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1. NBC Excited About Slap at Obama, Not So About Slam on McCain Last Tuesday, when before a John McCain campaign rally, Cincinnati radio talk show host Bill Cunningham used Barack Obama's full name and derided Obama as "the great prophet from Chicago," NBC and ABC pounced with full stories on the "controversy." But after over the weekend, where at an event touted as "One Million for Hillary with Gloria Steinem" the left-wing feminist icon ridiculed John McCain's years as a prisoner of war, ABC did not utter a word about the remarks while NBC on Monday gave them -- sanitized -- a few seconds. 2. Clift: Forced to Choose Between Obama and Hillary a 'Tragedy' Torn by her liberal guilt of being forced to choose between a woman or an African-American man to have a shot at making history, Eleanor Clift lost it on this weekend's McLaughlin Group as she called the choice a "tragedy." The Newsweek editor claimed liberals, particularly women, were confused as to whether to dump Hillary for Obama as she blurted: "Women have waited decades to see the first woman President and it's actually something of a tragedy that a talented African-American guy comes along at the same [time.]" 3. Halperin of Time Mag and ABC: Obama and McCain Both 'Centrist' Ignoring National Journal's recent finding that Barack Obama had the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate in 2007, Time magazine's senior political analyst Mark Halperin, appearing on Thursday's American Morning on CNN, claimed that both Obama and John McCain were "centrists" as he explained New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision not to run for President. Citing Bloomberg's intent to run only if both major parties nominated extreme candidates, Halperin, formerly the Political Director for ABC News where he still frequently appears as a guest expert, insisted: "He ended up with two guys who are centrists." 4. CNN Finds 'Lifelong Republicans' Who Want Universal Health Care On CNN on Sunday morning, correspondent Al Velshi reported in by phone from Texas with his story of "lifelong Republicans" who are planning to vote Democratic this time because of health care: "They are retired, they've been lifelong Republicans who are actually looking to change over. They're probably going to vote Democrat this time around." CNN then played a video clip of Velshi's earlier discussion with three Texas residents, whom he had visited initially because they live in oil country and benefit from high oil prices, but he found that "their biggest concern was health care." Small business owner Kris Portmann complained about insurance companies and expressed his belief that universal health care would have to be an improvement: "If everybody's covered, and everybody's sharing the same, you know, how everything's spread out, it's got to work. I mean, it works other places. It works other countries. I mean, not maybe 100 percent, but it doesn't work 100 percent here, either." 5. CBS Devotes Piddling 3% of Hillary Profile to Her Many Scandals In a lengthy seven-a-half minute Friday CBS Evening News profile story, "For the Record: Hillary Clinton," reporter Nancy Cordes devoted a measly 15 seconds, a piddling three percent of the story, to scandals connected to Clinton's actions. But the night before, in a "For the Record: Barack Obama" profile, reporter Dean Reynolds allocated 42 percent of his piece to Obama scandals: Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan's ties to him and his church as well as his connections to indicted developer Tony Rezko. Here's the totality of all viewers heard Friday night from Cordes about scandals blamed on Hillary Clinton during her life: "Hillary Clinton's role and relationships factored into nearly every scandal that rocked the Clinton White House. Whitewater, an investment deal gone bad with friends from Arkansas. Travelgate, where she allegedly participated in the firing of seven White House Travel Office employees." Cordes then stressed her innocence as she led into a mention of Monica Lewinsky; "But multimillion-dollar investigations turned up either no wrongdoing on her part or not enough evidence to prosecute...." 6. ABC's McFadden: 'Rock Star' Hillary Talks to Real People Nightline correspondent Cynthia McFadden filed another fawning profile on "rock star" Hillary Clinton for Thursday's program. The journalist, who has developed a long history of gushing over the former First Lady, recited lines that read like Clinton press releases. Discussing the presidential candidate's Ohio campaign, she asserted: "Clinton relishes the chance to talk concretely about the real problems in real people's lives." Describing Clinton's appearance at a fast food diner, McFadden enthused: "Clinton is greeted like a rock star by patrons at the Bob Evans restaurant." During the interview, the ABC journalist asked penetrating questions such as inquiring: "So, how are you?" In an attempt to gingerly address Clinton's string of 11 straight primary losses to Senator Barack Obama, McFadden seemed to echo a famous Beatles song. "Can you really let go of yesterday," she queried. 7. After Much Obama Boosting, ABC's Moran Finally Quizzes Him Nightline host Terry Moran appeared on Monday's Good Morning America with a segment (much of which also aired later on Monday's Nightline) in which he repeatedly quizzed Senator Barack Obama on the subject of his relationship to indicted political operative Tony Rezko, now facing corruption charges. Moran persistently asked the Democratic presidential candidate if he would release all information relating to the role Rezko played in a house purchase by Obama. After several evasive answers, Moran scolded: "You call yourself a reformer? You talk about your judgment?" He then bluntly followed-up by wondering: "And yet, how could you enter into this transaction with a long-term contributor who, at that time, was known to be under investigation for corruption? What does that say about your judgment?" This is quite a change for the anchor, who, in 2006, skipped Rezko and gushed over Obama as "an American political phenomenon" and someone who might be "the savior of the Democratic Party." 