
Media
Coverage of the Parties and Candidates
Media Happy to Help
Drown Bush Message
ABC, CNN and MSNBC all led
with the "rats" ad story Tuesday night, while CBS and NBC ran
full stories following Firestone tire pieces. Every story noted how the
issue drowned out Bush’s message, but none noted it was the media’s
choice to elevate this weeks-old story into a major one.
FNC Reported
"Rats" Story — On August 28
Read the exchange about the
"subliminal" ad taped way back in August on FNC’s Special
Report With Brit Hume.
CNN, FNC Report on Vanity
Fair’s Dyslexic Bush Story
The broadcast networks
refrained from reporting on the latest Gail Sheehy hit piece, but not so
cable news – though they approached the "story" from very
different angles.
Andrea Mitchell Invents
Willie Horton II
Wrapping up her MSNBC
Mitchell Report, Andrea Mitchell did her level best to tie George W.
Bush’s ad men to those who created the anti-Dukakis Willie Horton ad
twenty years ago
Gumbel Thinks Rats
Worse than Nuclear Annihilation
What else can Early Show
viewers conclude when, commenting on the ad in
which the word "rats" flashes on screen for 1/30th of a second,
co-host Bryant Gumbel asserted Republicans "have struck a new
low" in campaign advertising when, in 1964, Democrat Lyndon Johnson
ran an ad featuring the explosion of a nuclear bomb to suggest if his
Republican opponent were elected, life on Earth would cease to exist?
GMA on Gore vs. GMA
on Bush
Compare the treatment (never
mind the frequency of appearances) the Democrat and Republican
Presidential candidates received at the hands of ABC’s Good Morning
America.
Different Angle on Gore
and Hollywood
FNC’s Jim Angle alone
reminded viewers that a 1999 newspaper story disclosed "that Gore
initially distanced himself from the study, telling potential Hollywood
donors that he had nothing to do with it."
CBS
Gives Bush New Slogan
On the CBS Evening News,
Bill Whitaker reported "The new Bush slogan is ‘Real Plans for Real
People,’ but it could be ‘Less is More.’"
Oprah’s Wet Kiss
Monday’s show marked the
first time Oprah Winfrey featured a presidential candidate, and Gore
couldn’t have dreamed of a more adoring audience or host.
NBC Blames Republicans
for Wen Ho Lee Fiasco
Ignoring that there was a
Democratic Energy Secretary and a Democratic Department of Justice, on NBC
Nightly News Andrea Mitchell identified the source of the trouble as
"Republicans demanding action."
Major League "Week
In Review"
In a Sunday New York Times
"Week In Review" piece, Adam Clymer (of "major league
ass***" fame) accidentally outed himself.
Cheney is Carlson’s
"Outrage Of the Week"
Time
columnist and reporter Margaret Carlson took Dick Cheney to task on CNN’s
Capital Gang over his former employer’s toilets.
Best Line of the
Weekend Shows
... goes to syndicated columnist
Cal Thomas on FNC’s NewsWatch for what George W. Bush should have
said when asked to apologize.
NYT’s Clymer Speaks
The New York Times’
Adam Clymer appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources over the weekend,
revealing to viewers how he’d cover, which he "obviously can’t,"
the flap in which he’s a major league player.
Labeling:
"Prominent" vs. "Superstar"
Compare the labels The New
York Times applied to elder statesmen surrounding the Republican and
Democratic presidential tickets.
Gore Surge or Dead
Heat?
ABC, CBS and NBC all focused
on conservative critiques of the Bush campaign, but limited them to the
debate over debates, rather than the concern that Bush’s failure to take
on Gore’s massive social spending plans may be at fault.
Myers
Reports Gore Kisses and Hugs Get Women’s Vote
In a report Thursday night,
NBC’s Lisa Myers interview middle-aged California women and found that
at least some put emotion and gimmicks ahead of substance and policy in
deciding whom to support.
FNC
Reports NYT Had to Correct Clymer’s Cheney Hit Piece
The New York Times
reporter who Hillary Clinton says "is a superb, fair-minded
reporter" but whom Bush called a "major league ass****" for
his bias, was the subject of a Special Report with Brit Hume
segment that appears to support Bush’s claims.
Rather Skips Pro-Tax
Cut Arguments
As usual, CBS’s Dan Rather
relayed the liberal anti-tax cut spin without so much as a nod to the
other side of the debate, this time in a story on inheritance taxes.
Only ABC Reports Gore
Plan Swallows Surplus
While NBC stuck to analyzing
the politics of spending proposals, ABC’s Terry Moran reported that a
Senate Budget Committee review of Gore’s spending proposals will consume
the surplus and then some.
Dan Can’t Say
"Debate"
Wednesday night, CBS’s Dan
Rather found a new way to promulgate the theory that Bush is "afraid
to debate" by casting the Bush proposal as calling for "joint
appearances," rather than debates, with Gore.
Bush, Gore on
Morning Shows
In a surprise move, CBS’s
Bryant Gumbel actually posed one question from the right to Al Gore.
MRC Says Bush Right
On Clymer
... and proves that even
liberals agree. Check the Sept.5
Campaign 2000 Media Reality Check.
Nets Scold Bush for
Open Mike Comment
Monday night, ABC, CBS, NBC
pounced on Bush for using profanity to characterize New York Times
reporter Adam Clymer whose reportage Bush felt was biased, made when he
thought the microphone was off and that his remarks were being made
privately to his running mate.
Borger Red-Faced on
Face The Nation
Substitute host Gloria Borger
embarrassed herself in a question to Bill Bennett about whether Lieberman
crossed "the line" on religion in politics.
News
Reminds Bush Went Negative on McCain
In pumping the "nothing
new" theme, ABC and NBC seize the opportunity to discuss their
favorite politician, John McCain.
CNN Twice Corrected
Error Bush Ad Didn’t Make
President Clinton’s veto of
the estate tax cut went unmentioned Thursday night by CBS and NBC, while
ABC relayed only Clinton’s spin about how it would "help only the
richest two percent." But FNC’s Jim Angle alerted viewers to how
all the Democratic Congressmen from Tennessee voted for the bill, even the
keynoter at the Democratic convention.
NBC Defends Bush on
Defense
On Thursday night, NBC
actually came to Bush’s defense on the decline of the military. In an
"In Depth" segment on NBC Nightly News, David Gregory reviewed
the claims and counter-claims of Bush-Cheney and Gore, concluding:
"Tonight, both the Gore campaign and the administration say Bush’s
attacks demonstrate he doesn’t truly understand what’s happening in
the world and is not prepared to be commander in chief."
What Veto of Tax Cut?
President Clinton’s veto of
the estate tax went unmentioned Thursday by CBS and NBC, while ABC covered
it by relaying Clinton’s spin about how it would "help only the
richest two percent."
