1. CBS Leads with Daschle Blast at How Bush Losing War on Terror
Democrats complain about the media not giving enough air time to their views and CBS jumps. Dan Rather turned over the top of Thursday’s CBS Evening News to Tom Daschle’s blast at the Bush administration’s anti-terrorist efforts, highlighting how Daschle had raised “questions about how the war on terror is really going.” Daschle got 32 seconds to assert that “I think we have to question whether or not we’re winning the war” and that “whatever” the administration is doing, “it’s not enough.”

2. Jennings vs. NY Times on Greenspan’s View of Tax Cut
Peter Jennings vs. the New York Times. On Wednesday, Jennings declared that though the Bush team has “been trying to get Mr. Greenspan to endorse a permanent tax cut, he won't go for it.” A front page New York Times headline on Thursday, however, declared: “Fed Chief Says He Backs Bush on the Tax Cut.” Reporter Edmund Andrews reported that Alan Greenspan “weighed in today in favor of President Bush's campaign to make last year's tax cuts permanent.” But Jennings had an ally in the Washington Post, which headlined its story: “Greenspan Throws Damper on Permanent Tax-Cut Plan.”

3. Myers, But Not Brokaw, Offers Same Treatment of DeLay & Pelosi
A grade of B to NBC’s Lisa Myers, but an F to Tom Brokaw in comparing the NBC Nightly News profiles of Tom DeLay and Nancy Pelosi. Like she did with DeLay and his conservatism, Myers offered the same treatment of Pelosi and her liberalism, tagging her with an ideological label and wondering if she will pull the party too far to the left. Brokaw, however, described DeLay as “controversial,” but with Pelosi he championed how “tonight the Democrats make a little history of their own by voting for Nancy Pelosi of California, the first female party leader ever.”

4. Couric Cheers Pelosi: “You Go Girl!”
On NBC’s Today Thursday morning, Ann Curry and Katie Couric cheered the elevation of liberal Democrat Nancy Pelosi. “You go girl!” exclaimed Couric.

5. Weekly Standard Picks Up on Dennis Miller’s Admiration of Bush
You read it here first. Under the heading of “Why We Like Dennis Miller,” the November 18 Weekly Standard picked up on the CyberAlert transcription of Miller’s pro-Bush comments on the November 6 Tonight Show. Plus, the magazine created a parody of the front page of the New York Times the day after the election.

6. FNC Goes Live to Video of Limo’s Windows
Great moments in cable news. At about 2:48pm EST on Wednesday, Fox News Channel viewers were treated to 26 seconds of live video of the windows on the side of a limousine in a California parking lot, video FNC’s anchor couldn’t understand why was relevant.

Correction: A November 14 CyberAlert item on a Time story about how Democrats must “get around” conservative media bias suggested that they could by “relying on what Democrats have always been able to count on: Every other major media outlet. FNC may be number one compared to CNN and FNC...” That should have read “CNN and MSNBC.”

CBS Leads with Daschle Blast at
How Bush Losing War on Terror

     Democrats complain about the media not giving enough air time to their views and CBS jumps. Dan Rather turned over the top of Thursday’s CBS Evening News to Tom Daschle’s blast at the Bush administration’s anti-terrorist efforts, highlighting how Daschle declared: “I think we have to question whether or not we’re winning the war” and that “whatever” the administration is doing, “it’s not enough.”

     Rather began his November 14 broadcast: “Good evening. We are now well into the second year of the war on terror. Tonight there are two very different assessments of how the war is in fact going. President Bush, through a spokesman, repeated his insistence that the United States has made quote, 'tremendous progress.’ This, he said, includes dismantling Osama bin Laden’s terror network. But, bin Laden himself is still at large and that, according to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, raises questions about how the war on terror is really going.”

     CBS viewers were then treated to a 32 second-long soundbite, an eternity in TV terms, compiled from three clips from Daschle’s daily sit-down with reporters: 
     “I think we have to question whether or not we’re winning the war. We haven’t found bin Laden, we haven’t made any real progress in many of the other areas involving the key elements of al-Qaeda. They continue to be as great a threat today as they were a year and a half ago. [edit jump] I don’t want to proclaim that it’s not successful, but I think there are increasing questions about whether or not the administration can legitimately say we are winning the war. [edit jump] The front page stories today ought to be a wake up call to this country and to this administration that whatever they’re doing, it’s not enough.”

Jennings vs. NY Times on Greenspan’s
View of Tax Cut

     Peter Jennings versus the New York Times. Usually the networks follow the lead of the New York Times, but when the timing of events makes a TV reporter do a story before the New York Times has gone to press, the network reporter sometimes ends up producing a story with a more liberal spin than even the Times prints.

