NBC's Meredith Vieira, on Tuesday's Today show, in a segment breaking down today's primary races with Newt Gingrich, cited a possible Rand Paul win over Trey Grayson in the GOP Kentucky Senate primary fight as an example of the Tea Party's strength and actually wondered if that was a cause of concern for the GOP. Vieira pressed the former Speaker of the House: "If Rand Paul wins, that's good news for the Tea Party movement but is it good news for the Republicans come November?" For his part Gingrich responded it was good news for the GOP in that the... continue reading
CBS's Early Show on Tuesday completely ignored the front page New York Times story on Democratic senatorial candidate Richard Blumenthal and his claims to have "served in Vietnam," despite having never done so. NBC's Today mentioned the subject once in a news brief, but anchor Ann Curry described the Connecticut Democrat only as a "U.S. Senate candidate." On ABC's Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos described the development as a "huge story." Yet, the show devoted less than a minute to the topic. Unlike the Early Show, however, Stephanopoulos at least used a party label, explaining that " this was... continue reading
On Monday, President Obama signed into law the "Press Freedom Act," but refused to answer a question from CBS White House correspondent Chip Reid at the conclusion of the signing ceremony. While Reid described the ironic incident on the CBSNews.com Political Hotsheet blog , neither Monday's Evening News nor Tuesday's Early Show mentioned the President's dodge. On the CBS blog, Reid described the purpose of the law, which "expands the State Department's annual human rights reports to include a description of press freedoms in each country." He then noted how "It seemed a good opportunity to showcase press freedom in... continue reading
After ABC's Jonathan Karl painted Senator Arlen Specter's (D-R-D-PA) troubles as emblematic of how "the national anti-incumbent wave has hit Pennsylvania" (complete with a matching full screen graphic), George Stephanopoulos fretted on World News about how voters say "they want the parties to work together, yet they seem to be most against now the Senators, the incumbents, who did work across party lines." He cited the single incumbent who has lost - "Bob Bennett in Utah worked with a Democrat on health care" - then raised Specter, touting how "he's been in both parties," as if that's something noble, before... continue reading
Last week an agitated Chris Matthews tried to hold Dick Cheney accountable for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and this week Matthews is demanding action from President Obama, as the Hardball host pushed the President to nationalize the oil industry to solve the problem. On Monday's Hardball a visibly angry Matthews demanded Obama go after BP: "Why doesn't the President go in there, nationalize an industry and get the job done for the people?" and pointed out that in China they would have a much harsher response to BP: "They execute people for this. Major industrial leaders... continue reading
Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter could find himself out of a job Tuesday night, if his newly-adopted Democratic Party refuses to renominate the 80-year-old incumbent for a sixth term. For the establishment media, Specter's chief value was as a Republican Senator they could quote espousing anti-conservative talking points usually uttered by liberal Democrats. It will be interesting to see whether, if Specter is indeed rejected in favor of the more liberal Congressman Joe Sestak (late polls show a virtual dead heat), if that will trigger hand-wringing about the "fringe" of the Democratic Party drumming out a more "moderate" Senator. A review... continue reading
To highlight the announcement that Bianna Golodryga had been named co-anchor of the weekend Good Morning America, ABC blurred the lines of journalism on Sunday and brought on the host's fiancee, Barack Obama's Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag. In a fawning piece on Golodryga's life story, an onscreen graphic identified Orszag only as the journalist's fiancee. At the end of the segment, the Democratic official strode onto the set, surprising the host. Only then, almost as an aside, did co-anchor Bill Weir explain, " ...For those who may not know, Bianna's fiancee is in President... continue reading
During a segment where the Today cast celebrated the fifth anniversary of YouTube, in which they highlighted such clips as the Numa Numa Kid and other faves, Meredith Vieira, on Monday's show, threw an unexpected cheap shot at former Senator George Allen's way. Noting how YouTube has launched careers of those like Justin Beiber, Vieira - right before a clip of Allen making his "macaca" quip - went on to dig that it has also "sunk them." Vieira failed to point out what really drove the hits to the Allen video were the Democratic Party of Virginia and all of... continue reading
Looking ahead to the upcoming week, on Tuesday actors Morgan Freeman , the voice of the CBS Evening News, and Robert DeNiro , Ed Harris and Cherry Jones ("President Allison Taylor" on Fox's 24), will narrate "the world premiere performance of The Dream Lives On: A Portrait of the Kennedy Brothers - the centerpiece of the Boston Pops' 125th anniversary season celebration," a production which "combines quotes from speeches by the Kennedy brothers with original text and video, accompanied by a dramatic orchestral and choral score" so it "pays tribute to the towering achievements and singular spirit epitomized by the... continue reading
MSNBC's Alex Witt on Friday featured a rabidly anti-Sarah Palin journalist to explain why the former governor spoke at a National Rifle Association conference. Asked to comment, Cathy Areu, a Washington Post magazine editor, derided, "Oh, my God! She is such a fear-monger and really just appeals to this group of people who likes to hear all of these crazy comments." Areu first drew fawning attention from fellow reporters when she appeared on CNN Headline News on April 14 and smeared, "Sarah Palin could do no wrong for so many people. I mean, she is a female Larry the Cable... continue reading