FOB Forced Out at CNN
In a reshuffling at CNN announced Wednesday, Friend of Bill and
President of CNN/USA Rick Kaplan was forced out of the network. As AP’s
David Bauder noted last night, Kaplans’s "friendship with President
Clinton made conservative activists suspicious." And with good
reason.
West
On Fire, Tax Issue Not
CBS’s Bill Whitaker reported Bush’s tax cut issue hasn’t caught
fire on the campaign trail, then delivered the usual liberal spin about
how "more than half his across-the-board cuts" would go to the
affluent.
Nets Jump on ADL
Complaint
While all the networks
covered the story, ABC’s Peggy Wehmeyer noted how press criticism has
impacted talk of religion on the campaign trail.
Time, USA
Today Concede Double-Standard
"If a Conservative
republican were saying these things it would, people would be going
nuts" reporters from Time and USA Today acknowledged to
Chris Matthews on Monday night’s Hardball.
ABC Ignores Clinton
Response to Disbarment Suit
CBS gave 25 seconds to
Clinton’s "campaign to save his license to practice law" while
NBC’s 28 seconds included an unusual turn of phrase, referring to
"the Paul Jones sex harassment suit."
Dems and Drug Makers:
ABC Stops Short of Hypocrisy
While NBC called Gore’s
attack on drugmakers "harsh," ABC pointed out that the
Democratic Veep candidate is one of the main recipients of drug industry
campaign funds...and managed to avoid the word hypocrisy.
NBC Energized by Gore
Attacks
Of all the evening news
broadcasts, only NBC devoted a second straight night to Gore’s efforts
to "needle Governor Bush."
Convention Coverage
Contrasts
... check out MRC’s
comparison of how Time, Newsweek and U.S. News
covered the Republican and Democratic Nation Conventions in the current
issue of MRC’s MagazineWatch.
I.C. Ray Awaits Rather
Apology
Independent Counsel Robert
Ray is still waiting for an apology from CBS’s Dan Rather for linking
him to the Clinton grand jury leak, the source of which turned out to be
one of the judges on the three-judge panel that oversees Ray -- and a
Democrat.
Nets Rule Ad Pull
Evidences Disarray
But on GMA, the only morning
show to run the full ad on Thursday, ABC Political Analyst George
Stephanopoulos offered a conscious motive to the Bush campaign’s action:
fear of Big Media.
What A Difference A
Party Makes
When it comes of Veep
nominees, guess who’s an "overweight bald guy" and who wafts
in like "air freshener?" Comparing the news mags Cheney vs.
Lieberman coverage and more from the latest MRC MagazineWatch.
News Have ‘Miscues’
All Cued Up
The CBS Evening News
and NBC Nightly News cast Bush’s recent verbal miscues as
problematic, then run the tape again.
CBS Rues Reno’s
Special Counsel "Burden"
Reporter John Roberts
sympathized that AG Janet Reno will have to take the heat for refusing to
appoint a Special Counsel to investigate Al Gore’s Buddhist Temple and
White House fund raising activities.
ABC Cheers Gore Up,
Bush Down
Dean Reynolds relayed,
without rebuttal, the Gore charge that Bush’s plan "would squander
the nation’s surplus."
CNN’s
Jackson Disappoints
Reporter Bruce Jackson, who
usually sees and reports beyond the partisan spin of the day, gave two
full reports on how the federal budget surplus is supposedly susceptible
to Bush’s tax cuts but not to Gore’s spending.
Feds Still Want 411 on
CBS’s "Snipers Wanted"
An FCC commissioner wants a
better explanation from CBS on how the "Snipers Wanted" caption
appeared over video of George W. Bush during a comedy item on the Late
Late Show with Craig Kilborn.
ABC Breathless Over Own
Pro-Gore Poll
ABC spent Monday night
celebrating its ABC News/Washington Post poll showing "that Al Gore
has not just pulled even... our poll says he’s ahead." The fact
that it was based on bad data (weekend polling) was mentioned only in
passing.
Morning Shows All Host
Gore
While ABC’s Jack Ford on
Good Morning America and NBC’s Matt Lauer on Today at least pressed Gore
on a few topics, CBS’s Jane Clayson limited her interview to things like
family, health and kisses.
ABC Calls Bush Words
"Harsh"
Apparently, saying Gore is
"a little short on the [campaign finance reform] credibility
issue" is too tough for World News Tonight anchor Jack Ford.
Big Three Push Liberal
Spin on Grand Jury "Leak"
Thursday night and Friday
morning, the networks all ran, without rebuttal, the White House/Gore
campaign spin that evil Republicans were responsible for leaking the news,
on the eve of Al Gore’s acceptance speech, that there is another grand
jury investigating Clinton. Yet when they were proven wrong....
CBS Convention Coverage
Sinks
Could the fact that CBS didn’t
actually show any of the Democratic convention it is first forty-five
minutes of coverage be to blame for CBS’s being dead last in ratings?
Final Convention
Coverage Media Quote
How fitting that the final
award for most biased media quote goes to CBS’s Dan Rather. Find out
why.
Sam Says Gore "On
Speed"
ABC’s Sam Donaldson was so
concerned that the audience of Al Gore’s acceptance speech would miss
vital points, he described the Vice President as acting as if he "was
on speed" or "late catching a plane."
Rather Finds Ghost of
Nixon Among Dem Delegates
Near the top of CBS’s prime
time coverage Thursday night, anchor Dan Rather charged: "In an
apparent attempt to embarrass Al Gore... someone...leaked the story...
[of] a new grand jury to investigate President Clinton." Of course,
Rather’s report omitted that a three-judge panel approved the new grand
jury and that Democrats repeatedly said that as an alternative to
impeachment conviction, Clinton could be prosecuted after leaving office.
Media Stars Happy With
Gore Acceptance Speech
Check out the assessments of
ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Cokie Roberts and Ted Koppel, as well as
CBS’s Ed Bradley and CNN’s Bernard Shaw.
Guess Which Policy
Agenda Media Scrutinized and Which Evaded Critique
In previewing George Bush’s
acceptance speech two weeks ago, the CBS Evening News attacked
conservative policies from the Left. Gore’s policy recommendations,
however, went untouched.
Media Definition of
"Inclusiveness"
... excludes those holding
the pro-life position.
Media
Bias Bites
"Hair-In-A-Can"
politics, craving a Clinton third term, and more from the Friday wrap-up
of convention coverage.
Media Quote of the
Day
Find out why the award for
most biased media quote goes to CBS’s Bryant Gumbel.
Lieberman Speech
Doesn’t Survive Early Show
The CBS vehicle for Bryant
Gumbel, who recently called a conservative guest he interviewed a
"f------ idiot," spent less than a minute on Joe Lieberman’s
acceptance speech, compared to 19 minutes recapping goings-on in the
network’s popular Survivor show. This is serious journalism?
NBC Flipping Through
Tipper’s Photos
On Today, Tipper Gore
was invited to show viewers her "Al’s-a-great-guy" photo album
and discuss "the love in his eyes."
