insisted "35 percent to 25 percent is a big cut," though Ryan's plan is meant to be revenue neutral, or even give a boost, as he explained the rate reduction is "in exchange... continue reading
The New York Times offered a distorted glimpse into the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the Bush administration's treatment of suspected terrorists in a series of reports published on Sunday and Monday. Scouring hundreds of leaked military documents, Times reporters used emotionally-charged phrases and cherry-picked anecdotes to paint an unflattering picture of the facility that has jailed hundreds of enemy combatants captured in the War on Terror. In a story headlined "Judging Detainees' Risk, Often With Flawed Evidence," reporters Scott Shane and Benjamin Weiser accused the military of imprisoning "hundreds of men for years without a trial based on a... continue reading
Real estate mogul Donald Trump, acting like a presidential candidate, is garnering attention by latching on to the "birther" issue - the discredited notion that President Obama was not born in Hawaii but in another country, thus making him ineligible for the presidency. The New York Times ran a poll April 22 that asked: "Do you think Barack Obama was born in the United States, or was he born in another country?" The Times then broke down the results out for Republicans (but not for independents or Democrats): 45% of Republicans answered Obama was born elsewhere, 33% said he was... continue reading
ABC's Jon Karl on Monday railed against the "obscene" profits of the oil companies and demanded to know what House Speaker John Boehner plans to do about it. World News anchor Diane Sawyer introduced the segment by alerting viewers that "the five behemoths of the oil industry" are announcing record profits this week. Using a highly judgmental word, Karl complained to Boehner, " Is there something obscene about gas company, oil and gas company profits being that high when Americans are struggling just to fill up the tank? " Karl also derided a tax cut for the oil industry as... continue reading
On Monday's The Dylan Ratigan Show on MSNBC, Reuters' Chrystia Freeland decried what she termed as the "American 'gulag archipelago'." Her remark followed a discussion on the Guantanamo Bay detainees. "What I thought of when we got this data dump, when we're talking about the budget, which is surely an issue - why aren't we talking about American prisons, and the whole, you know, American 'gulag archipelago,' which is hugely expensive?" Freeland asked. "Surely this is a moment for right and left to come together and say 'we're spending so much money on jails. We're clearly not getting it right',"... continue reading