1. Newscasts on Plame's Testimony: 'Impeach Bush,' Zilch on Armitage The three broadcast network evening newscasts were similar Friday night in featuring full stories on Valerie Plame's testimony before a House committee, including video of Plame with a woman behind her wearing a pink "Impeach Bush" T-shirt -- ABC even caught a moment when the woman was making the "shame" sign with her fingers -- and not mentioning Richard Armitage, the former Deputy Secretary of State who was the source for columnist Robert Novak's reporting of her name. CBS's Gloria Borger, remarkably, concluded her report by listing every big name... continue reading
1. Others Pursue Rove, But ABC Raises Clinton and Lack of Illegality ABC's World News separated itself from the media pack Thursday night. Though ABC's coverage was keyed to how e-mails supposedly show that Karl Rove was at "the center" of early 2005 discussions about replacing all 93 U.S. attorneys, anchor Charles Gibson pointed out how "these U.S. attorneys do serve at the pleasure of the President. He can fire them at any time. So did anything really get done that was wrong?" Jan Crawford Greenburg answered, in a broadcast network evening newscast first, by informing viewers of how "President... continue reading
1. Nets Lead Again with Fired Attorneys, Paint as Political Victims When the Clinton administration in 1993, in a then-unprecedented decision, gave all 93 U.S. Attorneys ten days to leave their offices, including Jay Stephens who was in the midst of investigating House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Rostenkowski, ABC's World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News didn't utter a syllable about it. But on Wednesday night, the evening newscasts on both networks led with Republican Senator John Sununu's call for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as both highlighted different U.S. Attorneys who were amongst the... continue reading
1. Nets Ignored Clinton Firing 93 U.S. Attorneys, Fret Over Bush's 8 The broadcast network evening newscasts, which didn't care in 1993 about the Clinton administration's decision to ask for the resignation of all 93 U.S. attorneys, went apoplectic Tuesday night in leading with the "controversy," fed by the media, over the Bush administration for replacing eight U.S. attorneys in late 2006 -- nearly two years after rejecting the idea of following the Clinton policy of replacing all the attorneys. Anchor Charles Gibson promised that ABC would "look at all the angles tonight," but he skipped the Clinton comparison. Gibson... continue reading
1. ABC and NBC Highlight the 'Evil Spirits' Bush Visit Will Bring The NBC and ABC morning shows on Monday found it newsworthy that President Bush's "evil spirits" would have to be removed from Mayan ruins he would visit in Guatemala. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, traveling with Bush, relayed on the Today show how "he plans to tour Mayan ruins here in Guatemala and we're told some local priests want to purify the site afterward with a kind of ritual they say will get rid of what they call 'bad spirits.'" Over on ABC's Good Morning America, news reader Chris Cuomo... continue reading
1. MSNBC and CNN Showcase 'Time' Cover with Cheney Under Dark Cloud Time magazine's cover story image as reality? Displaying a mini-instance of pack journalism, MSNBC and CNN shows on Thursday afternoon and night pounced on Time magazine's cover story, "The Verdict on Cheney" beside a picture of Cheney under some dark clouds, as evidence Cheney's influence is declining in the White House in the wake of the Scooter Libby verdict. It may be, but the graphics on a magazine cover hardly proves it. MSNBC's Chris Matthews asserted on Hardball: "More coming here about amazing problems facing the Vice President... continue reading
1. Longtime Friend of Bill Clinton to Produce the CBS Evening News The AP reported Wednesday night that CBS News will announce Thursday that Rick Kaplan, a former Executive Producer of ABC's World News Tonight and Nightline who later ran both CNN and MSNBC, will become the Executive Producer of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Kaplan has had a long record of friendly relations with former President Bill Clinton, advising Clinton on how to respond to the Gennifer Flowers scandal in 1992 and blocking anti-Clinton stories from appearing on Nightline. Kaplan has also been hostile to conservatives and... continue reading
1. Libby Framed Around Vile Scheming, Skip Armitage, Tie in Reagan The broadcast network evening newscast coverage Tuesday night, of the guilty verdicts for perjury and lying found against Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, painted the case through the prism of administration opponents who presumed a nefarious scheme led by Vice President Cheney against the heroic Joe Wilson. Though the legal status of Valerie Plame remains in dispute, ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas and CBS's Gloria Borger described her as an "undercover" CIA agent. And while ABC's Pierre Thomas noted how Plame "had been outed as a CIA operative in a column by... continue reading
1. NBC: Iraqis Want U.S. to Stay, Anti-War Effort Helping Insurgents Visiting Iraq, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams learned from Army officers that Iraqis want U.S. forces to remain in their country, from NBC News Baghdad reporter Richard Engel that Al-Sadr's insurgents have stepped down and are counting on pressure from anti-war opponents to provide them with victory, and from retired General and NBC News military analyst Wayne Downey that U.S. troops are proud of their mission. Traveling with Lieutenant General Ray Odierno for stories on his Monday newscast, Williams ran a clip of Army Colonel John Charlton proclaiming... continue reading
1. CBS on Walter Reed: 'Last Thing Admin Can Afford Another Katrina' Checking in on Friday's CBS Evening News with how the administration is reacting to the Walter Reed scandal, White House correspondent Jim Axelrod gratuitously brought up Katrina as he asserted that "the White House is well aware of the PR nightmare that it faces. The last thing this administration can afford is another Katrina." 2. NYTimes Skews Poll to Paint New Desire for National Health Care Is the New York Times pushing for national health care? The paper devoted most of its latest poll to health care questions... continue reading