ABC Airs DNC
"Home Movies"
In 1996, ABC’s Ted Koppel
stormed out of the GOP convention claiming it to be mere infomercial. This
morning, the same network’s Charles Gibson presented an Al Gore
infomercial – "home movies" of the Gores filmed, produced and
directed by Spike Jonze, a hot Hollywood director.
Media Bias Bites
If "politics is
Hollywood for ugly people," what are Hollywood people doing playing
politics all over the morning news shows?
Media Quote of the Day
Thursday’s award is
different, and goes to Bill Bennett. Find out why.
Nets Dump Keynote for Kennedy
Rep. Harold Ford, Jr.’s
keynote address was ignored by the broadcast networks and MSNBC,
allowing a reprise of the syrupy Kennedy "mystique."
Blinded
By Love, Media Miss Hate in Jackson Speech
If a conservative
used a line comparable to the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s
"America, stay out [of] the Bushes!" – perhaps,
"America, don’t get Gored!" – would NBC’s Matt
Lauer coo "he does have a way with words?"
ABC, CBS Treatment of Mrs.
Lieberman vs. Mrs. Cheney
Both networks
presented pieces to introduce the wives of potential Veeps. Guess
which was cast as a warrior and which as a victim?
Stephanopoulos to the Rescue!
Joe Lieberman, with a
95% liberal rating from Americans for Democratic Action and a 0%
rating from the American Conservative Union, is so moderate he
scares the Democratic base – at least according to some
reporters. George Stephanopoulos enters they fray.
Quote of the Day
Find out why the award for
most biased media quote goes to Time’s Margaret Carlson.
Media
Reaction to Veeps’ Acceptance Speeches
Liberal Joe Lieberman was
said to have a "light, deft hand" while conservative
Dick Cheney was said to have hurled "red meat."
Brokaw On
Abortion: Only One Side Hardline
During the GOP Convention,
on MSNBC Tom Brokaw complained that the platform was hardline
because it "tolerates no other point of view except
anti-abortion." But Brokaw was mute when it came to the
Democratic platform’s hardline pro-partial birth abortion
position.
A One-Note
World News Tonight
ABC’s World News
Tonight on the Wednesday of the GOP convention: Bush too
conservative. ABC’s World News Tonight on the Wednesday
of the Democrat convention: Lieberman must show not conservative.
Media Bias
Bites
ABC’s Peter Jennings
refers to Karenna Gore-Schiff as "very, very good
looking." This and more from Thursday’s convention
coverage.
Quote of the Day
Find out why
Wednesday’s award for most biased media quote goes to CBS’s
Dan Rather.
Media Bias Bites
Good Morning
America’s Charlie
Gibson recites lyrics from the Gore campaign’s theme song...by
omitting the raunchy lines. This and more from Wednesday’s
convention coverage.
Only FNC Notes Extremism on
Abortion
Reporters frequently
pressed Republicans on whether their pro-life stance would turn
off women voters, but only the Fox News Channel applied the same
standard to Democrats by asking if their pro-partial birth
abortion stand would do the same.
Brokaw’s Lament
On MSNBC, Tom Brokaw
complains to Jesse Jackson, Jr. that there’s "not very much
talk about poverty in America... about affirmative action... about
the homeless problem."
Rather’s Gift to Democrats
CBS’s Dan Rather
never wrapped up Republican convention coverage by delivering the
party’s spin, a gift he gave to Democrats Tuesday night.
"Moderate" Media Mantra
Check out the depth and
breadth of the media’s harmony with the Democrat spin that Joe Lieberman
is a "moderate."
Media Bias Bites
NBC’s liberal historian
Doris Kearns Goodwin says Lyndon Johnson came to her in a dream. This and
more from Tuesday night convention coverage.
Media Quote of the
Day
Find out why Tuesday’s
award for most biased media quote goes to CBS’s Dan Rather.
FNC’s Cameron on
Dem’s "Transgender" Delegate Quotas
Kudos to FNC’s Carl Cameron
for a full story on the Democrat party’s racial, ethnic and sexual
orientation quotas for delegates.
MSNBC: Two
Conventions, One-Sided Questions
At the Republican National
Convention, NBC reporters on MSNBC asked delegates and candidates
questions from the Left. Now, at the Democratic National Convention, they
ask questions... from the Left again.
Sam on "Pass
The Torch" Speeches
Prior to Clinton, the last
President to address his party’s convention to pass the torch to his
Veep was Ronald Reagan. Let’s go to the videotape to compare how ABC’s
Sam Donaldson treated the two events (hint: not the same).
CBS, CNN Hail
Clinton’s Speech
The media’s only complaint
seemed to be that the lateness of the hour limited audience size.
Media Bias Bites
This is not a joke: in a
story on campaign finance "reform," ABC’s World News
Tonight on Monday featured the insights of actor Brad Pitt. This and
more from the liberal media’s most recent bias-soaked performances.
Media
Quote of the Day
Find out why Monday’s
award for most biased media quote goes to CBS’s Bryant Gumbel.
Morning
Shows Discover Brazile
On Monday’s morning news
shows, Gore campaign chief Donna Brazile suddenly appeared after not being
interviewed for seven months. This compares to the number of appearances
by her subordinate Bob Shrum, who has appeared for six network interviews.
Gumbel
Pleads for Kennedy
In contrast to media
grumblings that George W. Bush’s nomination was rooted in nepotism,
Gumbel summoned positive images of the Kennedy family dynasty while
interviewing Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.
Media
Miss Platform
In contrast to myriad
(negative) comments about the GOP platform, the morning news shows have
paid scant attention to the Democratic platform.
At
What Time Did Boom Begin?
In the August 14 Time,
reporter Eric Pooley scolded Bush by writing, "To deny Democrats
credit for the prosperity... backdates the boom and pretends it began
before Clinton took office." But Pooley’s the one who’s rewriting
history – and even the liberal New York Times agrees.
CNN
on Delegates’ "Souls"
Of Democratic delegates
who joined in the business-bashing protests, CNN’s Maria Hinojosa said
"Some of the Democratic delegates may have the interests of the
workers in their souls." And as for balance, her story included not
one quote from pro-business sources.
Media
Bias Bites
NBC’s Russert fails
the test. The Meet the Press host failed to have a conservative
comment on Lieberman’s selection the same way he had a liberal, James
Carville, comment on Cheney’s selection.
Sunday
Shows Easy on Lieberman
Two weeks ago, Republican
Veep pick Dick Cheney was held to account for his voting record. And while
all five Sunday morning show anchors pressed Democratic Veep nominee Joe
Lieberman on policy differences with Gore, none demanded he explain votes
cast that were as far liberal as Cheney’s were conservative.
Case
Study In Dan Rather’s Bias
CBS anchor Dan Rather
introduces Republicans with attacks, but Democrats with their own talking
points.
