BiasAlerts

WashPost's Milbank Mocks Nikki Haley, 'Reached Out to' 'White Supremacists'

brad.wilmouth — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:50:57 +0000

Brad Wilmouth

Appearing as a guest on Thursday's PoliticsNation on MSNBC, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank mocked South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley as someone who has "reached out to a minority" in the form of white supremacists since they are a "minority," as he reacted to accusations that a member of her reelection committee is a white

CNN Drags Its Feet Reporting Eric Holder Approved Seizure of Fox Reporter's E-Mails, Phone Records

matt.hadro — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:36:06 +0000

Matt Hadro

News broke on Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder approved the Justice Department's seizure of a Fox News reporter's private e-mails. CNN took until almost 5 p.m. ET Friday to report this development, although the network found time to cover Brad Pitt's "face blindness" in that time span.

Moving On: ABC Spends Only 16 Seconds on IRS Official's Suspension

matt.hadro — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:21:45 +0000

Matt Hadro

Friday's Good Morning America spent a scant 16 seconds on the newest development in the IRS scandal, the suspension of agency official Lois Lerner who oversaw the division responsible for processing tax-exempt status requests. Lerner headed the division while the IRS gave extra scrutiny to Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status.

Networks Give Three Times More Quotes to Supporters of Gay Scout Admittance Than Opponents

matt.hadro — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:07:59 +0000

Matt Hadro

Touting the Boy Scouts' "landmark" and "historic" decision to allow openly-gay members, CBS, ABC, and NBC gave supporters of the decision three times as many quotes as their opponents got on Friday morning's news stories.

The networks gave 10 soundbites to supporters of the new Scouts policy and only three to its opponents. Supporters included President Obama, gay scout Pascal Tessier, and former den leader Jennifer Tyrell.

CBS Hits Holder's 'Outrageous Overreach', But Defers to Obama to Act

matthew.balan — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:44:10 +0000

Matthew Balan

Friday's CBS This Morning, unlike NBC's Today, briefly picked up on NBC journalist Michael Isikoff's significant reporting from Thursda

Christie Dismisses Climate Change Question from NBC's Lauer as 'Distraction,' 'Esoteric Theory'

kyle.drennen — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:27:31 +0000

Kyle Drennen

In an interview with Chris Christie on Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer grilled the New Jersey Governor on his skepticism that man-made climate change caused Superstorm Sandy: "You said you don't think there's been any proof thus far that Sandy was caused by climate change.

NBC Fails to Report Its Own Scoop That AG Holder Approved Investigation of Fox's Rosen

kyle.drennen — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:20:52 +0000

Kyle Drennen

As of Friday morning, NBC News broadcasts had completely ignored an important scoop from the network's own national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff that Attorney General Eric Holder personally approved the Justice Department's aggressive investigation of Fox News reporter James Rosen. Meanwhile, both CBS News and FNC provided on-air coverage of the new development. [Listen to the audio]

Only CBS Notes IRS Official’s Leave, Yet ABC and NBC Have Time to Show Obama’s Prom Photo with ‘Foxy’ Friend

brent.baker — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:01:43 +0000

Brent Baker

Already moving on from the IRS scandal? On Thursday night, only the CBS Evening News of the broadcast network evening newscasts bothered to note how Lois Lerner, the IRS official in charge of the division which processes tax-exempt applications, was put on administrative leave after she took the Fifth and refused to answer questions at a House hearing the day before. Anchor Scott Pelley squeezed in 20 seconds on it.

Yet, ABC World News and the NBC Nightly News made room to highlight a photo of a 17-year-old Barack Obama and his prom date along with a friend and his date.

Andrea Mitchell: 'More Than Any of Its Predecessors,' Obama Administration Has Targeted Journalists

scott.whitlock — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:19:20 +0000

Scott Whitlock

Longtime MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell on Thursday lashed out at the Obama administration, complaining that "more than any of its predecessors in recent years [they have], gone after journalists." The usually Obama-friendly journalist complained that the White House "has not" challenged journalists in a restrained way, but "has done it in a very broad, sweeping way as we saw with the Associated Press and also with Fox News." [MP3 audio here.]

MSNBC's O'Donnell Slams 'Vicious' Attempt to Ban Violent Criminals from Welfare

brad.wilmouth — Thu, 23 May 2013 21:07:22 +0000

Brad Wilmouth

On the Wednesday, May 22, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell show on MSNBC, host O'Donnell called for the defeat of a "vicious" Senate amendment pushed by Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter which would bar people convicted of some violent crimes from receiving welfare benefits.

No Mention of IRS Scandal on NBC's 'Today,' But Plenty of Time for Obama Prom Photo

kyle.drennen — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:37:50 +0000

Kyle Drennen

While Thursday's NBC Today completely ignored Wednesday's dramatic congressional hearing on the growing IRS scandal, the network morning show did manage to find time to gush over Barack Obama's 1979 prom picture, with fill-in news reader Tamron Hall exclaiming: "Well, now thanks to Time magazine, we have proof that even the commander-in-chief once donned the white dinner jacket.

CBS Spotlights 'Firestorm' Over 'Obama's War on Journalism'; ABC Punts

matthew.balan — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:22:06 +0000

Matthew Balan

The Big Three networks coverage so far of the Justice Department's questionable investigation of Fox News' James Rosen has followed a similar pattern to that of their coverage of the Kermit Gosnell case.

Networks Tout Obama's 'Renewed Focus on Transparency' in War on Terror; No Mention of Benghazi

kyle.drennen — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:12:09 +0000

Kyle Drennen

Gayle King to Tom Coburn: Deficit-Neutral Disaster Relief Risks 'Alienating Your Constituents'

matthew.balan — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:13:51 +0000

Matthew Balan

On Wednesday's CBS This Morning, open Obama supporter Gayle King strongly hinted to Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn that he would face voter backlash for seeking cuts in the federal budget to pay for tornado disaster relief: "You voted against relief plans for Hurricane Sandy, and it sou

Chris Matthews Rails Against 'Profiling' By IRS: It's Like Targeting Innocent Arabs

scott.whitlock — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:31:22 +0000

Scott Whitlock

If Barack Obama is losing Chris Matthews, he might be in serious trouble. The MSNBC host on Wednesday declared that the Tea Party is the victim of "profiling" by the Internal Revenue Service that is on the level of targeting innocent Muslims as terrorists.