Thursday's CBS This Morning stood out for zeroing in on the plight of Catholics in China, as it covered Pope Francis's trip to South Korea. Seth Doane noted the Pope's overflight of the communist country, and pointed out how " that's significant , because the last time a pope wanted to fly through Chinese airspace was in 1989, and Beijing refused the request ." The Pope at that time, St. John Paul II, took a vocal stance against the communist regime in his native Poland. Meanwhile, ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today touted the Pope " making history "... continue reading
In the wake of Ferguson, Missouri teen Michael Brown’s shooting death following a confrontation with local police, two reporters, one with the Washington Post and another with the Huffington Post , were arrested by officials for failing to follow police orders as the town continues to deal with ongoing violence and looting. Following the arrest of Wesley Lowery, an African American reporter for the Washington Post , and later the arrest of Ryan Kelly, a white reporter for the Huffington Post , MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell sent out a tweet on Wednesday, August 13 asking if Lowery was “detained for reporting... continue reading
On Thursday, the hosts of CBS This Morning interrogated former NBC and CNN journalist Campbell Brown and prominent liberal attorney David Boies over their effort to reform the public education system by eliminating a union sacred cow, teacher tenure. Co-host Norah O'Donnell began the segment by proclaiming: "This could be a watershed moment for America's public schools or a misguided effort to punish teachers for problems far beyond the classroom." [ Listen to the audio ] Brown explained that tenure "makes it almost impossible to remove a grossly ineffective or incompetent teacher or in some cases even an abusive teacher."... continue reading
The journalists at the CBS Evening News on Wednesday investigated whether Rick Perry is "using" the immigration crisis to increase his profile for a 2016 White House bid. Talking to the mayor of Rio Grande City, Manuel Bojorquez said of the move to send Texas National Guard to the border: "A lot of people have criticized his decision by saying that it's pure politics, that he's looking to make a point on the national stage because he wants to run for president." In a tease for the segment, anchor Scott Pelley insisted that Perry is "upping the political ante." The... continue reading
On Thursday, August 14, all three network morning shows did their best to defuse the conflict between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama following Clinton’s criticism of the White House’s foreign policy. The “big three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) insisted that any dispute between the two Democrats had subsided with ABC and NBC pushing the White House line that when the two met for a birthday party on Martha’s Vineyard “a good time was had by all.” Thursday’s coverage comes on the heels of the network morning shows providing damage control on Wednesday when they maintained that... continue reading
The Big Three networks' evening newscasts on Wednesday failed to notice the Obama administration's latest revelation about ObamaCare: that more than 300,000 people who signed up for health plans under the controversial law could lose them because they failed to prove they were legal residents of the U.S. Instead, ABC's World News aired a full report on a "beauty queen's" insurance scam, while CBS Evening New s gave 19-second news brief on the Perseid meteor shower. Elizabeth Hartfield detailed the federal government's admission in an online report for CNN.com's Political Ticker blog on Wednesday. CNN anchor Michaela Pereira summarized this... continue reading
Liberals are shifting their focus from the unpopular Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton's potential 2016 bid and even MSNBC anchors are getting into the act. Hardball guest host Steve Kornacki on Tuesday played up Clinton's criticism of the President as a possible overture to the Republican Party. According to The Atlantic , Clinton dismissed the Obama motto of "don't do stupid stuff" as "not an organizing principle" for governing. Talking to former GOP Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, Kornacki wondered, "Is there a message here you see Hillary Clinton sending to those Republicans, saying, 'yes, there is room on my bandwagon... continue reading
As the Media Research Center's NewsBusters blog reported on Tuesday, CNBC's chief Washington correspondent John Harwood observed on Squawk Box that the world "blowing up" on President Obama's watch would be a "big problem" for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. Appearing on the show again on Wednesday, Harwood divulged that the Clinton team contacted him about how much attention his comments had generated among "conservative groups." [ Listen to the audio ] Host Joe Kernen began the Wednesday segment by declaring: "Harwood, did you see all the press he got yesterday from his appearance on our show... continue reading
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell’s love affair with former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro reared its ugly head once again on Wednesday, August 13 when she hyped the socialist’s 88th birthday. Appearing on her daily Andrea Mitchell Reports program, the MSNBC host gushed at how “Cuba is celebrating Fidel Castro's 88th birthday today, starting the party early with a special concert last night. The opening of an exhibition called Fidel is Fidel.” The NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent continued to swoon over Castro by promoting how the exhibit was attended by Elian Gonzales and his family: Gonzalez is now 20 years old... continue reading
On Wednesday, NBC's Today devoted a nearly four-minute segment to promoting a fawning interview that Wired magazine conducted with NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Despite introducing the story by labeling Snowden as "the man U.S. officials have called a traitor and a coward," co-host Willie Geist went on to proclaim: "Out from the shadows...in front of the flashbulbs. Appearing at times exhausted, at times defiant..." [ Listen to the audio ] With a musical score playing throughout the segment that made it sound like an action movie, a sound bite ran of Snowden declaring: "My name is Ed Snowden. I used... continue reading