The week of July 13 to 19 saw increased violence between Israel and the Palestinians, an act of terror as a plane was blown out of the sky in Ukraine, and simmering tensions between Mexico and the United States over a border crisis. With that as a backdrop, the networks skipped White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest's July 14 claim that Barack Obama has "improved the tranquility of the global community." The journalists at NBC, CBS and ABC, so far, have ignored the remark, offering no skepticism. NBC viewers wouldn't have known about the comment if they watched last week's... continue reading
On the Monday edition of his MSNBC show, Jose Diaz-Balart rolled out the red carpet for liberal activists in favor of amnesty by broadcasting from the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) conference in Los Angeles. This included inviting an illegal immigrant activist to promote her agenda and pushing another guest to blame House Republicans for the lack of immigration reform. Oh, and he failed to mention that the NCLR was giving him an award at the conference’s closing gala. Towards the end of a second segment on immigration (more on the first later), he was congratulated by the NCLR’s... continue reading
On Sunday's Media Buzz on FNC, Senator John McCain brushed off Jon Stewart's latest blast at him over the Iraq War. Host Howard Kurtz wondered, "Is Jon Stewart fair to Republicans?" McCain bluntly answered, " No, but it doesn't matter really. He's a comedian ." When Kurtz brought up Stewart's "sizable following among young people," the Republican contended that "he's a very entertaining and funny guy, but... when he says things ... that are absolutely wrong, he gets away with it ." Earlier in the interview, the Fox News Channel host raised the conservative critique about the liberal media's deferential... continue reading
While discussing potential 2016 presidential contenders on Sunday's NBC Meet the Press , correspondent Andrea Mitchell argued that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren could be "real issue" for Hillary Clinton, touting Warren being "greeted as such a celebrity" at the left-wing Netroots Nation conference. Moderator David Gregory confirmed Warren "getting a huge, huge response" at the event. [ Listen to the audio ] Mitchell declared that Warren "was all but a candidate" and could make a move for 2016 "if there were a slip, or if there were any reason where Hillary Clinton has to take a step back, and if... continue reading
PBS’s Charlie Rose opened his 62 minute-long interview with Hillary Clinton, aired in two parts on Thursday and Friday’s Charlie Rose show, by reciting a Maya Angelou poem dedicated to the former Secretary of State. Almost an hour later Rose finally asked Clinton about the Benghazi scandal. In the second part of the interview, aired at the end of Friday’s show, Rose waited until his last question, with just a little over 3 minutes of interview time left, to finally bring up Benghazi. Even then Rose sheepishly tip-toed up to the topic as he told Clinton that if he didn’t... continue reading
As the border crisis in Texas intensifies, only one network on Monday bothered to cover Governor Rick Perry sending the National Guard to the border. CBS This Morning allowed 20 seconds to the latest development. NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America avoided the story. This Morning co-host Charlie Rose explained, "The Republican will announce today his plan to mobilize some 1000 members of the Texas National Guard. Their mission is to beef up security." Rose added that the move came "amid the growing problem of immigrant children crossing into the southern states." He added, "Perry told Republicans in Iowa... continue reading
Despite the continuing fallout from the shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and Israel's incursion into Gaza, Monday's NBC Today devoted over four minutes of air time to weatherman Al Roker conducting a fawning interview with First Lady Michelle Obama. In what Roker teased as a "revealing conversation," he asked Obama: "Who's the best cook in the family?" [ Listen to the audio ] Roker had the friendly chat with the First Lady while attending the Kids State Dinner at the White House on Friday, something he promoted during the segment: "The tiniest top chefs from all fifty states... continue reading
The front-page of the Washington Post on Sunday, July 20 had a damning headline accusing the Obama administration of “being warned of brewing border crisis” but only Fox and Friends Sunday covered the report. NBC’s Today , CBS Sunday Morning , and ABC’s Good Morning America , failed to cover how in a 2013 report prepared for the Obama administration “ the team from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) raised alarms about the federal government’s capacity to manage a situation that was expected to grow worse.” From the Washington Post : The researchers’ observations were among the... continue reading
In the wake of the Israeli military launching a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip to prevent Hamas militants from continuing to fire rockets into their country, NBC has repeatedly taken jabs at Israel and its military. In a report filed on Today on Sunday, July 20, Richard Engel, NBC’s Chief Foreign Correspondent, provided a fairly biased report on the ongoing violence in the Middle East which concluded by the reporter hyping a Palestinian official saying Israel’s ground attack “was a war crime in the making.” The NBC reporter began his coverage by highlighting “scenes of devastation in a Palestinian... continue reading
On Friday’s Now With Alex Wagner , the editor of the far-left magazine The Nation , Katrina vanden Heuvel, declared to viewers that they keep in mind that the President of Ukraine has waged war “against his own people in southeastern Ukraine” and even though Russian President Vladimir Putin “is an authoritarian leader,” demonizing him “is not a policy ” that the United States should continue. Vanden Heuvel’s comments came during a discussion with Wagner and Politico Magazine editor Susan Glasser about Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down over eastern Ukraine Thursday, apparently by Russian-backed separatists in the... continue reading