     Case in point: On Wednesday’s World News Tonight, ABC anchor Peter Jennings, in noting Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s appearance before a House committee, declared that though the Bush administration has “been trying to get Mr. Greenspan to endorse a permanent tax cut, he won't go for it.” New York Times readers, however, were greeted Thursday morning with this front page headline: “Fed Chief Says He Backs Bush on the Tax Cut.” The newspaper story relayed how “Greenspan said that not making the tax cuts permanent would disappoint investors and make things worse.”

     ABC’s Lisa Stark told Jennings, as quoted in the November 14 CyberAlert, that “Republicans are trying to argue that a permanent tax cut would actually be a boost to the economy right now. And they would love Mr. Greenspan's blessing of that as sound fiscal policy. But as you say, he did not go for it. In fact, he said he doubted it would be much help.”

     But as New York Times reporter Edmund L. Andrews related, while Greenspan did say that he didn’t think making the tax cuts, which are set to expire in 2010, permanent would provide a short term boost, he very definitely did not come out against making the tax cut permanent as Jennings maintained.

     Andrews reported that Greenspan “weighed in today in favor of President Bush's campaign to make last year's tax cuts permanent, lending a powerful voice to a high priority of the new Republican Congress.
     "'It would probably be unwise to unwind the long-term tax cut, because it is already built into the system,’ Mr. Greenspan told members of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.”

     While Jennings chose to pick up on Greenspan’s supposed anti-conservative stance against making the tax cut permanent, The Washington Post noted how Greenspan countered liberal hopes, an angle Jennings didn’t pursue: “Greenspan offered ammunition to Republicans as well, saying tax cuts already enacted should not be frozen or rolled back, as many Democrats have suggested.”

     Overall, however, the Washington Post was in tune with the way Jennings saw things. “Greenspan Throws Damper On Permanent Tax-Cut Plan,” read the November 14 Post headline. The subhead: “Fed Chief's Remarks Draw Defense of Effort from Bush.” Jonathan Weisman began his inside piece:

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday splashed cold water on President Bush's argument for a quick vote to make last year's tax cut permanent, telling the congressional Joint Economic Committee that voting now to extend the tax cuts in 2011 would have no short-term positive effect on the economy....

Greenspan's statements echoed remarks in the 1990s when he was a leading hawk on the federal deficit. The comments will likely inform the debate early next year over whether Congress should vote to extend last year's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut beyond its 2010 expiration date and whether to pass additional tax cuts that the White House is considering to stimulate the economy....

Greenspan did not expressly say whether he supported or opposed an eventual extension of the tax cut.

"I know there's a presumption that if you make those tax cuts permanent it will add stimulus to the economy. I doubt it," Greenspan said. "I think only that the market's already presumed that they are permanent and that the only thing that probably could have a negative effect later on is that when the markets find out they may be wrong. But that's not a short-term issue."

A White House official said Greenspan's statement appeared to be narrowly aimed at the near-term economic response of financial markets. And the president is concerned about the broader economy, including families planning for retirement and businesses planning investment, the official said.

Greenspan offered ammunition to Republicans as well, saying tax cuts already enacted should not be frozen or rolled back, as many Democrats have suggested....

     END of Excerpt

     For the story in full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51334-2002Nov13.html

     Now contrast the Post’s spin with how the New York Times presented the same testimony in its November 14 story by Washington bureau reporter Edmund L. Andrews:

Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, weighed in today in favor of President Bush's campaign to make last year's tax cuts permanent, lending a powerful voice to a high priority of the new Republican Congress.

"It would probably be unwise to unwind the long-term tax cut, because it is already built into the system," Mr. Greenspan told members of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.

Mr. Greenspan refuted the Bush administration on a crucial point, however, saying that continuing the planned schedule of tax cuts would provide almost no stimulus to the economy because the move would affect taxes that kick in mostly during the second half of the decade....

Mr. Greenspan's support for making the tax cuts permanent is likely to make it even more difficult for those lawmakers, mostly Democrats, who argue that the planned tax cuts should be postponed or scaled back because the government is already facing years of big deficits.

While cautioning that Congress will face difficult choices down the road in bringing government spending more in line with revenues, Mr. Greenspan said that not making the tax cuts permanent would disappoint investors and make things worse.

"There are potential adverse consequences, which I don't think are desirable," he said....

