In a Sunday 60 Minutes story that gave a glowing portrayal of the real estate developer and imam behind the Ground Zero mosque, CBS anchor Scott Pelley also used the opportunity to smear opponents of the project: "...a national controversy with anger, passion, and more than a little misinformation. Opponents whipped up a fury, calling the project a grotesque mega-mosque tied to terrorism." Pelley began by touting how building developer Sharif El-Gamal was simply trying to improve a "dingy block in lower Manhattan" and that he "thought his project would be a step up for a seedy part of downtown."... continue reading
Only Good Morning America's Jake Tapper on Monday highlighted an attack from the liberal Alan Grayson that his Republican opponent "doesn't love this country." CBS's Early Show and NBC's Today have yet to report on the harsh new commercial by the Democratic Congressman. Additionally, none of the networks have discussed an ad where Grayson compares the same Republican to the Taliban . Focusing on the upcoming midterm elections, Tapper explained, " And many Democrats are playing the only card they feel they have left, the fear card. " He added that Grayson himself is not a veteran, but "that isn't... continue reading
Interviewing David Axelrod on Sunday's This Week, Christiane Amanpour asked him to explain why "people don't appreciate some of the amazing legislative agenda" that President Barack Obama has "accomplished," then with Senator Mitch McConnell she denigrated Republican Senate candidates who are Tea Party favorites: "Are you not afraid that their somewhat, one would say, some might say bizarre statements, their sort of fringe quality might actually turn people off?" She also condescendingly demanded of McConnell: "What is Christine O'Donnell's qualification for actually governing? What is Sharron Angle's actual qualification for governing?" In a third segment, she cued up Jordan's Queen... continue reading
Sunday's Today show on NBC and Sunday Morning on CBS presented seemingly contradictory polling results on how much ObamaCare is supported by the American public, although both seemed to be citing the same AP poll. As Meet the Press host David Gregory appeared on Today, anchor Lester Holt suggested that Republicans are going against the majority of Americans in promising to repeal ObamaCare as he vaguely referred to polling data and contended, "But new polling out suggests that most people not only do they not want to, don't want it repealed, they want more added to it," and added, "Do... continue reading
On CBS's Sunday Morning show, a week after conservative actor and economist Ben Stein's commentary in which he criticized the drive to increase taxes on the already overtaxed wealthy, a liberal response from Sci-Fi Channel producer Linda McGibney was shown in which she personally attacked Stein and other wealthy people as "greedy," and suggested that he "just doesn't care about" the poor. McGibney: "I suppose he thinks he's beyond sharing his good fortune with the rest of Americans who are suffering financially or he just doesn't care about them. ... I have always understood that the have's are greedy. This... continue reading
Friday's New York Times front-page investigation by Mike McIntire, " Under Tax-Exempt Cloak, Political Dollars Flow ," was only the latest in a series of front-page stories hammering Republican fundraising groups - and seemingly only Republican fundraising groups - as a promising election cycle approaches for the G.O.P. Now that Republicans are getting a lion's share of financial support from corporate donors and Wall Street (the same way the Democrats did in 2006 and 2008), the Times has suddenly seized on the dangers of funding. Friday's front-page attack on "Americans for Job Security," which goes on for 2,100 words, follows... continue reading
All three broadcast evening newscasts on Thursday covered the formal unveiling of the Republican 'Pledge to America,' a campaign document calling for the repeal of ObamaCare, no tax hikes and balanced budgets. CBS's Nancy Cordes cast it as pro-Tea Party, "littered with references to the Constitution and promises to reduce the federal debt," and Tea Party members as "grateful" for its policy prescriptions. But ABC's Jonathan Karl said the Pledge was "hardly a Tea Party manifesto. The 45-page document includes more photographs than specifics on spending cuts. No mention of controlling Social Security or Medicare. No mention of eliminating any... continue reading
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough - who when a Republican congressman voted to impeach President Clinton - seems to believe that a former President should be able to legally run for office again after taking "a term or two off." His comments followed a gushing slew of praise for former President Bill Clinton, and he noted that many viewers "are just sitting there thinking 'Why can't [Clinton] run for President in a couple of years?'" "It seems so short-sighted, just because the Republicans were upset that FDR was President for four terms," Scarborough complained of the 22nd Amendment, ratified during Truman's second... continue reading
Back in 1992, ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings told viewers his network would skip coverage of "routine" campaign events, unless they actually contributed new information that viewers could use. In an effort to keep ABC from being used as a propaganda arm for politicians, Jennings declared "there will be less attention to staged appearances and sound bites designed exclusively for television." He later elaborated to the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, saying he did not want to be "'seduced by pictures as we've been so easily seduced in the past. I don't think any of us ever wants to... continue reading
ABC on Friday did its best to find secret discrimination against Muslims, sending Good Morning America's Bianna Golodryga undercover in a hijab (Islamic head covering). Yet, despite the misleading graphic, " Life Under the Veil: TV Experiment Exposes Bias ," the morning show didn't find much bigotry. Late in the segment, Golodryga admitted, "Overt discrimination is the exception." When an ABC producer tried the experiment in New York, the correspondent acknowledged, "Everywhere, people went out of their way to be friendly." [MP3 audio here .] Yet, Golodryga kept trying. Going to the red state of Texas, she explained, "But it... continue reading