1. Gregory Compares Bush to Nixon, Pushes Him to Go "Centrist" All the networks got a few minutes Thursday afternoon with President Bush at an outdoor setting along the Arizona-Mexico border, and while ABC's Martha Raddatz, CBS's Bill Plante, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and FNC's Carl Cameron all stuck, as least as aired, to immigration questions, NBC's David Gregory compared Bush's approval to Nixon's when he resigned, suggested the public has reached a "final judgment of disapproval" and pressed Bush to name more "centrist" policies he'll adopt. And when Bush named tax cuts, Gregory retorted: "But is that middle ground?" AUDIO&VIDEO... continue reading
1. NBC Pushes as 'New' Murtha's Stale Charge About Civilians Killed On the six month anniversary of Democratic Congressman John Murtha's successful publicity stunt call for the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq, Wednesday's NBC Nightly News jumped on the chance to highlight Murtha's charge that last November some Marines deliberately killed more than a dozen innocent Iraqi civilians. But in treating Murtha as some kind of authoritative figure making "new allegations," NBC ignored how the fairly well established as accurate charge (pictures exist of the immediate aftermath and three Marine officers were relieved of their commands) is old and has... continue reading
1. ABC Ignores Denial by Phone Companies, Leads with Low Bush Rating Tuesday's CBS Evening News devoted a story to how all three phone companies -- BellSouth, Verizon and AT&T -- denied they supplied the NSA with massive records of numbers called by their customers, as charged in a Thursday front page USA Today story which led to an ongoing media firestorm. Verizon, for instance, maintained: "Contrary to the media reports, Verizon was not asked by NSA to provide, nor did Verizon provide customer phone records." NBC Nightly News ran a story on the denials by BellSouth and Verizon. But... continue reading
1. Border Guard: "Backdoor" Way for Bush to Remove Troops from Iraq Following President Bush's Monday night prime time address on immigration, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann ruminated to Chris Matthews: "Could he also be kind of back-dooring changes in the personnel totals in Iraq with this because, as Dick Durbin did point out in the Democratic response, an assignment of 6,000 National Guards troops is not just 6,000 guys going to the Southwestern borders of this country, it involves a lot more people and could provide at least a reason to bring people back from Iraq and Afghanistan out of the... continue reading
1. "Surprise" in Public Backing on Phones, But Media as Out of Touch ABC's Elizabeth Vargas and George Stephanopoulos reported Friday night that lawmakers opposed to the NSA's program, which collects phone numbers dialed, were "surprised" that by two-to-one Americans consider the effort an "acceptable" anti-terrorism program. But given the media's hyperbolic negative reaction to the supposed "Big Brother" program, which spread into a second day on Friday, it's Vargas and Stephanopoulos -- along with the rest of the mainstream media -- who should be embarrassed by news judgment so out of touch with the public. 2. Vieira Buys Gas... continue reading
1. Nets Lead with Phones; Unlike CBS, ABC & NBC Note Congress Knew Matching the agenda of the morning shows, Thursday's network evening newscasts led with USA Today's front page story, "NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls," with none noting how the New York Times reported the same information back in December. Unlike CBS, however, both ABC and NBC at least pointed out how many Members of Congress were aware of how phone companies provided the NSA with the numbers called by their customers, but didn't complain. CBS anchor Bob Schieffer demanded: "Does the government need to know... continue reading
1. CBS & NBC Portray Tax Cuts Through Liberal Prism of Unfairness CBS and NBC on Wednesday night painted the tax cut extensions passed by the House through a liberal prism, relaying liberal spin meant to portray the cuts as unfair by citing the dollar amounts of expected cuts for the rich versus those earning lower incomes, without any regard for how an incredible 41 percent pay no income tax and so can't get a tax cut while the wealthier pay huge dollar amounts and so even a small percentage reduction represents a big dollar number. CBS's Sharyl Attkisson put... continue reading
1. CBS Jumps on "Bad News" for GOP & Hope for Dems, But in 1994... Bob Schieffer led Tuesday's CBS Evening News by heralding "bad news for the Republicans" in a new CBS News/New York Times poll and suggesting the new poll portends "a dramatic shift in the political landscape" with approval of Congress at only 23 percent, its lowest since 20 percent in 1994. But reporting on that low number 12 years ago, just six days before Republicans took control of the House and Senate, Bob Schieffer didn't see disaster ahead for Democrats. Back then he maintained: "It's hard... continue reading
1. Gibson Hits Oil Chief from Left on Profits and "Windfall Tax" On Monday's Good Morning America, ABC's Charlie Gibson hit ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO James Mulva with a series of questions from the naive left which presumed the oil companies are out of line. Without ever pointing out how the company paid three-fourths as much in federal income tax and collected even more in taxes for the feds and the states, Gibson cited the company's "$3.3 billion in profit for the first quarter" and how "the six large U.S. companies will have a total of $135 billion in profits... continue reading
1. George Stephanopoulos Twice Refers to Nancy Pelosi as "Speaker" On Sunday's This Week, George Stephanopoulos not once but twice, referred to Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as "Speaker," a title she would presumably get if Democrats win back the House this fall. So, a Freudian slip by Stephanopoulos, a one-time staff member for the Democratic House leadership himself when they were in the majority? Interviewing Congressman Tom DeLay, the former House Majority Leader who suggested that if Democrats win control of the House they will pursue impeachment, Stephanopoulos countered: "Democrats are also coming forward with another agenda, Speaker,... continue reading