ABC
Chooses Pay Over Playboy
ABC’s World News Tonight on
Saturday spent three minutes and ten seconds on Dick Cheney’s retirement
package, compared to 24 seconds on the Sanchez-Playboy fundraiser
controversy.
FNC
Gets Lieberman to Admit "Real" Diversity Due to Quotas
Kudos to Fox News Sunday’s
Tony Snow who alone asked the Democratic Veep nominee about Democrats’
racial quota system for convention delegates.
Media
Quote of the Day
Find out why Friday’s award
for most biased media quote goes to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
Couric
on Clinton’s "Candid Confessional"
ABC, CBS and NBC all
allocated air time to running President Clinton’s "personal
struggle for religious redemption" unchallenged.
CNN
Says "Most Conservative Democratic Ticket in 50 Years"
CBS, MSNBC and CNN get busy
attaching labels like "moderate" to Dick Cheney, a Veep pick who
scores a 19 out of a possible 100 rating from the American Conservative
Union.
ABC,
CBS, NBC Tout "Centrist" Lieberman
Maintaining the myth of Joe
Lieberman as a "centrist" requires him to visibly disagree with
Al Gore on a few major issue – an task the networks were happy to take
on.
Media
Debuts of Lieberman
To see how very soft they
were, check out the actual questions the media stars posed to Gore and
Lieberman, such as Bryant Gumbel’s "The two of you are now running
mates. Talk to me about your longstanding relationship."
CBS
Turns to Jesse "Hymietown" Jackson for Comment on Anti-Semitism
Media anchors, commentators
agree: anti-Semites vote Republican.
NBC,
ABC Digs Up Death Penalty – Again
Even though the majority of
Americans favor the death penalty and there is no evidence voters care
about the issue, NBC and ABC continue to insist on injecting the topic
into the presidential campaign.
CBS’s Death Threat
"Inappropriate"
On Thursday, FNC picked up on
CBS’s "apology" for allowing a graphic reading "snipers
wanted" to appear on screen with George W. Bush during a late night
comedy show.
"Photo-Op"
vs. "History Making"
CBS News anchor Dan Rather’s
introductions of the presidential running mates is bias as bad as it gets.
Joe Lieberman is No
Jerry Falwell
Wednesday, August 8 (the day Joe Lieberman accepted
Al Gore’s offer to run as his vice presidential candidate) was the day
the networks decided it was no longer correct to decry the involvement of
the faithful in politics.
NBC’s Tim Russert
Caught On Tape
Check out Meet the Press moderator Tim
Russert grilling George W. Bush on whether his religion makes him
intolerant.
Gumbel on Lieberman’s
"True Loyalties"
First, CBS Early Show
co-host Bryant Gumbel asks if Republicans "however quietly" will
made Judaism a presidential issue, then: "Do voters not have a, do
they not have some justification for wondering if his [Lieberman’s] true
loyalties could be with Israel or Washington?" There's more...
Media
Stars Say What Ain’t So About Joe
Despite solid facts to the
contrary, media stars (and newspapers) claim Joe Lieberman is a
"centrist," or "moderate."
CNN Touts Gore’s
"Trump" Of Republicans
CNN analyst Bill Schneider
was happy to relay on Inside Politics, "You know how the
Republicans in Philadelphia kept trying to show how moderate they were?
Well, this [Lieberman pick] trumps anything the Republicans had to
say."
Media Quote of the
Day
Find out why Saturday’s
award for most biased media quote goes to Time’s Margaret
Carlson.
Gumbel on Bush’s
Widely Heralded Speech
CBS Early Show co-host
Bryant Gumbel, who refers to the Texas governor as "W," claimed
Bush received "mixed reviews."
Gingrich Takes on
Brokaw
Check out the former House
Speaker’s view of the "difference between [Tom Brokaw’s] view of
reality and normalcy."
Convention
Coverage Ratings
The public may be more
interested in watching Survivor than the Republican National
Convention, but the ratings reveal some interesting facts.
NBC’s Preparation
for Democratic Convention?
NBC chooses to air an episode
of West Wing, its program about a fictional – and very liberal
– presidential administration every singly night the week between
national political conventions.
CBS’s
Whitaker Says Bush "Master of Mixed Signals"
In a story about how Bush’s
compassionate image "often obscures the conservative" side of
the candidate, the CBS Evening News toed the liberal line that the
two concepts are mutually exclusive.
ABC,
CBS Refuse to Air Bush Bio Video
The party-produced video biography of the
candidate, now standard convention fare, was rejected for air by ABC and
CBS, both of whom created and aired their own.
Network
Stars Stunned Bush Speech a Success
Seemingly flabbergasted, the respective takes on Bush’s
acceptance speech by ABC’s Cokie Roberts, CBS’s Bob Schieffer, CNN’s
Jeff Greenfield and NBC’s Tom Brokaw reveal more about them than the
candidate.
Clinton-Aide-Turned-ABC-Political
Analyst Touts Gore
On Thursday, ABC’s Good Morning America
provided co-host Charles Gibson and assorted former Clinton aides (now ABC
"analysts") a platform from which to defend the Clinton-Gore
administration from charges leveled at it from the previous night’s
Republican National Convention speakers.
To
NBC, Same Words "Nasty" From Cheney, Fine From Gore
On Thursday’s Today,
NBC’s Tim Russert was forced to remind Katie Couric that the Cheney
"attack" she cast as "nasty" was word-for-word the
Gore attack of a previous convention. To see how the media greeted Gore’s
words at the time, let’s go to the MRC videotape....
Rather
Focuses On Bush’s...Face
Verging on incoherence, CBS
anchor Dan Rather took viewers on a tour of Bush’s face.
ABC
Concludes Compassion Clashes with Record
World News Tonight
dedicated a full story to "proving" the Republican nominee is a
hypocrite. Will World News Tonight apply the same standard to the
Democratic nominee?
Brokaw
Delivers DNC Talking Points Before Cheney Even Speaks
Before the Veep candidate
opened his mouth, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw relayed the opposition’s talking
points, starting with the assessment of Cheney’s speech as "the
most negative...since Pat Buchanan."
Barbara
Bush Gets Gibson’s Promise
In an interview with Good
Morning America co-host Charlie Gibson, former First Lady Barbara Bush
secured Gibson’s promise to ask Gore whether he would (courageously)
pick a pro-life Veep, the same way he asked Bush if he would
(courageously) pick a pro-abortion Veep.
Katie’s
Unnamed Sources Call Mrs. Cheney "Right-Wing Warrior"
Grilling Veep pick Dick Cheney’s wife Lynne on Today, Katie
Couric opens by claiming "many [unnamed] people" think she’s a
"right-wing warrior."
Labeling Veeps, Then and Now
In 1992, the media labeled
Clinton’s pick for Veep, Al Gore, a "moderate" or
"conservative." What will they label Bush’s Veep pick?
