1. Poll Finds Twice as Many Blame Culture as Guns, But ABC Spikes It ABC News polling chief Gary Langer, in a posting buried on ABCNews.com, revealed that a poll taken Sunday discovered that when "asked the primary cause of gun violence, far more Americans blamed the effects of popular culture (40 percent) or the way parents raise their children (35 percent) than the availability of guns (18 percent)." ABC's World News on Monday devoted nearly two minutes to results of ABC's survey, but didn't get to that finding which shows the public does not share the media assumption that... continue reading
1. ABC Rues: 'Politicians & Gun Control: Why Aren't They Outraged?' ABC's Good Morning America and World News on Friday displayed disappointment that liberals and Democrats have not pursued gun control in the wake of the mass murders at Virginia Tech. (Friday night, PBS's Gwen Ifill asked: "Have the Virginia tech shootings changed the debate" about gun control? "Not so much. But why not?") GMA's on-screen graphic for a 7am half hour story demanded, "Politicians and Gun Control: Why Aren't They Outraged?" Co-host Robin Roberts rued: "After every major shooting in the U.S., without fail, there has been a heated... continue reading
1. Gibson on Pictures of Victims: 'Those Are the Faces to Remember' ABC anchor Charles Gibson concluded Thursday's World News by showing, as viewers heard Amazing Grace, photos of all 32 of those murdered Monday at Virginia Tech. When the photo array ended, Gibson simply and powerfully observed: "Those are the faces to remember." 2. ABC News Consultant Slams Media Over Video of Va. Tech Killer Michael Welner, an ABC News consultant and a forensic psychiatrist, appeared on Thursday's Good Morning America to slam the media for gratuitously airing videos sent by deceased mass killer Seung-Hui Cho. Welner even referenced... continue reading
1. Nets Frame Partial-Birth Ruling Around Loss of 'Abortion Rights' The ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts on Tuesday night all ran full stories on the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Act, but while each included arguments from justices in the majority, featured a soundbite from pro-life lawyer Jay Sekulow and offered at least a brief description of the procedure, they all framed the stories in ways favorable to those on the losing side. All led into competing soundbites by putting abortion supporters on the side of "rights" -- describing "abortion rights supporters" versus "abortion opponents"... continue reading
1. Nets Blame Virginia's 'Lax' Gun Laws, Press Bush on Gun Control Without any regard to how school shootings in recent years have occurred in states and nations with stricter gun laws, ABC, CBS and NBC on Tuesday night focused on Virginia's "lax" gun laws. ABC anchor Charles Gibson teased an upcoming story, "Virginia's controversial gun laws: How lax are they? Brian Ross investigates." Ross confirmed that "Virginia's gun laws, indeed, are regarded by law enforcement officials as among the most lax in the country." Ross relayed how "for gun control advocates, the ease with which Cho [Seung-Hui] was able... continue reading
1. ABCNews.com Pushes Gun Control; On TV Tapper Offers More Balance Monday afternoon ABCNews.com was quick to put up a speculative posting, without any real knowledge of what the shooter used, headlined, "Lapse of Federal Law Allows Sale of Large Ammo Clips," and a bit later ABCNews.com posted an interactive poll with a very leading question: "Do you think this incident is a reason to pass stricter gun control legislation?" But in a World News story, while Jake Tapper highlighted calls for stricter gun laws, he also gave equal time to calls "for greater access to guns" so people can... continue reading
1. Only ABC Marks 100 Days for Dem Rule, Failure to Pass Promises Back in January, ABC anchor Charles Gibson was the most triumphant over supposed Democratic achievements after taking control of Congress. But on Friday night, only Gibson's World News, of the three broadcast network evening newscasts, reported on the failure of Democrats to pass the bills they promised in their first one hundred days. Gibson had trumpeted on January 4 how video of Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the House floor holding a baby while she talked to colleagues demonstrated "the ultimate in multitasking: Taking care of the children... continue reading
1. Olbermann Revels in 'Racist' Limbaugh Getting Yanked Like Imus Keith Olbermann opened his Wednesday MSNBC show by displaying video of Rush Limbaugh on screen as he smeared conservative talk radio as "racist," asking, "Why have none from the racist right been protested, boycotted or fired?" He then delighted Thursday night when guest Sam Seder, of the far-left Air America Radio, predicted "the next time Limbaugh slips up, which I think is inevitable, I think you're going to see this sort of same type of reaction." A pleased Olbermann exclaimed: "It's the best thing I've heard in a couple of... continue reading
1. On MSNBC, Alter Shoe-Horns Bush Slam Into Don Imus Debate On Tuesday's Hardball, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter managed to shoe-horn an anti-Bush jab into a discussion about Don Imus. When substitute host David Gregory asked Alter to comment on what the Imus flare-up meant for the overall discussion about race, NBC's contributing correspondent made a tortured argument that the uproar over Imus was a sign of "a thirst" from the public for the kind of accountability that they're not getting from the Bush administration: "There has been such a negative reaction against President Bush's failure to apologize, failure to seem... continue reading
1. CBS Exploits Imus to Depict Blacks as Economic Inequality Victims ABC, CBS and NBC led Tuesday night with two stories each about the Don Imus racist-insult controversy, but only the CBS Evening News exploited Imus's "nappy-headed ho's" racial insult, directed at the Rutgers University womens' basketball team, as an opportunity to portray all African-Americans as economic "victims" of an unfair U.S. society. Reporter Richard Schlesinger highlighted over matching graphics: "The latest Census figures show the median income for African-American households is almost $20,000 less than white households. Whites are about twice as likely than blacks to get a college... continue reading