1. Networks Focus on Democratic Attacks on UN Nominee John Bolton The broadcast network evening newscasts on Monday night framed their stories, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing for John Bolton, President Bush's nominee for Ambassador to the UN, around Democratic attacks on him with much less time for those who defended him. ABC's Linda Douglass stressed how "Democrats called Bolton a belligerent critic of the UN who wants it to fail" and soon added that "Democrats accused him of trying to fire an intelligence analyst who didn't agree with" him. CBS's Bob Schieffer asserted that Bush's nomination of... continue reading
1. Dionne, Borger and Ifill Fret About Snub of Carter from Funeral Some more fretting over the weekend about the supposed "snubbing" of former President Jimmy Carter from the official U.S. delegation to the Pope's funeral. Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr., a former reporter for the Post and New York Times, made Carter's exclusion his "Outrage of the Week" on Saturday's Capital Gang on CNN. The night before, on PBS's Washington Week, Gloria Borger of U.S. News and CBS News reflected the media obsession as she conceded that "all week long we've been trying to figure out was he... continue reading
1. CBS and ABC Pounce on "Ethics Questions Dogging" Tom DeLay Prompted by front page Washington Post and New York Times stories about the funding of trips House Majority Leader Tom DeLay took and that his PAC has relatives on its payroll, CBS and ABC pounced Wednesday night on how, as CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer put it, "ethics questions dogging House Republican leader Tom DeLay multiplied again today." Schieffer claimed "it is now just one thing after another with Tom DeLay." ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas touted an "exclusive" from Brian Ross about whether DeLay "broke congressional rules when... continue reading
1. NBC's Today Frets that Carter "Snubbed" from Funeral Delegation NBC's Today treated the lack of inclusion of former President Jimmy Carter, in the official U.S. delegation to Friday's funeral for the late Pope John Paul II, as an inexcusable snub by the Bush White House and the biggest news of Wednesday morning. Katie Couric insisted at the top of the show that with President Bush going to Rome with the First Lady and Condoleezza Rice, as well as his father and Bill Clinton, "the question some people are asking is where's President Carter in all this? Are the Bushes... continue reading
1. CBS Evening News Touts AP Poll on How Catholics Want Changes Network evening newscasts rarely cite polls other than their own, but on Monday's CBS Evening News Bob Schieffer touted an AP/Ipsos poll which, he reported, found that "American Catholics hope whoever succeeds the Pope will make some changes in the church." Schieffer proceeded to cite majority support for allowing priests to marry and the ordaining of women as priests. 2. Gibson's Pal "Bitterly Disagrees" with Pope "On So Many Issues" ABC's Charles Gibson admitted, during ABC's live coverage Monday of the moving of the late Pope's body to... continue reading
1. ABC: Pope "Controversial," "Too Conservative" for U.S. Catholics ABC seemed ahead of the other networks in looking at Pope John Paul II's legacy through the prism of American liberals who see him as too conservative by U.S. political standards. Before he even passed away, ABC's Peter Jennings insisted that the Pope "was, of course, controversial here. Some American Catholics have chaffed at his insistence that they follow the Church's traditional social doctrines." Dean Reynolds cited "abortion, birth control, women priests" as issues which have "all driven a wedge between the Vatican and America." Less than two hours after ABC... continue reading
1. CBS on Schiavo: "Dangerous Precedent," "Far Right" May Exploit It The night after Terri Schiavo died, CBS News reporter Mika Brzezinski highlighted how CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen warned of the "the dangerous precedent" the action by Congress "could set" and, though the Constitution allows Congress to proscribe judicial authority, Cohen denounced Congress and the President: "I absolutely think that the Congress and the President tried to intrude upon the judicial function, tried to break apart that separation of powers." On Thursday's CBS Evening News, Brzezinski framed the issue from the point of view of those upset by... continue reading
1. ABC Gets Around to Jesse Jackson, But Doesn't Air a Word from Him A night after ignoring the arrival of Jesse Jackson in Pinellas, Florida to argue for re-inserting Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, ABC's World News Tonight on Wednesday showed brief video of Jackson, but didn't air a word from him. Reporter Mike Von Fremd, however, first highlighted how "Judge Stanley Birch, appointed by President Bush in 1990, severely criticized Congress and the President for intervening." Von Fremd quoted the judge's rebuke and then, over video of Jackson standing next to the Governor of Florida, noted how "after meeting... continue reading
1. ABC Chooses ACLU Hit on Military Over Jackson's Defense of Life Wherever Jesse Jackson goes the media usually follow and on Tuesday the cable news networks highlighted his arrival outside the Florida hospice care facility holding Terri Schiavo, but the day Jackson took the side of those wishing to save Schiavo, and put a Democratic face with those on the side of her life, ABC's World News Tonight suddenly found the whole matter unnewsworthy. For the first time in more than ten days, the newscast had no Schiavo story and didn't utter a syllable about Jackson, but Peter Jennings... continue reading
1. NBC's Expert: On Schiavo, Republicans Have Soured Swing Voters NBC's David Gregory on Monday night utilized the media's favorite tactic, using a liberal Republican to chide conservatives for taking a position in opposition to what the Washington press corps believes. Leading into a soundbite from Congressman Chris Shays of Connecticut, Gregory highlighted how "even some Republicans don't like" the "new political landscape" where Congress has intervened in deciding when a life should end. Gregory noted how "a Time magazine survey over the weekend found that 75 percent disagreed with the idea that Congress was right to intervene" and then... continue reading