Network Anchors At
McCain Soiree
Just hours after his
arrival in the convention city of Philadelphia, John McCain hosted a
dinner for national press stars.
Media
for McCain! (Still)
Network stars made clear Tuesday night how deeply
they regret that Senator John McCain’s bid for the Republican
presidential nomination failed, and how hopeful they are for his return in
2004.
Media
Cheney-Bashing, Day 7
NBC’s Katie Couric and CBS’s
Jane Clayson keep the radical rap against Veep pick Dick Cheney going a
full week after his selection.
Borger:
Why Will Cheney Attract Women?
CBS Face The Nation
co-host Gloria Borger asks Cheney a question based on her premise that
women are, by definition, pro-abortion.
ABC Sees
Laura Bush as "Hillary-Like"?
Newsweek,
Time and ABC’s Good Morning America all contribute
outrageous quotes to convention coverage.
NBC
Stars Warn Conservatism Will Scare Voters Away
From Tom Brokaw to Tim Russert,
Brian Williams to Chris Matthews, NBC’s news stars appeared on MSNBC to
attack conservatives from the Left.
Media Stars Attack
Laura Bush, Lynne Cheney
... but both hold their ground.
Sunday Shows Pound
Cheney
Worst offenders: ABC’s This Week and
CBS’s Face The Nation.
News
Labels Cheney, Helps Launch Gore Attack
After dismissively
labeling Dick Cheney ("hardline"), the evening news broadcasts
focus on Gore’s anti-Cheney talking points.
Compare
and Contrast: Media Handling of Veep Announcements by Bush and Clinton
In 1992, the networks not only
avoided pinning the "liberal" label on Clinton’s Veep pick,
they labeled him "moderate."
Kudos
to CNN’s Jonathan Karl
On Wednesday night’s Inside
Politics, Jonathan Karl reported that in the 1980s, Al Gore voted just
like Dick Cheney on guns and abortion, positions which the Gore camp now
uses to paint Cheney extremist.
Networks
Agree: Cheney May Not Look "Fire-breathing...."
Check out the highlights of Tuesday,
July 25th’s network reporting on Bush’s pick of Dick Cheney for Veep.
Brokaw Uses Powell
Speech to Attack GOP
NBC’s Tom Brokaw claims Colin Powell’s
Monday night speech reminds Republicans "that they have to think
about minorities everyday, not just every four years."
CNN Looks for
Republican Splits
Reporter Jeanne Meserve tried her best to stir
up controversy among united Republicans.
CBS Insinuates
Black Republicans Mere Window Dressing
On the Early Show, Bryant Gumbel’s
sidekick Jane Clayson grilled Reps. Henry Bonilla and J.C. Watts, asking
the latter how he could possible support Bush’s running mate Dick
Cheney.
"Well-Orchestrated,
Pre-Scripted, Week-Long Informercial"
That is how CBS’s Dan Rather described the
Republican National Convention in opening the CBS Evening News on
Sunday.
CNN Distorts
"Pro-Bush" Media
Study
On Inside Politics, Judy Woodruff
asserted a new study found a pro-Bush media. Nice try, but no sale.
Rather, Schieffer
Grumble About GOP Platform
CBS’s Bob Schieffer, in discussing platform
planks, concluded: "at Republican conventions, the other side always
wins."
Reuter’s
Reporting is DNC "Dream"
Some reporting is so biased, the DNC’s anti-Bush
Web page incorporates it verbatim.
Matthews,
Shogren Play Hardball with Gender Gap
... and in so doing reveal
their own pro-abortion, anti-Second Amendment positions.
Slate
Smears Cheney’s Wife
Former Newsweek and now Slate
reporter Timothy Noah casts Lynne Cheney as "a shrill opportunist who
could prove to be a serious liability" whose opposition to federal
standards for left-leaning school history curriculum was
"Stalinist."
Evening News
Pass Along Dem. Spin on Cheney
Some reporters went so far as to dig up
their own "evidence" to back up the liberals’ talking points.
Gumbel’s
"Hard Right" Hyperbole
Byrant Gumbel, co-host of CBS’s
failing Early Show who recently caused a flap by referring to a
conservative guest he had just interviewed as a "f—ing idiot,"
spews viewers with his own hard left version of Dick Cheney’s life and
politics.
Network
Stars "Worried" the GOP "Held Hostage"?
Looking through the liberal media
lens, pro-lifers are dangerous to the Republican party. Of course, one can
legitimately question their sincerity since a 1994 study showed that in
1992, 89% of Washington, DC, reporters voted for the Democratic
presidential candidate.
Rather Won’t
Give Up on Powell "Scoop"
The fact that the CBS anchor’s
alleged "scoop" about Bush being in "deep
negotiations" with General Powell proved fallacious doesn’t
dissuade Dan from delving deeper in a subsequent Bush interview.
Brokaw
Laments Rejection of Pro-Abortion Running Mate
In a sit-down interview with Bush, the
NBC anchor pushes PA Gov. Ridge as a Veep pick; any bets on whether he’ll
promote a pro-life Democrat as a Gore running mate?
Networks
Label Likely Veep Pick
Likely Veep pick Dick Cheney earned
the networks’ approval Monday, with the supposed caveat he’s a
"very," "reliably," or "strong"
conservative.
Face the Nation Can’t
Countenance Both Reaganism and Compassion
Substitute host Gloria Borger, in a
question to Bush campaign manager Karl Rove, reveals she thinks the two
are mutually exclusive.
Letterman’s
"Top Ten Shocking Facts About Dick Cheney
... from the comedian’s July 24
broadcast.
Pundits
Paint Conservatism as Flaw in Otherwise Okay Cheney
Sunday talk show treatment of
Dick Cheney as potential Bush running mate reminiscent of the
characterization of Jack Kemp by CNN’s Bill Schneider in 1996: "He
[Kemp] is a rare combination — a nice conservative." (August 9,
1996 Inside Politics.)
ABC’s
Roberts Warns Failing to Tap McCain a Mistake
The John McCain for Veep
boomlet that began Friday subsided by Sunday, something Cokie Roberts rued
on This Week, reducing Bush’s decision to a choice between being
comfortable (no to McCain) and winning (yes to McCain).
CBS, NBC
Give Conflicting Reports on Bush’s Response to McCain for Veep
Whether the notion was a
non-starter or a possibility depends on which news broadcast one watched.
Media Bemoan
Pro-Abortion Veep Candidates Off Bush’s List
According to ABC and NPR,
development opens Bush up to charges of being from "the same old
party" and not being "his own man."
Networks Compound
Error in Gore-Gas-Price-Lie Story
The networks let the Clinton
administration slide for weeks by not demanding it produce a drop of
evidence supporting its claims of Big Oil "price gouging." Now,
two of the three broadcast are compounding their error by failing to
report that the accusations, including those made by Al Gore, were
knowingly false.
A Glimpse
into Network Labeling Practices
ABC refuses to give Green Party
candidate Ralph Nader any label (much less the "liberal" label),
while CBS refuses to use to "pro-life" label.