8. Rivera: Limbaugh 'Dean' of 'Most Savage Talk Radio Campaign' Geraldo Rivera charged that Rush Limbaugh is "the dean of the academy" in a "nativist reaction" in "the most savage talk radio campaign ever in history" against illegal immigrants. Appearing on Monday's The View to promote his new book, His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S, the Fox News Channel host also characterized McCain's virtual lock of the Republican nomination as "a victory for the decency wing of the GOP." Rivera claimed Mitt Romney "was such a nice guy" as Governor of Massachusetts, but "suddenly became an anti-immigrant radical." Early readers: The MRC's Tim Graham is scheduled to appear at about 6:20 AM EST this morning on FNC's Fox & Friends First to discuss his Media Reality Check, "The Audacity of Silence About Tony Rezko." That's online at: www.mediaresearch.org
So About Slam on McCain Last Tuesday, when before a John McCain campaign rally, Cincinnati radio talk show host Bill Cunningham used Barack Obama's full name and derided Obama as "the great prophet from Chicago," NBC and ABC pounced with full stories on the "controversy." But after over the weekend, where at an event touted as "One Million for Hillary with Gloria Steinem" the left-wing feminist icon ridiculed John McCain's years as a prisoner of war, ABC did not utter a word about the remarks while NBC on Monday gave them -- sanitized -- a few seconds. A New York Observer posting on Sunday quoted Steinem: "'Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], 'What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?'" Steinem said, to laughter from the audience. McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five and a half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, 'I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be President? I don't think so.'" On the NBC Nightly News, which had run six Cunningham soundbites, David Gregory quoted only a small portion of Steinem: "No McCain endorsement from feminist author and Hillary Clinton supporter Gloria Steinem, who belittled McCain's ordeal as a prisoner of war during Vietnam during a Clinton campaign event in Texas. She was quoted by New York newspapers saying, 'this is supposed to be a qualification to be President?' The Clinton team later disavowed Steinem's remarks." And Gregory only mentioned the comment as he paired it with questions about another supporter of McCain: "Today, he faced questions about the endorsement of Texas televangelist John Hagee. Social conservatives are a key GOP voting bloc, but some of the televangelist's public remarks have offended Catholics." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Nothing Monday night about the subject on the CBS Evening News, but at least that newscast didn't get excited about Cunningham. Monday's World News did include the show's first story, by Brian Ross, on Obama and Tony Rezko. Sunday's World News did not touch Steinem's remarks, but did show clips of Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live. The Observer posting: www.observer.com The February 27 CyberAlert item, "Nets Decry 'Caustic' Talk Host Who 'Compelled McCain to Apologize,'" which showed how NBC put "Damage Control" on screen with McCain's face, recounted: With cover from John McCain, NBC and ABC on Tuesday night condemned the "caustic" and "mocking" remarks of Cincinnati radio talk show host Bill Cunningham who, on stage before an Ohio campaign appearance by McCain, dared to utter Barack Obama's middle name and call him "a hack" Chicago politician. Though Hillary Clinton on Sunday, without upsetting journalists, ridiculed Obama with religious overtones ("Let's get unified. The sky will open. The light will come down. Celestial choirs will be singing!"), NBC's Kelly O'Donnell asserted: "Cunningham's nearly ten-minute provocative performance veered into more controversy when he parodied Obama as a religious figure." Cunningham's supposedly offensive line: "When the great prophet from Chicago takes the stand and the world leaders who want to kill us will simply be singing Kumbaya together." O'Donnell maintained that Cunningham's words "compelled John McCain to apologize" and she took for granted that he properly acted "to quickly undo any damage." Damage the media assumed needed undoing. ABC anchor Charles Gibson teased: "Bashing Obama. John McCain apologizes for remarks made about Barack Obama at a McCain rally." Ron Claiborne charged that "local conservative radio personality Bill Cunningham made caustic references to Barack Obama, calling him a hack politician from Chicago" and presumed Cunningham had a nefarious motive since he "went on to use Obama's Muslim middle name, Hussein, three times. Obama is actually a Christian." At least Claiborne however, unlike NBC's O'Donnell, highlighted conservative disgust with McCain's cave-in to media sensibilities: "Rush Limbaugh wasted no time mocking McCain's apology."... END of Excerpt For that previous CyberAlert in full: www.mrc.org The second half of Gregory's March 3 NBC Nightly News story on Mike Huckabee and John McCain:
DAVID GREGORY: Despite Huckabee, McCain is moving on, building a general election campaign centered on his national security credentials. Democratic infighting over that very subject is playing into his hands.
