Recycling a theme which President Barack Obama used last year at media dinners, that shows self-awareness of how journalists are allies, headlining Wednesday night's Radio and Television Correspondents Association dinner carried live on C-SPAN2 , Vice President Joe Biden quipped those in the audience are Obama's "base." One of Biden's lines: The truth is I can't believe I'm here with you guys tonight. Here I am, the first Irish Catholic Vice President in the history of the United States of America. Barack Obama, the first African-American in the history of the United States of America. He's hosting a St. Patrick's... continue reading
CBS and NBC, which have delivered very friendly interviews with President Barack Obama (link below the jump to examples), on Wednesday night characterized Bret Baier's sit-down with Obama for the Fox News Channel as "contentious," while ABC decided to devote nearly two minutes of World News (1:50) to Obama's college basketball tournament choices. Anchor Diane Sawyer teased at the start of the March 17 newscast, "Top picks: Stream of consciousness as the Fan-in-Chief completes his college basketball bracket." On the NBC Nightly News, Kelly O'Donnell referred to the "contentious interview with Fox News." Chip Reid, on the CBS Evening News,... continue reading
With a disparity of five-to-one, the same network morning and evening news programs that displayed an eager interest in Republican Mark Foley's E-mail scandal minimized the groping and tickling of Democrat Eric Massa. In 2010, these shows offered a scant 30 stories to Democrat Eric Massa and details of how he engaged in naked shower fights . Over a 12 day period in 2006, 152 segments were devoted to Foley. Additionally, this number of 30 is a generous one. From March 5 through March 16, the networks conducted only 13 full reports on Massa and eight anchor briefs. The remaining... continue reading
"Based on some mild and indiscernible shouts by people in a hallway outside the office of a House member," BiasAlert noted Tuesday night , "CBS's Chip Reid tried to discredit anti-ObamaCare protesters," claiming the Tea Party activists "tried to lobby undecided Democrats. At times, it got ugly." (Watch the video to assess the commotion Reid characterized as "ugly.") But in today's Politico newspaper, Marin Cogan relayed how "staff members for Democrats reported orderly, even polite conversations with protesters." In her article, " Dems play nice with tea partiers ," Marin not only did not cite any ugliness, she discovered the... continue reading
NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, on Wednesday's Today, advanced the NBC company line on the results of a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll on Obamacare as she reported "Americans are evenly divided." O'Donnell, of course, was merely following the lead of her NBC News colleague Brian Williams, who on Tuesday's Nightly News, ignored the most negative news from the survey, as the MRC's Brent Baker noted: "By a 12 point margin, those asked, in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey, called 'Barack Obama's health care plan' a 'bad idea' (48 percent) over a 'good idea' (36 percent.) Yet, NBC Nightly... continue reading
By a 12 point margin, those asked, in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey , called "Barack Obama's health care plan" a "bad idea" (48 percent) over a "good idea" (36 percent.) Yet, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams on Tuesday evening skipped that verdict as he declared "people are evenly split" on "the President's health care reform plan." From the accompanying graphic, viewers could learn Williams was referring to what people say about enacting it: "pass" (46 percent) vs "don't pass" (45 percent). The actual question presented a stark alternative of endorsing the status quo: "Do you think... continue reading
Based on some mild and indiscernible shouts by people in a hallway outside the office of a House member, CBS's Chip Reid on Tuesday night tried to discredit anti-ObamaCare protesters, claiming "at times, it got ugly." Reid recounted: "Outside the Capitol, a few hundred members of the conservative Tea Party movement called on Congress to kill the Democratic health care reform bill as Republicans urged them to keep fighting." Following a clip of Republican Congressman Mike Pence, Reid announced over the hallway video: "Moving inside, they tried to lobby undecided Democrats. At times, it got ugly." Then, leading into pro... continue reading
On Tuesday's Situation Room, CNN's Jack Cafferty returned to targeting Nancy Pelosi, this time for endorsing the controversial "Slaughter Solution" to passing ObamaCare through the House of Representatives without a vote. Cafferty labeled the proposal " beyond sleazy ," and later flatly remarked, "This reeks!" The commentator even gave some rare kudos to House Republicans [audio clips from the segment available here ]. Cafferty devoted his 5 pm Eastern hour commentary to Pelosi's support for the "deem and pass" procedural maneuver that Democratic Representative Louise Slaughter submitted as a possible way of getting the Senate version of health care "reform"... continue reading
Last night it was the Republican Party that was caught in the crosshairs of Chris Matthews, which he accused of being too "narrow." Well on Tuesday's Hardball, the MSNBC host turned his sights on Fox News and charged that on their airwaves "there's absolutely no debate." During a segment in which Matthews invited on NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd to break down the latest poll numbers on Obamacare Matthews offered up the following explanation as to why it remains so unpopular: [ audio available here ] CHRIS MATTHEWS: You know, you know on this network, on this network... continue reading
New York Times investigative reporter David Barstow's paranoid February 16 front-page piece on the Tea Party movement won a left-wing foundation's monthly journalism award. The Sydney Hillman Foundation, which its website says has since 1950 "been honoring journalists, writers and public figures whose work fosters social and economic justice," awarded Barstow's story its monthly journalism award for February 2010. The prizes must have been a real incentive for Barstow: "Recipients will be awarded $500, a bottle of union-made wine ..." (Picture a barefoot SEIU union tough stomping grapes. Or, preferably, don't.) The foundation is in honor of one Sydney Hillman,... continue reading