Russert,
Roberts Take on Gore, Bush
NBC Meet the Press host
Tim Russert tells Gore he "can’t have it both ways" while ABC This
Week co-host Cokie Roberts asks if Bush was "scared."
Gore Lie
Deemed Not News
On Friday, it was revealed the
high gas prices in the Midwest were, as administration critics charged,
due largely to super-strict EPA requirements -- and that Gore knew this
but nonetheless blamed corporate "price gouging." Only the CBS
Evening News reported the story Friday night, and coverage didn’t
get much better over the weekend.
Washington
Post Reporter Casts NAACP as Moderate
Appearing on Friday’s Washington
Week in Review, the Washington Post’s Michael Fletcher
distinguishes the NAACP from the Nation of Islam so as to blast
Republicans.
Networks: It’s
Not Liberalism, It’s "Populism"
Gore’s recent lurches to the
radical left haven’t gotten him tagged with the "liberal"
label, only with the benign-to-favorable "populist."
News Has
Deficit in Surplus Reporting
By equating spending programs
with tax cuts, reporters contribute to the misperception that tax cuts
like those proposed by Bush "cost" money like the government
programs proposed by Gore.
Nets Put
Best Face on Bradley’s Endorsement of Gore
Unlike CBS and NBC, FNC reports
on the endorsements reminded viewers how Bradley criticized Gore during
the primaries.
FNC Reports
on NARAL Veep "Report Card"
FNC’s Special Report with
Brit Hume uniquely relayed the "grades" the National
Abortion Rights Action League awarded potential vice-presidential
candidates on the abortion litmus test. Hint: conservatives want to elect
the flunkies and reject NARAL’s "A students."
Newsweek
Reports on Bush Military Service
No damaging info on Bush’s
National Guard record? Newsweek concludes that means Bush
damage-control efforts were successful.
Washington Post
Can’t Take A Gore Joke
The Bush campaign’s recent press release
poking fun of Gore as "Truman-like" for accusing Congress of
being "do nothing" spurred a front page Style section Washington
Post article portraying the campaign as filled with racist louts.
DNA Test
Vindicates Bush, Not Death Penalty Opponents? ABC: "Next!"
In late May, ABC’s World News
Tonight joined the media chorus championing the case of Texas death
row inmate Ricky McGinn, whose execution Gov. Bush stayed pending the
results of a DNA test which McGinn claimed would vindicate him. On
Wednesday, those results were in, but Peter Jennings’s report focused on
another Texas death row inmate who claims (surprise!) that a DNA test
would vindicate him....
Douglass
Defends Republicans from the Left
ABC’s Linda Douglass defended
House Republicans against Gore’s charge that they’re a "do
nothing Congress" -- then hopes aloud they’ll "do" (read:
pass more laws) even more.
CNN Reliably
Relays the Spin of All Spin
On Tuesday’s Inside Politics, which many
consider the political program of record, reporter Bill Delaney
uncritically relayed spin so pro-Gore, it must read to be believed.
CBS Says
Bush’s NAACP Speech Futile
According to reporter Jim Axelrod, "No matter how
many speeches George Bush makes at NAACP conventions, angry
African-Americans in New Jersey say this is why they have problems with
Republicans." Click here to finds out what Axelrod’s definition of
"this" is.
Nat. Review
Takes on Wash Post Over NAACP Reporting
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported
that during his NAACP address, George W. Bush refrained from
"explicitly acknowledging his party’s failure to support much of
the 1960s-era civil rights agenda." But as National Review
pointed out, there’s nothing to acknowledge.
FNC
Discovers Gore Campaign Ad Man Sought Contract for Ad to Fight Gore’s
Prescription Drug Plan
On FNC’s Special Report with Brit Hume,
reporter Jim Angle revealed that while Al Gore is denouncing drug company
ads fighting Medicare coverage of prescription drugs, his own advertising
guru, Carter Eskew, just months ago tried to land that very same ad
account.
ABC Sees
Bush at NAACP as "Contrition"
ABC’s Dean Reynolds declared on World News Tonight
that "Bush’s speech here [at the NAACP meeting] was, in many ways,
a political act of contrition." And the network slant only gets
worse.
Only FNC
Covers Gore-Tenants’ Giving Up
The Mayberry family, which rents a rundown home from Al
Gore in Tennessee and has called him a slumlord for failing to make much
needed repairs, gave up on Gore’s old promise to make the repairs and
moved out, but none of the Big Three nor CNN even noticed.
ABC
Deems Both Medicare Plans Insufficient
ABC’s World News Tonight takes "A
Closer Look" at Democratic and Republican plans for Medicare coverage
of prescription drug costs and finds neither liberal enough.
ABC
Star on Clinton Fundraiser
Politically Incorrect
host Bill Maher
discusses his big-dollar Democratic event with NBC Tonight Show
host Jay Leno.
Kudos
to Russert for Nader Interview
On NBC’s Meet the Press, host Tim
Russert confronted Green Party Presidential candidate Ralph Nader with the
hypocrisy of his own record.
Newsweek’s
Pro-Abortion Bias
In reporting on the Supreme Court’s
striking down of a state law banning partial-birth abortion, Stuart Taylor
casts GOP platform plank as "hard-line" – but not the
procedure even many in the pro-abortion camp call infanticide.
U.S.
News Laments Bigger Tax Cuts
Continuing the media crusade against tax
cuts, U.S. News hits Gore from the left for doubling his original
tax cut proposal in light of new budget surplus estimates.
"Clinton-Gore
Economy" In the Tank?
Read the latest nationally-syndicated column
by MRC Chairman L. Brent Bozell III, "Bias at The Gas Pump."
Time
Splits on Gore
In two successive stories, Time Daily online
reporter Frank Pellegrini downplayed the news that Justice Department
fundraising investigator Robert Conrad recommended a special counsel
investigate Al Gore, while his print counterpart Viveca Novak produced
this week’s most substantive magazine treatment of the story.
News Mags’ Death
Penalty Vigil
Newsweek ran two
pieces on the death penalty: one blamed George W. Bush for denying
condemned murderers access to the courts, while the other lamented that
attorneys may, by appealing the case of condemned triple-murderer Juan
Raul Garza, "drag Clinton and Gore" into the death penalty
debate.
ABC
Host the Draw at $75,000 DNC Fundraiser
Politically Incorrect’s
Bill Maher hosted the June 23 Democratic National Committee fundraiser in
Los Angeles, offering attacks on Clinton-Gore opponents that Reuters
deemed "below-the-belt."
Geraldo:
Send Me Your Hate Mail
Monday night, Geraldo Rivera
dared viewers to respond to his call for a moratorium on the death penalty
and used the odd analogy that "the death penalty is like Viagra in
middle-aged men."