and Hillary a 'Tragedy' Torn by her liberal guilt of being forced to choose between a woman or an African-American man to have a shot at making history, Eleanor Clift lost it on this weekend's McLaughlin Group as she called the choice a "tragedy." The Newsweek editor claimed liberals, particularly women, were confused as to whether to dump Hillary for Obama as she blurted: "Women have waited decades to see the first woman President and it's actually something of a tragedy that a talented African-American guy comes along at the same [time.]" [This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The following is the full exchange as it occurred on the March 1 edition of The McLaughlin Group:
ELEANOR CLIFT, NEWSWEEK: Women have waited decades to see the first woman president and it's actually something of a tragedy that a talented African-American guy comes along at the same -- this isn't liberal guilt.
McCain Both 'Centrist' Ignoring National Journal's recent finding that Barack Obama had the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate in 2007, Time magazine's senior political analyst Mark Halperin, appearing on Thursday's American Morning on CNN, claimed that both Obama and John McCain were "centrists" as he explained New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision not to run for President. Citing Bloomberg's intent to run only if both major parties nominated extreme candidates, Halperin, formerly the Political Director for ABC News where he still frequently appears as a guest expert, insisted: "He ended up with two guys who are centrists." Even though anchor John Roberts hinted that the words "independence" and "bucking some party orthodoxy" apply less to Obama than to McCain, Halperin suggested that those words only apply more to McCain "in terms of their time in Washington, in part because Obama hasn't been there very long." After describing McCain as someone who has "made a career" of "going after his party when he thinks the country's interests should stand above the party's interests," Halperin asserted that "that's what Obama is talking about as well." National Journal's assessment of Obama: nj.nationaljournal.com [This item is adapted from a posting, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, on the MRC's NewsBusters blog: newsbusters.org ] Below is a complete transcript of the segment from the Thursday, February 28 American Morning:
JOHN ROBERTS: So Mark, what do you make of all of this, the timing for Bloomberg, and the fact that he has finally decided to close the door on a presidential run if that door was ever open?
Want Universal Health Care On CNN on Sunday morning, correspondent Al Velshi reported in by phone from Texas with his story of "lifelong Republicans" who are planning to vote Democratic this time because of health care: "They are retired, they've been lifelong Republicans who are actually looking to change over. They're probably going to vote Democrat this time around." CNN then played a video clip of Velshi's earlier discussion with three Texas residents, whom he had visited initially because they live in oil country and benefit from high oil prices, but he found that "their biggest concern was health care." Small business owner Kris Portmann complained about insurance companies and expressed his belief that universal health care would have to be an improvement: "As soon as you have something, there's a policy, there's a reason on why it doesn't cover it. And that's why, never before maybe have thought of universal health care, but if everybody's covered, and everybody's sharing the same, you know, how everything's spread out, it's got to work. I mean, it works other places. It works other countries. I mean, not maybe 100 percent, but it doesn't work 100 percent here, either." [This item, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, was posted Sunday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Below is a complete transcript of the report from the March 2 CNN Sunday at 9:03am EST:
T.J. HOLMES: So, of course, there's been a lot of the candidates saying stuff to the voters. Well, what are the voters really wanting to say to the candidates? Of course, as we mentioned, we got our best political team on television all over the map, and one guy who has been all over the map literally, our Ali Velshi. He's been traveling throughout the country, and, lately, in Texas, aboard CNN Election Express. He joins us now on the phone this morning from Green, Texas. What are they talking about down there, Ali?
