1. CBS Hypes Bush at "All-Time Low"; Public Rejects Cheney Obsession Though President Bush's approval rating, in a new CBS News poll released Monday night, was just one point lower than where it stood in October -- and thus well within the poll's three-point margin of error, Bob Schieffer teased the CBS Evening News by declaring: "There is little to celebrate at the White House where public dissatisfaction, that began with the handling of Hurricane Katrina, has driven President Bush's approval ratings to an all-time low" of 34 percent. It stood at 35 percent in CBS's October 2005 survey. Left... continue reading
1. CBS Showcases Murtha's Slam of Bush, Insistence Iraq in Civil War All the broadcast network evening newscasts on Thursday led with fears of "civil war" in Iraq, a topic of much cable focus too during the day, but unlike ABC and NBC, the CBS Evening News decided to highlight a slam at the Bush administration from a liberal hero, crusading anti-war Democratic Congressman John Murtha. After presenting the administration's view that Iraq is not falling into civil war, CBS White House correspondent Jim Axelrod showcased how, over still shots of Murtha, in uniform, getting a medal and in Iraq:... continue reading
1. Nine Months After Portending Iraq "Civil War," Schieffer Repeats Nine months ago, CBS anchor Bob Schieffer painted Iraq as spiraling into civil war. It didn't happen then, yet on Wednesday night Schieffer renewed his ominous forecast. But unlike in May, this time his ABC and NBC anchor colleagues expressed the same prospect. Back on May 19 of last year, Schieffer teased the CBS Evening News with this unique warning: "Good evening. I'm Bob Schieffer. It just keeps getting worse in Iraq. The death toll is rising. Tension is growing between Shiites and Sunnis. Is the country sliding toward civil... continue reading
1. Dance Around "Partial-Birth"; Fret About "End of Legal Abortion" All three broadcast network evening newscast anchors separated themselves from the "partial-birth" abortion term, some more awkwardly than others, as all ran full stories Tuesday on the decision by the Supreme Court to take up, in the fall, the constitutionality of a federal ban on the abortion procedure -- of whatever name -- which lacks a "health of the mother" exception. After CBS reporter Wyatt Andrews touted how former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor had "protected" the women's health exception, anchor Bob Schieffer saw not the potential now of new "protections"... continue reading
1. Polk Awards Go to Bush-Bashers, Those Undermining Anti-Terrorism A year after Bill Moyers won a "career" award, the 2005 winners of the "George Polk Awards," which "memorialize the CBS correspondent who was murdered while covering the civil war in Greece in 1948," were announced late Monday. The winners, as selected by an advisory panel assembled by Long Island University, are a who's who of liberal activists, including left-wing New York Times columnist Frank Rich and Victor Navasky, the long-time Editor of the far-left The Nation magazine. Virtually all the winners in reporting categories went to journalists who revealed secret... continue reading
1. Gregory Regrets How Journalistic Behavior "Created a Diversion" On Sunday's Meet the Press, David Gregory, the main antagonist over Dick Cheney in the White House press room last week, conceded "it was inappropriate for me to lose my cool with the press secretary representing the President. I don't think it was professional of me," but Gregory was more sorry for how the focus on the journalistic behavior "created a diversion from some of the serious questions in the story, so I regret that." Gregory rued how Cheney defenders "have been eager to stoke this as a false debate between... continue reading
1. ABC & CBS Move On; NBC Leads with Cheney and Raises Alcohol Use ABC and CBS largely moved on from the Dick Cheney hunting mishap story Thursday night as, for the first time this week, they led with other subjects. Both held their Cheney coverage to short items on President Bush expressing satisfaction with Cheney's Wednesday explanation to FNC's Brit Hume. But for the fifth straight day, the NBC Nightly News led with the topic with reporter Kelly O'Donnell stressing Cheney's alcohol consumption. Anchor Brian Williams set up her piece by asserting "the questions that continue tonight have to... continue reading
1. Jealous Journalists Take Shots at Integrity of FNC & Brit Hume Admitting he hadn't seen the interview, at about 4:15pm EST Wednesday on CNN's The Situation Room, Jack Cafferty charged that "it didn't exactly represent a profile in courage for the Vice President to wander over there to the F-word network for a sit-down with Brit Hume. I mean, that's a little like Bonnie interviewing Clyde, ain't it?" MSNBC's Keith Olbermann castigated Cheney for choosing the "more malleable cameras of Fox News" in place of a press conference. Over on the broadcast network evening newscasts, NBC's David Gregory, the... continue reading
1. Equal Time to Whining About Being Snubbed as Victim's Condition The three broadcast network evening newscasts all led Tuesday night with the minor heart attack suffered by the victim of Vice President Cheney's hunting accident, but all gave equal time to, for the second night in a row, obsessing over the snubbing of the White House press corps -- this time how Scott McClellan didn't inform them of Harry Whittington's complication. NBC's Brian Williams teased from Torino: "There are more questions tonight about who knew what and when." ABC co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas complained about how "the White House, once... continue reading
1. Nets Obsess Over Delay in Disclosure of Cheney's Hunting Accident On Monday night, both the NBC Nightly News and the CBS Evening News, led with Vice President Cheney's accidental shooting of a hunting companion, treating it as the most important news of the day as they focused on journalistic upset with how the late Saturday afternoon shooting wasn't disclosed until noontime Sunday -- and then to a local reporter instead of to a member of the White House press corps. "What took so long?" anchor Brian Williams demanded as he teased the NBC Nightly News from Torino. "Tonight, the... continue reading