Network Anchors Insist There’s Not Enough Bad News at Republican Convention - Press Release - September 1, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2004

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Wright or Tim Scheiderer at
(703) 683-5004

Network Anchors Insist There’s Not Enough Bad News at Republican Convention

Jennings Notes Rudy Giuliani Compared GOP to the Yankees
Monday Night, But Tuesday Night the Yankees Lost 22 to 0

ALEXANDRIA, Va. --- Media Research Center President Brent Bozell today suggested the network anchors seem annoyed that their nightly liberal news spin is getting an uninterrupted rebuttal in prime time at the Republican convention. After the crowd reveled in speeches by Laura Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger, ABC’s Peter Jennings and NBC’s Tom Brokaw complained about the happy picture being presented.

Last night on ABC, Peter Jennings concluded live coverage with this thought: “The one thing we’ll leave you with tonight was what Giuliani said last night. He, being a great New York Yankees fan, said the Republican Party’s future was like the Yankees’. Maybe a little glib to conclude with, but tonight the Yankees got beaten by Cleveland 22 to nothing.” That score is almost as lopsided as the New York Times poll in Boston last month that showed Washington reporters favored Kerry by a 12-to-1 margin.

“It’s amazing that network anchors get 30 minutes every night for four years to whack away at this President, and they can’t tolerate one hour of rebuttal,” MRC President Brent Bozell said. “If they hate the convention’s success this much, perhaps they ought to pick up a sign and take their protests out to the streets and let someone who can report the news straight take their place.”

NBC's Tom Brokaw ended on a sour note as he stressed how "things are not going well in many parts of the world for the United States. Despite the speeches tonight of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Laura Bush, this is a very difficult time in Iraq, the war on terrorism is an uncertain trumpet."

To schedule an interview with Brent Bozell or another MRC spokesperson please contact Katie Wright (ext. 132) or Tim Scheiderer (ext. 126) a 703.683.5004