to Her Many Scandals In a lengthy seven-a-half minute Friday CBS Evening News profile story, "For the Record: Hillary Clinton," reporter Nancy Cordes devoted a measly 15 seconds, a piddling three percent of the story, to scandals connected to Clinton's actions. But the night before, in a "For the Record: Barack Obama" profile, reporter Dean Reynolds allocated 42 percent of his piece to Obama scandals: Anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan's ties to him and his church as well as his connections to indicted developer Tony Rezko. Here's the totality of all viewers heard Friday night from Cordes about scandals blamed on Hillary Clinton during her life: "Hillary Clinton's role and relationships factored into nearly every scandal that rocked the Clinton White House. Whitewater, an investment deal gone bad with friends from Arkansas. Travelgate, where she allegedly participated in the firing of seven White House Travel Office employees." Cordes then stressed her innocence as she led into a mention of Monica Lewinsky; "But multimillion-dollar investigations turned up either no wrongdoing on her part or not enough evidence to prosecute. And the only Clinton investigation that did stick had decidedly little to do with the First Lady." Cordes proceeded to segue into her Senate years: "She has called it the greatest adversity she ever faced. But instead of retreating from public life, she decided to run for office herself." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Friday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] CBS News could contend that since Obama's past and questionable relationships are less known -- and certainly have been virtually ignored by the media -- that his profile needed to take more time to get viewers caught up on those matters. But a piddling three percent of a story to go through the many scandals in Clinton's past, to say nothing of the present with Norman Hsu? That seems ridiculously short and missed an opportunity to remind viewers of the myriad of Clinton scandal details they have probably forgotten. Also, while Reynolds had described Obama as "a traditional liberal," Cordes refrained from applying any ideological tag to Clinton.
In his February 28 story, which at 6:16 was more than a minute shorter than the time Clinton got Friday night, Reynolds gave 2:37 (157 of 376 seconds, 42 percent) to charges Obama's church is "anti-Israel," how "a church-related publication saluted Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, a well-known anti-Semite who in turn has praised Obama's candidacy," and Tony Rezko: The time Cordes devoted to Clinton administration scandals in the February 29 CBS Evening News story in which I counted her first paragraph (15 seconds of a 444-second story, 3 percent) as allocated to raising scandals for which Hillary Clinton could be blamed (this entire portion took up 38 seconds, just over 8 percent of the story).
CORDES: Hillary Clinton's role and relationships factored into nearly every scandal that rocked the Clinton White House. Whitewater, an investment deal gone bad with friends from Arkansas. Travelgate, where she allegedly participated in the firing of seven White House Travel Office employees. For the online version of "For the Record: Barack Obama," with video of the story: www.cbsnews.com For the online version of "For the Record: Hillary Clinton," with video of the story: www.cbsnews.com
to Real People Nightline correspondent Cynthia McFadden filed another fawning profile on "rock star" Hillary Clinton for Thursday's program. The journalist, who has developed a long history of gushing over the former First Lady, recited lines that read like Clinton press releases. Discussing the presidential candidate's Ohio campaign, she asserted: "Clinton relishes the chance to talk concretely about the real problems in real people's lives." Describing Clinton's appearance at a fast food diner, McFadden enthused: "Clinton is greeted like a rock star by patrons at the Bob Evans restaurant." During the interview, the ABC journalist asked penetrating questions such as inquiring: "So, how are you?" In an attempt to gingerly address Clinton's string of 11 straight primary losses to Senator Barack Obama, McFadden seemed to echo a famous Beatles song. "Can you really let go of yesterday," she queried. [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Friday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Much of the segment featured McFadden spinning events for the Senator. "Unlike the stadium events where Barack Obama thrives, Clinton seems to prefer smaller, more intimate settings where her voice is softer and her message more personal," she claimed in regards to Clinton's front-runner opponent. Describing a visit to an Ohio Head Start classroom, McFadden opined, "Senator Clinton was in her element, comfortable, she says, as head of the class, but not head of the pack." (This last comment related to a Clinton assertion that she hated being a front-runner.) Finally, towards the end of the piece, McFadden spoke dismissively of Obama's supporters. As though mystified, she asked, "What do you think it is that they don't know? Are they ill-informed? Are they deluded? What is it they're not seeing?" This was too much even for Clinton. She replied, "Well I wouldn't put it that way." The February 28 segment followed previous softball interviews by McFadden. In February, she wondered, "When you lie awake at night...what worries you?" And back in December, McFadden queried to Clinton, "There's never a night when you go back to whatever hotel room, whatever city you're in that night, and crawl in a ball and say, 'I just, this just hurts too much?" For more on previous McFadden interviews with Hillary Clinton, see the February 4 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org A partial transcript of the February 28 segment:
MARTIN BASHIR: We turn now to presidential politics, and it's just five days until the two crucial Democratic primaries that everyone agrees Hillary Clinton must win to keep going. And it couldn't be much closer. Just a few months ago, Senator Clinton was up more than 20 points in Ohio. Now, she has just a single-digit lead. And my co-anchor Cynthia McFadden has spent the day with her. She has this Nightline exclusive from Ironton, Ohio.