     END of Excerpt

     To read the story in its entirety: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/14/business/14FED.html

Myers, But Not Brokaw, Offers Same
Treatment of DeLay & Pelosi

     A grade of B to NBC’s Lisa Myers, but an F to Tom Brokaw in comparing the NBC Nightly News profile Wednesday night of soon-to-be House Majority Leader Tom DeLay with the profile aired Thursday night of new House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

     Like she did with DeLay and his conservatism, Myers offered the same treatment of Pelosi and her liberalism. Myers tagged Pelosi with an ideological label, wondered if she will pull the party too far to the left, showcased a member of her own party who thinks she moves the party too far in one direction and trumpeted Pelosi’s achievement as the first woman House leader, a spin that she tried to match with DeLay by celebrating his “triumphant day.”

     But Myers gets points off for delivering glowing personal tributes to Pelosi’s character traits (“a fondness for high-fashion Armani suits and the political skills of an old-fashioned ward boss....She is charming, indefatigable, a prodigious fundraiser”) without offering equal ones for DeLay, letting a Republican praise Pelosi (“coming to Pelosi’s defense, conservative Republican Tom DeLay, who warns his party not to underestimate her”) when she didn’t have any Democrat praising DeLay in her piece on him, and for inserting her personal interests into the story by lamenting how the House is a place “where two centuries of male domination is cast in stone” and then asking Pelosi, as both walked in Statuary Hall, “Will you move more women into this room?”

     Below, a side-by-side comparison of the two profiles, starting with why Brokaw gets and F: He described DeLay as “controversial,” but with Pelosi he championed how “tonight the Democrats make a little history of their own by voting for Nancy Pelosi of California, the first female party leader ever.” For an uninterrupted rundown of NBC’s DeLay profile: http://archive.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20021114.asp#3

     Each comparison cites the November 13 NBC Nightly News story followed by the one on November 14:

     -- Brokaw’s set up for DeLay: “Congress is getting reorganized for its new term, re-electing some old leaders, including Trent Lott, who will become the Senate Majority Leader, and Tom Daschle, who now will be the Minority Leader in the senior chamber. In the House, one controversial member is getting a promotion, Texas Republican Tom DeLay -- from whip to Majority Leader now.”

     Brokaw on Pelosi: “Last night we profiled the House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, new to that post, tonight the Democrats make a little history of their own by voting for Nancy Pelosi of California, the first female party leader ever. NBC’s Lisa Myers has more on this woman of the House.”

     -- Myers labeling DeLay: “He is arguably the most powerful Republican in Congress, keeper of the conservative flame, the Republican Democrats most love to hate.”

     Myers on Pelosi: “She is a high-octane San Francisco liberal with a fondness for high-fashion Armani suits and the political skills of an old-fashioned ward boss. And at age 62 Nancy Pelosi reveled in making history.”

     -- Myers on DeLay as too conservative. Myers to DeLay: “Is America as conservative as you are?”
     DeLay: “Oh, I don't know. I think America is conservative.”
     Myers: “He called the election an affirmation of the Republican agenda, urged the President to ignore those who counsel caution.”

     Myers on Pelosi as too liberal: “Pelosi was born into politics, her father a big city mayor. She is charming, indefatigable, a prodigious fundraiser. Still, some Democrats charge she’s too liberal and pulls the party further to the left.”
     Myers to Pelosi: “How do you respond to those who say that your selection shows that the Democrats learned nothing in Tuesday’s election?”

     -- Myers on how even some Republicans think DeLay is too conservative: “And even Republicans say DeLay as a face of the party is a liability with some voters.”
     Congressman Chris Shays: “They think he's too partisan, which he probably is, but in the end he's very effective.”

     Myers on how even some Democrats think Pelosi is too liberal:
“Pelosi opposed reforming welfare, opposed the Bush tax cut, opposed empowering the President to go to war with Iraq. And favors legal recognition of same-sex couples. But she says her job now is not to impose her views but forge a Democratic consensus. It won’t be easy. South Carolina’s Democratic chairman says Pelosi can’t even show her face in his state.”
     Richard Harpootlian: “A huge mistake. She marginalizes this party which means that we’re going to have a tough time connecting with mainstream Americans.”

     (Myers then offered an angle she didn’t provide to DeLay: “Coming to Pelosi’s defense, conservative Republican Tom DeLay, who warns his party not to underestimate her.”)

     -- Myers ending with plaudits for DeLay: “Still, for the son of a oil wildcatter who married his high school sweetheart and previously owned a pest control business, it's a triumphant day.”
     Myers to DeLay: “Does it bother you when Democrats call you the meanest man in Congress or is that badge of honor?”
     Myers ended her piece by giving DeLay the last word: “No, they can call me what they want. I think Donald Rumsfeld said if you're not being criticized you're not doing a very good job. So, they can say whatever they want as long as I win.”