Distracted
Drivers Trump Call for Gore Probe
Tuesday afternoon, the Attorney
General was grilled by a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee on her
intransigence in appointing a Special Counsel to investigate Vice
President Gore’s fundraising, but the network news took a pass,
preferring to report on the dangers of "distracted drivers"
instead.
Changing
the Subject to Big Oil-Bashing
For most people, higher gas
prices are a nuisance. For TV reporters, they’re an opportunity for
hyperbole and finger-pointing, something especially prized in election
years.
NBC
News ‘In Depth’ In Deep with Death Penalty Opponents
Just six days after convicted
Taxes killer Gary Graham’s execution was conducted as scheduled
(following repeated failed appeals) on Wednesday NBC Nightly News
latched onto the "crusade" for another Texas death row resident,
triple-murderer Henry Watkins Skinner.
CBS
Shills for DNC in Gore Story
Of all the broadcast
networks, on Friday night CBS alone relayed the Democratic spin intended
to discredit the revelation that the head of the Justice Department’s
campaign finance division has recommended a special counsel be appointed
for Gore’s activities circa 1995-6.
Correspondent
Slimes Bush with Oil Prices
CBS News’s Bill Whitaker
tells long tale that’s short on Gore’s profiting from Big Oil.
Reporter
References Bush’s "Murder, or Excuse Me,
Execution"
NBC News reporter Norah O’Donnell,
in covering the scheduled execution by murderer Gary Graham in Texas
Thursday night, twice referred to his death as "murder."
Geraldo
Upset By ‘Obscenity’
At least as he defined the term
Thursday night on CNBC’s Rivera Live: the lawful execution by
lethal injection of a convicted murderer whose case made it all the way to
the Supreme Court, and fell on its face.
Ricky Ray
Who?
Since June 12, the media
circus about the scheduled execution of a convicted killer in Texas
generated 30 stories. So how many stories did networks devote to the death
penalty cases over which Governor Clinton presided in 1992? Try two.
In
Surprising Move, Networks Report Call for Gore Inquiry
Unlike previous
revelations about requests for an Independent Counsel, on Thursday the
networks actually told their audiences that a Justice Department official
wants Gore’s fundraising probed.
News
Mags Minimize Gore Shake-Up
All three major news weeklies
minimized the sudden departure of ethics-challenged Gore campaign boss
Tony Coelho.
CBS
Dismisses Los Alamos Hearing as "Blame Game"
Anchor Dan Rather complained
Wednesday that there "is a new round in the blame game" about
lost and found hard drives containing top secret nuclear data.
ABC
Worries Gas Prices Will Tank Gore
On their evening
newscasts Tuesday, June 20, ABC and CBS lead with the whos-to-blame for
high gas prices story. But ABC World News Tonight anchor Peter
Jennings adds fuel to the furor....
FNC
Scoops Big Three on Nuke Lab, WH E-Mail
On June 20, the Fox News
Channel broke news damaging to the Clinton-Gore administration on two
fronts.
Al
Gore Is No Alan Greenspan
From the MRCs
video vaults, proof that Al Gore said the 1980s economy was "the
worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s." MRC
Chairman L. Brent Bozell reminds readers that in the 1980, President
Reagan cut inflation from 13.5 to 4.1%, cut unemployment from 9.5 to 5.2%,
cut the federal discount rate from 14 to 6.5% while increasing the
number of jobs by almost 20 million.... Read this weeks nationally
syndicated column.
Media
Pushes Conservatives Opposed to Death Penalty
When did you last see R. Emmett
Tyrrell Jr., Pat Robertson, and the writer of a National Review
cover story all in one network news story about something other than a
vast right-wing conspiracy?
Network
News Tossup on Social Security Plans
On Monday night, CBS
Evening News reports only on Gore plan, while NBC Nightly News
runs pieces on both the Gore and Bush plans and ABC World News Tonight
concludes for the benefit of viewers that both plans are
inadequate.
Media
Inject Death Penalty "Issue" Into Bush Campaign
ABC devotes a whole Nightline
episode and a long World News Tonight segment to the pending
execution of convicted murderer Gary Graham in Texas, while Times
Margaret Carlson highlights it on CNNs Capital Gang.
Kudos...to
ABC Anchor Carole Simpson?
The same woman who in
interviewing the President of the Free World asked, "How does it feel
talking to me?" gave a fair report, especially compared to her
competition at CBS, on a new Pentagon report that said the missile defense
schedule not the concept was too ambitious.
What
Criminal Probe of Gore Campaign Chair Coehlo?
On Thursday,
ABC, NBC and MSNBC all ran pieces on Tony Coehlos abrupt departure as
head of the Gore for President campaign that included no mention of the
ethical much less the criminal charges nipping at his heels.
PBS
Punts on Gore Interview
PBSs Jim Lehrer interviewed
Al Gore for a full 18 minutes but couldnt squeeze in a question about
Gores subpoenaed e-mail thats gone missing, nor even his hypocrisy
in forcing the "little people" renting his Carthage, TN property
to live in squalor.
A
Get-Bush Death Penalty Push
"... the
medias use of the death penalty issue to drive down Bushs poll
ratings is another exercise in naked journalistic partisanship." Read
the rest of MRC Chairman L. Brent Bozells nationally syndicated column.
FNC
Says Gore Reneged on Rental Repairs
Al Gore has yet to complete the
promised repairs to his tenants Tennessee home, local station WFTV
reported, but only Fox News Channel noticed.
Southern
Baptist Convention Condemns Clinton and Gore
While CBS focused on the
convention being "bent on exclusion," FNC reported how SBC
leaders condemned the two Southern Baptists in the White House.
Al
Gore, Rock Star?
On their Tuesday night
newscasts, NBC and CBS relayed Gores "progress and prosperity
tour," but only one asked whether the self-congratulations were
deserved.
Gore
Excuse: Not a Computer Expert
On Wednesday,
June 14, Gore was uncomfortable answering FNC reporter Wendell Golers
question about how the self-proclaimed Internet inventor didnt know his
subpoenaed e-mails had gone missing perhaps because no other reporter
asked him about it.
This
Weeks News Weeklies Skip the News
In their June 19 issues, all
three ignored the Gore slumlord story.
U.S.
News
and Time Lobby for Campaign Finance "Reform"
U.S. News
columnist Gloria Borger condemns the "loophole du jour" while Time.coms
Viveca Novak sounds like shes still at Common Cause in praising "a
tiny piece" of so-called reform.
Time
Sees Death Tax as Dem. "Gold Mine"
Time.com
reporter Jessica Reeves explores Congressional action to cut the death or
inheritance tax, and casts it in class-warfare terms she helpfully
suggests Democrats exploit in the next election.
Gore
Now In Vogue
A lavish piece
in the flashy womens magazine Vogue virtually drips with praise
for the veep. But will it help him cross the gender-gap?