Finally Quizzes Him Nightline host Terry Moran appeared on Monday's Good Morning America with a segment (much of which also aired later on Monday's Nightline) in which he repeatedly quizzed Senator Barack Obama on the subject of his relationship to indicted political operative Tony Rezko, now facing corruption charges. Moran persistently asked the Democratic presidential candidate if he would release all information relating to the role Rezko played in a house purchase by Obama. After several evasive answers, Moran scolded: "You call yourself a reformer? You talk about your judgment?" He then bluntly followed-up by wondering: "And yet, how could you enter into this transaction with a long-term contributor who, at that time, was known to be under investigation for corruption? What does that say about your judgment?" This is quite a change for the anchor, who, in 2006, skipped Rezko and gushed over Obama as "an American political phenomenon" and someone who might be "the savior of the Democratic Party." [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] During a January 29, 2008 piece for Nightline, Moran also lauded the Illinois Senator as someone who makes "connections" and believes that "divisions are artificial and can be overcome by an act of will and of imagination." And although co-anchor Martin Bashir promised that Moran, who interviewed Obama at a restaurant, would dish out "tough chili and tough questions," the subject of Tony Rezko never came up. (A truncated explanation of the controversy: The owner of a Chicago property also possessed the next door lot and wished to sell both. Rezko's wife bought the adjacent land for full value. The new senator then purchased the other property for $300,000 less than the asking price. This all occurred on the same day.) For more on the earlier Nightline segment, see the January 31 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org For a November 6, 2006 piece, Moran famously provided this hyperbolic description of Obama: "You can see it in the crowds. The thrill, the hope. How they surge toward him. You're looking at an American political phenomenon. In state after state, in the furious final days of this crucial campaign, Illinois Senator Barack Obama has been the Democrat's not-so-secret get-out-the-vote weapon. He inspires the party faithful and many others, like no one else on the scene today...And the question you can sense on everyone's mind, as they listen so intently to him, is he the one? Is Barack Obama the man, the black man, who could lead the Democrats back to the White House and maybe even unite the country?" To read Moran's entire tribute, check the November 8, 2006 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org And, even though outlets such as the Chicago Sun Times were already investigation Obama's connection to Rezko, Moran, again, never mentioned it. In 2008, Moran's tone began to be more sharp. For a February 25 report, he even noted that Obama is a liberal who tends to favor raising taxes. To read more about the host calling Obama liberal, see the February 26 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org However, during his March 3 appearance on GMA, despite the tough queries, the ABC journalist did occasionally lapse back into rhapsodizing about the Senator. According to Moran, the real trouble may not be Rezko, "but sustaining his remarkable run. The crowds, the enthusiasm, the hope." After wondering if Obama will be able to maintain that enthusiasm from his audience, he queried, "Do you see this almost rock star quality in the crowds?" A transcript of the March 3 GMA segment:
CHRIS CUOMO: Now, let's move over to Senator Obama. Terry Moran, anchor of "Nightline," has been with Barack Obama on the campaign trail in Ohio and sat down for an exclusive interview with the senator in these final hours before the big primary voting. Good morning, Terry.
Talk Radio Campaign' Geraldo Rivera charged that Rush Limbaugh is "the dean of the academy" in a "nativist reaction" in "the most savage talk radio campaign ever in history" against illegal immigrants. Appearing on Monday's The View to promote his new book, His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S, the Fox News Channel host also characterized McCain's virtual lock of the Republican nomination as "a victory for the decency wing of the GOP." Rivera claimed Mitt Romney "was such a nice guy" as Governor of Massachusetts, but "suddenly became an anti-immigrant radical." [This item was adapted from the NewsBusters post by Justin McCarthy: newsbusters.org ] Rivera also said he refuses to even shake CNN correspondent Lou Dobbs' hand. The relevant transcript from the March 3 program:
BARBARA WALTERS: But when we have someone like John McCain, and, and others who say "look, let's let the illegals work their way back, be identified, pay a fine," you know, have to have certain steps, it's called "amnesty."
-- Brent Baker
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