     Myers ending with plaudits for Pelosi: “She vows to pick her battles carefully in a place where two centuries of male domination is cast in stone.”
     Myers to Pelosi as both walk in Statuary Hall: “Will you move more women into this room?”
     Pelosi: “Well I don’t know. That’s probably more difficult than getting elected leader.”
     Myers: “But many say not more difficult than fixing her party.”

     In the November 14 CyberAlert item on the Myers profile of Delay, I proposed: “One trusts that Myers will soon profile Pelosi, ask her whether 'America is as liberal as you are?’ and warn that 'even Democrats say Pelosi as a face of the party is a liability with some voters.’”

     Myers certainly came through on those two points.

     For a picture and bio of Myers: http://www.msnbc.com/onair/bios/l_Myers.asp

Couric Cheers Pelosi: “You Go Girl!”

     NBC’s Ann Curry and Katie Couric cheered Nancy Pelosi’s elevation. “You go girl!” exclaimed Couric.

     MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens caught this bit of gender-based cheerleading on Thursday’s Today.

     News reader Ann Curry trumpeted: "And today House Democrats are poised to pick Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi as Minority Leader. The California Democrat would be the first woman ever elected a party leader in Congress. It is now 7:07am. You are now up to date from the news desk. Let's now turn back to Matt, Katie, and Al."
     Couric: "Is it okay to say, 'You go girl!?'"
     Curry: "I think it's okay. It's gonna happen in either case."

Weekly Standard Picks Up on
Dennis Miller’s Admiration of Bush

     You read it here first. Under the heading of “Why We Like Dennis Miller,” the “Scrapbook” section of the November 18 Weekly Standard picked up on the CyberAlert transcription of Miller’s admiration for President Bush as expressed on the November 6 Tonight Show.

     The piece began: “Next time somebody you know starts complaining about ubiquitous knee-jerk liberalism and all-around imbecility in the entertainment industry, remind him that sweeping generalizations are usually wrong.
     “Okay, don't do that. But definitely show your friend the following excerpts from comedian Dennis Miller's most recent appearance on Jay Leno's Tonight Show. Nothing knee-jerk or imbecilic about it.”

     Only subscribers can see it online, but if you are one, go to: http://www.weeklystandard.com

     Otherwise, read what Miller said by checking out the November 8 CyberAlert item which recounted what he expounded: Comedian/actor Dennis Miller is the opposite of comedian Bill Maher. While Maher rants about the evils of the U.S. and complains about how “depressing” it is that President Bush is “so popular when he has really done so little” to fight terrorism, Dennis Miller on Wednesday’s Tonight Show praised Bush’s anti-terrorism efforts, favored attacking Iraq and juxtaposed the “wocka-wocka porno guitar of the Clinton administration” with how Bush “makes me proud to be an American again. He’s just a decent guy.” Go to: http://archive.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20021108.asp#7

     The Weekly Standard also features a parody of the front page of the New York Times the day after the election. The lead headline: “GOP Wins Senate; Nation Girds for Bush Judges, End of Civilization.” Subhead: “Experts Surprised at Voters’ Stupidity, Selfishness”

     And the caption for a photo of a Klan rally: “Ideological conservatives gather for a Ku Klux Klan initiation in the late 1920s. Their grandchildren now form the Republican Party’s activist base. Coverage of GOP intolerance, Page A18.”

     You don’t have to be a subscriber to see the parody mock up: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/885iiazo.asp

FNC Goes Live to Video of Limo’s Windows

     Great moments in cable news. At about 2:48pm EST on Wednesday, Fox News Channel viewers were treated to 26 seconds of live video of the windows on the side of a limousine in a California parking lot, video FNC’s anchor couldn’t understand why was relevant.

     Just before the exciting video of the parked car, FNC was in the midst of its standard music-filled promo plugging upcoming stories. But instead of going to an ad, when the plug was complete the music stopped and viewers saw the parked car. Anchor Linda Vester tried the explain the importance of showing live the windows of a parked vehicle:
     “Also quickly as we take you to a break, this live picture in Santa Maria California. Michael Jackson arriving. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t know what the occasion is of his arrival, but we want to show you the pictures. Not great. Sorry about that. We just have Michael Jackson arriving. We’ll try to get better stuff for you. Make sure you keep it here on Fox.”

     If you didn’t know better, you would have thought it was a Comedy Central Daily Show parody of cable news. -- Brent Baker