1. Staff Changes Resurrect Plame; CBS: Metaphor in Grounded Chopper Of the three broadcast network evening newscasts, the NBC Nightly News delivered the most negative assessment of the situation facing a White House which made some personnel changes, with reporter David Gregory using the moves as a chance to resurrect the Plame case and to maintain, in an amazing coincidence of his personal agenda matching that of "Republicans I've been talking to," that "the President needs a Press Secretary who will be more open with the media." CBS's Jim Axelrod also got in a snarky shot that certainly put imagery... continue reading
1. Olbermann Hypes Bernstein's "Bush Worse Than Watergate" Article On his Countdown show Tuesday night, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann hyped an article posted on the Vanity Fair Web site, by Washington Post and Time magazine veteran Carl Bernstein, which called for congressional hearings into, as described by Olbermann, "the entirety of the Bush administration." Olbermann referred to the crusading journalist of Watergate fame as an "eminent voice" calling for Congress to find out if the Bush White House is "worse than Watergate." He then brought aboard Bernstein for what the Countdown host touted as an "exclusive interview," to discuss the article,... continue reading
1. Pulitzer Prizes Award Journalists Who Undermined Anti-Terrorism The annual Pulitzer Prize awards announced Monday night rewarded Washington Post and New York Times reporters who exposed -- and thus undermined -- secret anti-terrorism efforts, as well as a Washington Post critic who mocked Vice President Cheney's outdoor apparel and ridiculed the supposed 1950s-era clothing worn by then-Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' kids. The Pulitzer board gave the "Beat Reporting" award to Dana Priest of the Washington Post "for her persistent, painstaking reports on secret 'black site' prisons and other controversial features of the government's counterterrorism campaign." The "National Reporting" award... continue reading
1. Clinton Earns CNN's 'Play of Week' After Musings About 3rd Term Three days after CNN's Wolf Blitzer wondered, on The Situation Room, "if Bill Clinton could run for President again, would he be re-elected?" and Jack Cafferty excitedly agreed "he probably would be, in a heartbeat" since "Clinton would be the answer to a prayer" for Democrats, CNN's Bill Schneider on Friday awarded Bill Clinton with his "Political Play of the Week." Schneider touted how "in a series of appearances this week, the former President made a point of separating his career from his wife's," so "if Senator Clinton... continue reading
1. CBS and ABC Play to Jealousy Over Exxon Chief's Retirement Pay CBS and ABC played to petty jealousies on Thursday night. Both aired silly stories which contrasted the large retirement package, earned by former ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Lee Raymond, with the average retiree income or the burden rising gas prices supposedly put on a typical family. CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer announced: "The average American enters the golden years -- retirement -- expecting to live on less than $30,000 a year, and that includes Social Security. Well, it turns out to be a little more golden than... continue reading
1. Despite Lack of Proof, Nets Insist "Bush Knew" WMD Not Found Forget the lack of evidence, we have our story of presidential duplicity and we're sticking with it. Picking up on a front page Washington Post story about how back in May of 2003 President Bush had cited trailers found in Iraq as proof of WMD, when a secret field report filed two days earlier had concluded the trailers had nothing to do with bio-weapons, on Wednesday morning ABC's Charles Gibson trumpeted how Bush made a statement he "knew at the time that was not true" and so it's... continue reading
1. Blitzer, Cafferty Muse About 3rd Clinton Term: "Answer to Prayer" CNN's Wolf Blitzer wondered, on Tuesday's Situation Room, "if Bill Clinton could run for President again, would he be re-elected?" Though Clinton never reached 50 percent (43% in 1992, 49% in 1996), Jack Cafferty excitedly agreed with the proposition: "Oh, I think he probably would be, in a heartbeat, don't you?" Cafferty listed some other potential candidates, such as "the Governor down in Virginia" who "might be a good guy" and "they got Barack Obama," but instead, "who do you see on TV? You see Hillary and Chuck Schumer... continue reading
1. Nets Champion Cause of Those Marching for "Immigration Reform" The three broadcast networks led Monday night with multiple stories which celebrated the protest marches held by illegal immigrants and their supporters, with all three featuring sympathetic anecdotes about the plight of those here illegally. "Tonight," ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas touted in forwarding the red herring that conservatives are against "immigration" as opposed to illegal entry, "hundreds of thousands of people marching in streets across America, trying to convince the country that it needs immigrants." CBS anchor Bob Schieffer, who never uttered the word "illegal" in his lengthy introduction, teased:... continue reading
1. Ex-CBS & MSNBC Exec: Vieira Faces "Challenge" to Her Credibility Erik Sorenson, a former CBS and MSNBC news executive, foresees a "challenge" ahead for Meredith Vieira establishing her credibility on NBC's Today in the face of her anti-war activism and so she'll have to "modulate" her on-air pontificating. On Sunday's Reliable Sources on CNN, Howard Kurtz, picking up on Vieira's anti-war comments noted in CyberAlert, asked Sorenson: "Meredith Vieira marched in an anti-war demonstration a couple years ago, and she said on The View that the war was 'built on lies.' Does that create a credibility problem for her... continue reading
1. Nets Hype Bush Leaked "Secrets," Compare to Revealing Prisons The three broadcast networks on Thursday night were hyperbolic over the revelation that Vice President Cheney's former top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, testified that in July of 2003 President Bush had authorized the leaking of parts of a classified pre-war report on Iraq. All the newscasts led with the allegation and stressed Bush's hypocrisy in denouncing leaks while leaking material himself, but NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams was the most dramatic in employing the most nefarious language. He intoned: "There is an allegation tonight that President Bush authorized the... continue reading