FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 23, 2006 |
CONTACT: TIM SCHEIDERER OR
COLLEEN O’BOYLE AT 703.683.5004 |
ABC BLOWS CHANCE FOR
BALANCED COVERAGE BY MOVING GIBSON TO WORLD NEWS TONIGHT
Alexandria, VA—ABC News announced today
that Charles Gibson, co-anchor of Good Morning America, will
become the sole anchor of World News Tonight starting May 29.
Current World News Tonight anchor Elizabeth Vargas is
stepping down to take maternity leave. While Gibson displayed
political fairness when he hosted the 2004 town-hall style
presidential debate, on Good Morning America and as a fill-in
on World News Tonight Gibson has rarely strayed from the
media elite’s liberal template. For example:
-
In 2004, after President Bush asked Congress
to extend his tax cuts, Gibson confronted then-White House Chief of
Staff Andrew Card with the standard liberal complaint: “The
President last night called for making the tax cuts permanent. Is
that, in a sense, making deficits in the hundreds of billions of
dollars permanent?”
-
On Good Morning America, Gibson bent
over backwards to promote John McCain during his run against Bush in
2000, hosting him far more than all of his GOP primary rivals
combined.
-
In a June 2, 1999 town meeting, Gibson scolded
President Clinton for being timid on gun control. A year later, on
the May 12, 2000 Good Morning America, Clinton returned to
hear Gibson tell him his efforts weren't sufficient.
-
“Bush is using this term 'compassionate
conservative' as he campaigns, which is an interesting juxtaposition
of two seemingly contradictory terms,” Gibson complained to New York
Times columnist William Safire in November 1999.
“Charlie Gibson is a reputable journalist from
the liberal media, and that’s the problem,” said MRC President Brent
Bozell. “ABC had a great chance to bring some political balance to
its anchor slot at World News Tonight but chose not to – ABC
blew it.”
For more media analysis of Charles Gibson, complete with audio and
video, visit
www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2006/cyb20060523.asp#4
T o
schedule an interview with MRC President Bozell or an MRC
spokesperson, please contact Tim Scheiderer (x. 126) or Colleen
O’Boyle (x. 122) at 703.683.5004.
Home | News Division
| Bozell Columns | CyberAlerts
Media Reality Check | Notable Quotables | Contact
the MRC | Subscribe
|