Clinton
Operative Hosts Gore on Oxygen Channel
Al Gore had a friendly
host for his Monday night "Women's Forum" on the Oxygen cable
network simulcast on C-SPAN2: former Deputy White House counsel Cheryl
Mills. In the show opener, Mills claimed the audience represented "a
cross-section of race, age, privilege and political ideology"
even though it just happened to include the spokesperson for CBS News
circa 1987-1993 who also contributed the maximum allowed by law to the
Hillary Clinton for Senate campaign last August, "Million Mom
March" organizer Donna Dees-Thomases.
Media
Wont Let Bush Escape Death Penalty
The network morning and
evening shows on Monday pounced on a new study by anti-death penalty
advocates, using somber tones to hang the "issue" around George
W. Bushs neck.
Morning
Shows Mourn Death Penalty
Morning show viewers had
no where to turn Monday as CBSs Early Show, NBCs Today and
ABCs Good Morning America all sympathetically reported on a new
study by anti-death penalty advocates.
Gumbel
on Gores Broken Pledge, Isnt GOP "Just as Wrong?"
CBS Early Show host Bryant
Gumbel showcased John McCain on Monday, bemoaning inaction of campaign
finance "reform" and giving Gores soft-money ad campaign a
pass.
FNC
Reports Clinton In On Willey Letter Release
Fox News Channels Special
Report with Brit Hume alone reported Monday night on presidential
confidant Bruce Lindseys testimony the WH tried to sway public opinion
against Starr investigation.
No
Network Reports from Carthage
But The Weekly Standards
Matt Labash ventured to the unsavory site of the Gore rental property and
reports his findings in the current issue.
Networks Silent on Gore Slumlord Story
Over the weekend, Tony Blankley, Michael Barone and Brit Hume all commented on the lack of interest by the networks in what Hume described as "a pretty darn good and compelling story" about Gore as an absent "slumlord."
ABC, NBC Join FNC in Reporting on LaBella Memo
At last, this past Sunday Meet the Press and This Week got around to reporting a Gore fundraising scandal story that broke last Tuesday.
Womens Cable Channel to Feature Gore Tonight
"Al Gore gets in touch with his feminine side. Tonight at 9," promised a June 12 Washington Post newspaper ad touting Gores appearance on the Oxygen cable television channel tonight, Monday, June 12, from 9 to 10:30pm ET.
Big Media
Flushes Another Gore Gaffe
Chicago Tribune
columnist John Kass jokingly called it "a tempest in a toilet"
and that lighthearted approach seems to be the medias reaction to
news that Al Gores rental property was in such disrepair, the tenants
were compelled to go public on Nashville television.
ABC,
CBS Defend Gores Broken Soft Money Pledge
After months of crusading
against soft money, on the evening of Wednesday, June 7, ABC and CBS ran
stories about how Al Gore broke his pledge not to allow the DNC to use
soft money for advertising before the GOP did. Astonishingly, both excused
Gore and blamed "the system."
Untouchable Al
Gore
Its not just toilets
in Tennessee the degree to which the liberal media is refusing to
cover Gore scandals is becoming mind-numbing. Read MRC Chairman L. Brent
Bozells most recent nationally syndicated column.
Katie
Couric on Hillary: "Can You Really Pretend to Understand?"
On the Wednesday, June 6 Today
show, NBCs Couric interviewed Laura Ingraham, author of The Hillary
Trap: Looking for Power in All the Wrong Places, portraying Hillary as
a victim of how people like Ingraham project onto her their views of the
role of women.
Hillary
"Compassionate"
If you thought George W. Bush had a
corner on the word, think again. In an appearance on HBOs Dennis
Miller Live on Friday June 2 to plug a new movie, actress Christine
Lahti, who recently played a doctor on CBSs Chicago Hope,
proclaimed of Hillary: "I really think she is...compassionate about
all people, and I think shes a true, earnest public servant."
News Mags
Grant No Reprieve in Questioning Bushs Motives in Death Penalty Case
This weeks major
political story was George W. Bush granting a reprieve for a death row
inmate, and the news magazines were all over it.
Isikoff:
Gore Came "Perilously Close" to Ind. Counsel
Newsweek
reports that more than 100 pages of Justice Department memos reveal there
was a fierce contest at the Justice Department over whether to appoint an
Independent Counsel for the Gore fundraising scandal.
Newsweek
Shoots Down Missile Defense
The Newsweek article by
John Barry and Evan Thomas promoted a "knowledgeable
expert" who thinks the current missile-defense system is a
"fraud" as well as the wrongheaded notion that he is "not
ideologically against" the concept of missile defense.
ABC
and CBS Ignore New Scandal Revelations
The ABC and CBS evening
broadcasts on Tuesday, June 6 ignored news on the Gore campaign
fundraising scandal, while NBC gave higher priority and more time
to a story about a dogs ultimately harmless airline misadventure.
GMA
Grants Gore Full 30 Minutes
The June 6 Good
Morning America featured Al Gore for a roundtable on womens issues,
but apparently working plumbing is not of concern to women as the rental
home was never mentioned by ABCs hosts or guest questioners.
Nothing New On
the Clinton Women?
Read MRC Chairman L. Brent Bozells
newest nationally syndicated column.
FNC
Beats Bush-Is-Dumb Drum
On Fox News Channels Special
Report with Brit Hume, reporter Carl Cameron alerted viewers to how
when asked about Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrews
claim that Bush had benefitted from ads placed by secretive section 527
groups, Bush clearly never heard of Andrew, and gave Andrew the
opportunity to strike.
Fox
Breaks Gore Slumlord Story, Nets Ignore, CNN Devotes 38 Seconds
Monday night, June 5,
FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume and Fox Report both
carried full stories by David Shuster on the state of disrepair of the Al
Gore-owned rental home occupied by a Tennessee family. CNNs Inside
Politics gave the story 38 seconds, but there wasnt a word Monday
night or morning on the broadcast networks news.
David
Lettermans "Top Ten Al Gore Tenant Pet Peeves"
... from the comics June 5 broadcast.
Even
a Liberal Admits, If Gore Were a Republican...
... the press would be calling
him a "slumlord."
To
Media, Obscenity at Clinton "Tribute" Is Soft Money, Not
Profanity
All three newsmagazines touch on the
Democratic National Committees big soft-money party last week in their
June 5 issues.
Nets
Attack Missile Defense
Prompted by President Clintons
meeting with the Russian President on Thursday, May 31, the evening news
on CBS and NBC that night all but nuked the proposal, one casting it as a
"high risk program on a fast track."
Can
the Pundits Predict Presidential Elections?
MRCs Free Market Project compares the role
of the economy and the medias reporting on it in presidential
elections.
Couric
Gently Grills Rosie on Gun Hypocrisy
On the June 1 edition of
NBCs Today, co-host Katie Couric asked "Million Mom
March" emcee Rosie ODonnell why it would not be hypocritical to
have an armed guard protect her own children.
Whats
the Latest Scandal Development the TV News Skipped?