On Thursday morning, CBS continued to ignore key results of the latest CBS News/ New York Times poll , which show President Obama’s approval rating at 40 percent and his foreign policy approval rating at only 34 percent. In contrast, the front-page New York Times article by Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Dalia Sussman included dire statistics about the President’s low domestic approval rating: “The results suggest a profoundly unsettled public mood, with two-thirds of Americans surveyed saying the country is on the wrong track and half disapproving of how Mr. Obama is doing his job, a negative assessment that threatens... continue reading
What do the networks consider vital information for their viewers? ABC, NBC and CBS again on Thursday offered the latest about the "firestorm" engulfing the National Football League. Yet, these same outlets have ignored a shocking act of domestic terrorism within the United States. Ali Muhammad Brown allegedly murdered 19-year-old Brendan Tevlin on June 25th. According to CNN, he told police: "My mission is vengeance for the lives, millions of lives are lost every day. Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, all these places where innocent lives with being taken every single day." [MP3 audio here .] He chillingly added, "So, a life... continue reading
During a segment on Thursday's Andrea Mitchell Reports on MSNBC, fill-in host Kristen Welker noted Joe Biden making a string of gaffes – which included using an anti-Semitic slur – during a trip to Iowa, but then she and her guests proceeded to excuse his offensive remarks as merely being part of his charm. [ Listen to the audio ] The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza observed: "Joe Biden is probably the most 'real,' I suppose, politician you have these days. He does say what's on his mind. Unfortunately, what's on his mind often gets him in trouble." Turning to Julie... continue reading
On Thursday, September 18, a strange thing happened: ABC actually covered President Obama’s plummeting poll numbers. No, not ABC News, but the daytime ABC program The View which spent nearly four minutes discussing his falling approval ratings following his speech laying out America's strategy to defeat ISIS. Moderator Whoopi Goldberg proclaimed that President Obama “might be afraid…the latest approval ratings seemed to have sunk lower than George Bush's levels. Partly because more than half of Americans are disapproving of the way he seems to be handling terrorism. ” During the segment, Nicolle Wallace, former Communications Director for President George W... continue reading
A government report claiming that there was no conclusive proof that long wait times led to deaths at Veterans Affairs hospitals was altered. Yet, for the second day in a row, NBC ignored this story. ABC's Good Morning America on Thursday allowed a scant 21 seconds, despite news reader Amy Robach calling hyping the "stunning admission." [MP3 audio here .] Robach quickly explained, "For the first time, a senior Veterans Affairs official has acknowledged that lengthy V.A. hospital delays did contribute to the deaths of veterans." She reminded that "just last month" the "department released a report claiming the 40... continue reading
Starting off a gentle interview with United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power on Thursday's CBS This Morning , co-host Norah O'Donnell began to pitch what could have been a hardball question on the Obama administration's slow response to violence in Syria giving rise to the ISIS terrorist threat, but instead tossed out this: "When you first became ambassador, you pushed for air strikes in Syria. Now we have lawmakers on record supporting engagement in Syria. How do you see this playing out?" No question about whether the President was wrong to not take Power's recommendation on Syria, just simply, "How do... continue reading
CBS has a new drama called “Madam Secretary” where the main character, played by Tea Leoni, is a newly appointed Secretary of State, and on Thursday, CBS This Morning did their best to swoon over the new show. The character is said to be a cross between Hillary Clinton and Kirsten Gillibrand , and as a result co-host Gayle King eagerly hyped the show's inspiration. The CBS host enthusiastically wondered “so did you call Hillary Clinton and say pajama party at your house, tell me everything?” While Leoni didn’t admit to calling Clinton, she joked that she “called Madeleine Albright.”... continue reading
The major broadcast networks on Wednesday refused to cover the first hearing held by the House Select Committee on Benghazi to begin assessing what happened in the 2012 attack that left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, foreign service officer Sean Smith, and CIA contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty dead. Between their morning and evening newscasts, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC neglected to offer any stories on the bipartisan hearing chaired by Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), who promised that: “[O]ur fellow citizens deserve all of the facts of what happened before, during, and after the attacks in... continue reading
On Wednesday, CBS and The New York Times made the point of omitting results from their own poll which show President Obama’s job approval at 40 percent and his approval on foreign policy at only 34 percent from the newscasts and print newspaper, respectively. CBS This Morning and the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley only mentioned the latest CBS News/ New York Times poll in regards to how 57 percent of Americans do not feel as though the President is being tough enough in dealing with the threat posed by the Islamic terrorist group ISIS. At the other end... continue reading
CNN and MSNBC viewers on Wednesday would have to switch channels if they wanted to watch the first hearing of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. CNN aired a 15-second news brief at the top of the 10 am Eastern hour, mere minutes before the nearly three-hour meeting began, but didn't cover the proceedings live. MSNBC set aside 12 minutes worth of segments to the event, and sometimes showed split-screen video, but didn't provide the audio. By contrast, Fox News Channel provided nearly 41 minutes (40 minutes, 51 seconds) of live coverage of the congressional committee's hearing during the 10... continue reading