Pointless 2016 Election Journalism, 2014 Edition
Trying to cover the 2016 presidential election based on a poll in 2014 is a waste of time.
And Now, Our Expert on Africa… US Billionaire Michael Bloomberg
African leaders are in DC for a big summit, so CBS Face the Nation turns to noted Africa expert…Michael Bloomberg?
New York Turns to the Left? Let’s Ask Our Center-Right Panel
If the question of whether or not there is a resurgent left, shouldn’t there be some left? ABC gave viewers the far-right Bill Kristol and the conservative Ana Navarro, a few middle-of-the-road journalists and a moderate former Democratic governor.
Who’s an Iran Expert? The Hawks Have Their Say
The Iran nuclear negotiations had the Sunday shows talking–but who are they talking to? And do they know what they’re talking about?
Asking Kerry Questions–but Which Ones?
John Kerry appeared on all of the Sunday talkshows. But he was mostly not asked about the case for war with Syria. Instead, the questioning was overwhelmingly concerned with Barack Obama’s decision to seek congressional approval for an attack on Syria.
ABC Pundits on Snowden: The Center Holds!
NBC’s David Gregory’s “Hey I’m just asking but are you a criminal?” question on Sunday’s Meet the Press has been getting a lot of attention, but the Sunday morning discussion of Edward Snowden on ABC’s This Week also deserves a look.
To NYT, Nuclear Facts Become Iranian Claims
The New York Times treats Iran’s right to enrich uranium as a “claim,” to be challenged by anonymous U.S. officials.
Did the Public Really Give Up on Gun Control?
On two Sunday shows this weekend, the hosts made the same point about the White House’s plan for modest gun control efforts: The public isn’t going along. Oddly, they both ignored their own networks’ polling that would have undermined their argument.
Prostitution Scandal Is the Big Government Story You Were Waiting For
The Beltway press is remarkably fixated on two stories: A “scandal” over an $800,000 General Services Administration (GSA) conference in Las Vegas, and the unfolding saga involving prostitutes and some Secret Service and military officers in Colombia. The White House thinks both are bad, of course, but not worth the amount of coverage they’re getting. […]
Obama’s Not Quite Silver Spoon Swipe UPDATED
Last week Barack Obama declared some sort of class war on Mitt Romney–at least that’s what Fox, the New York Post and a few other outlets would have you believe. On April 18, Obama gave a speech at a community college touting, among other things, a rather common only-in-America underdog spirit: Somebody gave me an […]
Jon Huntsman Couldn’t Possibly Run For President
I stumbled upon this ABC report not too long ago, and it seems especially timely given Huntsman’s announcement today. It’s not to say that ABC was uniquely off the mark. The point is that much of what passes for political coverage– the handicapping, the horserace, the insider chatter– is useless. ABC News Transcript WORLD NEWS […]
Factchecking ABC’s Factcheck on Public Workers
On Monday (2/21/11), ABC World News wanted to set the record straight on Wisconsin’s budget problems. As host George Stephanopoulos put it, the debate is over whether pensions and other benefits for public workers are to blame for the crippling budget shortfalls in Wisconsin and other states. Tonight Barbara Pinto has a reality check. What […]
Stephanopoulos Hypes ACORN Hoaxers
ABC‘s Good Morning America got an “exclusive” with ACORN video hoaxters James O’Keefe and Andrew Breitbart on June 1. Here’s how host George Stephanopoulos set up the segment: James O’Keefe became a media sensation after he and a friend posed as a pimp and prostitute and secretly recoded ACORN workers giving them advice on how […]
Real Journalism Still Exists — Outside of ABC
While within the power-friendly environs of the corporate-funded Newseum, congressmembers John D. Rockefeller IV, Tim Pawlenty and Mary L. Landrieu probably felt pretty good about their ability to field such softballs from ABC‘s George Stephanopoulos as “What’s the problem with the public health option?” But upon leaving corporate TV’s criticism-free zone, where such lies as […]
The Way They See the World
The big news in the health reform debate is that the White House seems to be willing to give up on the “public option,” a government insurance program that would compete with private insurers. Everyone sees this as a big story, but there’s something revealing about the way the Washington Post‘s Ceci Conollyled her piece: […]
Media Echo U.S. Gov’t Attacks on Chavez
Images of the U.S. media’s longtime foe, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, with Obama at last weekend’s Summit of the Americas in Trinidad prompted some corporate reporters to take the unusual step of questioning the political motivations behind an official photo-op. On ABC‘s World News, Jake Tapper referred to Chavez’s gift of The Open Veins of […]
The Liberal Media Strike Again
The pundit panel fromSunday’s broadcast of ABC‘s This Week, introduced by the host: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And I am here for The Roundtable with George Will as always, Tom Friedman of the New York Times, former Speaker Newt Gingrich and Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal.
The Times, Obama and Ayers: 2,100 Words, and What Was the Point?
The New York Times splashed the Barack Obama-Bill Ayers “connection” story on the front page of Saturday’s paper. Obama’s practically non-existent ties to former Weather Underground figure William Ayers have been the subject of endless speculation among folks like right-wing yakker Sean Hannity, who suggested to ABC‘sGeorge Stephanopoulos that he should ask about Obama about […]
