1. ABC Hits Cardinal from Left, Plugs Pope's Critique of Capitalism On Sunday's This Week, ABC's George Stephanopoulos harangued Washington's Cardinal Theodore McCarrick from the left. In an interviewed taped on Saturday, Stephanopoulos told McCarrick that "the practices and opinions of American Catholics seem to be at odds with the teachings of the church." Stephanopoulos soon chided McCarrick for how during the campaign the Eucharist became "a partisan battleground" because a Cardinal "did express his view that any Catholic who votes for a pro-choice politician is committing a sin that he or she has to confess." McCarrick corrected his false... continue reading
1. CBS Raises Good News in Iraq and Lets Reporter Bring Up Prayer CBS anchor Bob Schieffer on Thursday night went where ABC's Peter Jennings dare not go: Recognize a good news trend in Iraq and let a reporter talk about how he prays. On Thursday's CBS Evening News, Schieffer highlighted how "this was another fairly quiet day in Iraq: No American casualties reported again. Since January's elections, the rate of U.S. fatalities has fallen dramatically to half what it was during the previous three months." Turning to Byron Pitts in Iraq, Schieffer expressed reticence: "I hate to jinx it... continue reading
1. On Schiavo, Politically-Motivated or Unpopular? CBS Can't Decide A night after the CBS Evening News devoted a story to how, as anchor Bob Schieffer put it, "members of Congress deny" their action on the Schiavo case "was a political move on their part, but some of their comments caught on tape suggest otherwise," Schieffer highlighted poll numbers which would indicate House Republican leaders are hardly following public opinion, yet CBS didn't re-examine the premise of their take from the previous night. Schieffer cited how a CBS News poll found that "an overwhelming 82 percent say Congress and the President... continue reading
1. CBS Treats Innocuous DeLay Comments on Schiavo as Scandalous CBS's Bob Schieffer on Tuesday night noted how "members of Congress deny" their actions on the Schiavo case represented "a political move on their part but," Schieffer charged, "some of their comments caught on tape suggest otherwise." Wyatt Andrews insisted that "there is evidence some Republicans saw a political opening in Schiavo by framing her plight in the context of pro-life or anti-abortion politics." His evidence? One memo with a political point and some comments by Tom DeLay to "a leading Christian group," which Andrews treated as scandalous and characterized... continue reading
1. CBS Runs Silly Look at How Gas Prices "Force" Man to Kip at Work Gas prices have "forced" a man to sleep at the office? The CBS Evening News on Monday night aired its silliest story since Bob Schieffer slid into the anchor chair nearly two weeks ago. After forwarding the canard about how gas prices "hit a new record," Schieffer warned that in Southern California "gas prices are forcing some drivers to take drastic action." Sandra Hughes looked at a man who is "forced by economics to drive up to five hours a day" to his job in... continue reading
1. To Rumsfeld's Amusement, Stephanopoulos Probes "Biggest Mistake" Can't resist going to the negative. On Sunday's This Week, ABC's George Stephanopoulos reminded Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld how on Friday he had predicted that an accurate history of the Iraq war would someday be written. Stephanopoulos then asked: "When it is written what would it cite as the biggest mistake in prosecuting the war?" Rumsfeld mused: "Isn't that wonderful? That's the question that everyone wants to know. Not what are the biggest successes." Stephanopoulos retorted: "You just laid them out. That's why I'm asking about mistakes." But Rumsfeld's previous answer... continue reading
1. Media Mantra on "Record High" Gas Prices, But a Few Note Reality Thursday's CyberAlert pointed out how, adjusted for inflation, gas prices would need to exceed $2.97 per gallon to set a record, not the $2.06 or so the media hyped on Tuesday and Wednesday as a "record high." On Thursday night, CBS's Bob Schieffer repeated the error as he referred to how "the price of gasoline hit a record today" at $2.06 a gallon, but then he contradicted himself as he acknowledged that "adjusted for inflation, that's still about a dollar short" of the 1981 price. Meanwhile, NBC's... continue reading
1. Gregory Insists Personal Accounts "Unpopular," Poll Differs At Wednesday morning's presidential news conference, NBC's David Gregory told President Bush that the idea of personal accounts for Social Security "remains, according to every measure we have, poll after poll, unpopular with the majority of Americans." In fact, a Washington Post/ABC News survey released on Tuesday found that 56 percent support "a plan in which people who chose to could invest some of their Social Security contributions in the stock market." But Gregory's misperception is somewhat understandable given that the Washington Post headlined its Tuesday front page story on the poll:... continue reading
1. Olbermann: MRC Wants "Institutionalized, Pro-Republican Slant" In an interview with the Hartford Courant, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann took another shot at the Media Research Center, claiming "They want conformity and a deliberate, institutionalized, pro-Republican slant. Guess what? They're never going to get it." In that same interview, Olbermann ludicrously claimed that "not a one" of his stories on the 1998 Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was "pro-Clinton." 2. Public Radio Vet Edwards Blasts Bush for "Information Control" Add former National Public Radio Morning Edition host Bob Edwards, who now has a show on XM satellite radio, to those who claim political dissent in... continue reading
1. Jennings Takes Snide Shot Over Difficulty to Improve View of U.S. Peter Jennings on Monday night uttered one of the kind of remarks which earn him his smug image as one eager to denigrate the U.S. Following a soundbite on World News Tonight of Karen Hughes, the Bush administration's new Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, saying "perceptions" of America "do not change quickly or easily. This is a struggle for ideas," Jennings snidely interjected: "In some parts of the world, that will be taken as an understatement." 2. Thomas: Democratic Rumblings in Middle East Make Press Look "Bad"... continue reading