Today co-anchor Matt Lauer traveled to New Orleans, on Friday, to mark the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and interviewed the likes of former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, former FEMA Director Mike Brown, current Democratic Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, but saved any sort of direct shots at George W. Bush for his interview with Laura Bush. At the very end of his August 27 interview about her charitable work in the region, Lauer laid the following guilt trip on the former First Lady: [ audio available here ] MATT LAUER: There's no easy way to... continue reading
Good Morning America's Claire Shipman on Friday launched a pre-emptive one-sided attack on Glenn Beck's August 28 rally in Washington D.C., including selectively editing clips from the conservative host. The ABC journalist featured a snippet of Beck asserting, "Blacks don't own Martin Luther King." [MP3 audio here .] On his radio show, Friday, Beck complained about the "hatchet job." Shipman clearly distorted the context. He actually said, "Whites don't own Abraham Lincoln. Blacks don't own Martin Luther King. Those are American icons, American ideas and we should just talk about character." Playing the segment on the radio, Beck hyperbolically declared,... continue reading
NBC's Tom Costello, on Friday's Today show, in previewing Glenn Beck's rally at the Lincoln Memorial this weekend, focused on the racial insensitivity of the Tea Partiers as he reminded NBC's viewers that at last year's rally in Washington "there were a lot of signs that had rather racist overtones. The concern is that might be repeated this time. By the way, many Beck followers, who are coming, are being urged to avoid African-American areas and avoid conflict." Costello began his story noting that while "Glenn Beck says that Dr. King is a hero of his" he is still "defiant... continue reading
CNN's Deborah Feyerick joined the media guessing game as to the motivation behind the stabbing of Muslim taxicab driver in New York City, emphasizing the possibility it may have been " connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we're hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment ." Feyerick raised this hypothesis during reports on Thursday's Rick's List and The Situation Room. The correspondent's first report on the attack aired 12 minutes into the 4 pm Eastern hour of Rick's List. Anchor Rick Sanchez played a clip from victim Ahmed Sharif's press conference on Thursday before introducing Feyerick. She began by stating... continue reading
ABC News sure wanted to paint Michael Enright, the 21-year-old charged with stabbing Muslim cab driver Ahmed Sharif in Manhattan, as a bigoted hate crime perpetrator who is the inevitable result of Islamophobic opposition to the mosque near Ground Zero. And the network didn't let the facts get in the way of their agenda - though they were confounded by how he "has a baffling profile" since "he volunteers with a church group that promotes peace and understanding" which "actually support[s] putting that Islamic center down here near Ground Zero." Sighed Diane Sawyer: "Really confounding, the story of that suspect."... continue reading
ABC's Good Morning America and CBS's Early Show on Thursday both speculated as to whether the stabbing of a New York City cabbie was prompted by a climate of anti-Islamic anger. At the same time, GMA and NBC's Today both ignored the fact that the attacker, Michael Enright, volunteered for a charity supporting the mosque. ABC's Jeremy Hubbard wondered if the violence was " proof the rhetoric surrounding the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero has created a heightened fear and prejudice against Muslims ." Early Show's Chris Wragge bluntly asserted, "And this ongoing debate may have... continue reading
As the Obama administration's "Recovery Summer" crumbles, CBS's Early Show on Thursday noted how the poor economic data has made many Americans deeply pessimistic about the future, with 37% saying that the economy "is in permanent decline." So does that mean Obama's $862 billion stimulus is a failure? Not according to economist Mark Zandi, who was interviewed by co-host Erica Hill. Zandi asserted that "the recession ended about a year ago, in large part because of the stimulus efforts," and the current sluggishness was because "the stimulus is now fading," and thus "the benefit to growth is winding down." Of... continue reading
Good Morning America's David Muir on Thursday used the announcement that Republican operative Ken Mehlman is gay to push the GOP towards rethinking its stance on marriage. Talking to former George Bush staffer Ed Gillespie, the ABC host speculated, "...Had Ken come to terms with this...when he was influential in the White House with the President, do you think that he could have influenced the President differently, in looking back?" (An odd suggestion, considering that Bush's own Vice President disagreed with him.) After reading from the Republican Party's platform on the issue of gay marriage, the GMA guest anchor pressed,... continue reading
"A CBS News poll out tonight finds that seven of ten [71%] Americans oppose building a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero," fill-in CBS Evening News anchor Jeff Glor announced Wednesday night, but instead of exploring why most think it's inappropriate to build there, Glor pivoted to how that and "controversies over new mosques in Wisconsin and Kentucky have led some to question is America becoming Islamophobic, a prejudice against Muslims?" Those "some" started with the wife of the iman behind the Ground Zero mosque, Daisy Khan, who charged on ABC's This Week, in what is becoming TV's favorite soundbite... continue reading
On Tuesday's AC360, CNN's John Roberts labeled Republican candidates who have Tea Party support " very far to the right ," and specifically referred to Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott as an " ultraconservative ." Guest John Avlon also bemoaned John McCain's tack to the right during the primary campaign, and slammed how the senator has been called a "RINO" by many conservatives. Roberts, who was filling in for anchor Anderson Cooper, along with Avlon, CNN liberal contributor Roland Martin and Red State's Erick Erickson, discussed Tuesday's primary results from several states for two segments during the first half hour... continue reading