1. Nets Trumpet Anti-War Activists Confronting Rumsfeld's "Lies" Two of the three broadcast networks (CBS and NBC) led Thursday night with how, at an event in Atlanta, a handful of protesters confronted Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and accused him of "war crimes" and "lying" about Iraq. ABC also aired a story, but put the Moussaoui sentencing first. All three featured former CIA analyst Ray McGovern who demanded: "Why did you lie to get us into a war that was not necessary?" But all failed to note McGovern's long record of hostility to the Bush administration. CBS anchor Bob Schieffer... continue reading
1. Couric Hits Rebate from Left, Displays Anti-ANWR Prism She Denies Today co-host Katie Couric, who will assume the CBS Evening News anchor chair in a few months, on Tuesday morning hit Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from the left on the $100 rebate idea and rejected the notion she opposes drilling in ANWR, despite how NBC illustrated her question about the "controversial" proposal by showing video of birds and streams. On the rebate concept, after noting opposition from two Republican Senators, Couric cited how "letters to the Editor of the New York Times are very critical," as if that... continue reading
1. Nets Again Champion Cause of Marches on Behalf of Illegals All three broadcast network evening newscasts led Monday night with multiple favorable stories about the day of protests to promote the cause of illegal aliens. Bob Schieffer opened the CBS Evening News by trumpeting: "From coast to coast, from north to south, they wanted us to know what America would be like without them and so millions of immigrants missed work, skipped school and marched in the streets. They want America to find a place for those who came here illegally..." ABC's Elizabeth Vargas touted how "altogether, close to... continue reading
1. Limbaugh Got Off Easy, Paint Him Intolerant of "Drug Addiction" ABC's World News Tonight on Saturday contended that Rush Limbaugh got off easy because he could afford a high-priced lawyer and painted him as a hypocrite for previously condemning drug users, but ABC didn't offer any evidence Limbaugh has ever denounced those hooked on prescription pain medication. "Rush Limbaugh cuts a deal," anchor Jim Avila teased at the top of his newscast, propounding: "Was this drug suspect treated like any other Florida first offender?" ABC reporter Jeffrey Kofman charged: "Limbaugh himself has not been so tolerant of other people's... continue reading
1. Focus on Exxon Profits, Skip How Government Gets More in Taxes The broadcast network evening newscasts on Thursday night hyperventilated over "record" $8.4 billion first quarter profits for ExxonMobil, but failed to point out how government taxes exceed oil company earnings. ABC's Betsy Stark complained: "The company says that's a record level of investment in new supplies. Maybe so, but it's less than it spent rewarding shareholders. 15 percent of profits went directly to shareholders in the form of cash dividends, and the biggest chunk, 40 percent, was used to repurchase Exxon's own stock." But ExxonMobil paid 83 percent... continue reading
1. ABC: Snow a Conservative Who Called Bush "an Embarrassment" ABC and NBC on Wednesday night delighted in showcasing how incoming White House Press Secretary Tony Snow last year wrote that President Bush had become "an embarrassment." But in portraying the quote as a declarative accusation, neither ABC's Elizabeth Vargas or NBC's David Gregory put the remark into the context of how Snow was observing that Virginia Republicans not wishing to appear with Bush during the 2005 campaign suggested "Bush has become something of an embarrassment." And neither bothered to let their viewers in on how they were just funneling... continue reading
1. CBS Hypes Gas Price Gouging, NBC Focuses on Fears of Greens The broadcast network evening shows delivered a variety of spins Tuesday night on the price of gas, with CBS raising a "windfall tax on big oil" and featuring an in-studio segment with left-wing busybody Eliot Spitzer, the Attorney General of New York, about price gouging and NBC's Brian Williams worried about the concerns of those want a "greener America." ABC's Betsy Stark rejected the price-gouging charge and while CBS insisted that eliminating environmental regulations would have little effect, Stark reported such a suspension would have an immediate impact... continue reading
1. Mitchell Frets Firing Means CIA Staffers Won't Talk to Reporters NBC's Andrea Mitchell complained Monday night, on MSNBC's Countdown, about how the CIA's firing of a staffer ostensibly for leaking top secret information to a reporter, will mean CIA officials will no longer have the "courage or the stupidity" to talk to reporters. After relaying how, through friends the fired staffer, Mary McCarthy, had denied being a source for the Washington Post's secret CIA prison story, though she conceded having unauthorized interaction with journalists, Mitchell contended that intimidation of the rest of the staff was the real motivation for... continue reading
1. Journalists on Sunday Shows Hail Leaker for Exposing Prisons Far from condemning a CIA officials damaging leak of classified information about ongoing efforts to prevent terrorism, on the Sunday morning interview shows, three panelists -- a former network White House correspondent, a newspaper and radio veteran and a current network anchor -- hailed Mary McCarthy, the CIA staffer fired last week for telling the Washington Post's Dana Priest about secret prisons in Eastern Europe. ABC's Sam Donaldson heralded the revelations as "a victory for the American people" and compared her actions to those sitting at lunch counters in the... continue reading
1. Nets Portray Protest and Taiwan Status Through Red China Prism Though the Red Chinese regime was so embarrassed by a woman interrupting the White House welcoming ceremony for Chinese President Hu Jintao to denounce him, that it censored the incident from news coverage back in China, CBS on Thursday night framed coverage around worries about offending China over Taiwan and how some incident made the White House look bad while NBC focused on the "embarrassment" the protester caused to the Bush team. CBS's Bob Schieffer led with how "this was not the best day the White House ever had,"... continue reading