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1. Nets Trumpet Global Warming Warnings from 'Movie Star Named Gore' ABC anchor Charles Gibson teased his lead Wednesday night story by touting how "Al Gore goes back to Capitol Hill for the first time since the year 2000 and finds a heated debate on global warming." But the broadcast network evening newscasts didn't get to the debate. They were too busy trumpeting Gore's cause. ABC's Kate Snow gave a doubter ten words before running a much longer laudatory clip from former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) which ended with Hastert calling Gore "a movie star." When Gore demurred that "I just have a slide show," Snow, far from exploring the "debate," endorsed the premises of Gore's most dire ideas: "Of course, that slide show won an Oscar. And the man dubbed the 'Goracle' now jets around the planet trying to save it. Gore today called on Congress to freeze carbon emissions and figure out how to drastically reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. The message endorsed by much of the scientific community." Over on CBS, Katie Couric celebrated "a lot of excitement on Capitol Hill. A movie star showed up to testify before Congress -- a movie star named Al Gore." Gloria Borger recalled that "the last time Gore appeared on Capitol Hill was in his official role as Vice President, certifying his own loss in the disputed 2000 election," but she championed how "he came back today as a winner..." 2. Today: White House Bid By Al 'Warrior for Climate Change' Gore? In the first hour of Wednesday's Today show, there were not one but two segments that would make Al Gore smile. First NBC's Andrea Mitchell explored whether Al "warrior for climate change" Gore would consider jumping into the presidential race, then in the second half hour Today co-host Matt Lauer, in a segment about environmentally-friendly gadgets, gave Gore face time via a clip from An Inconvenient Truth. In fact, both segments featured preachy clips from the documentary. 3. CNN Anchor Lauds Boxer's Scolding of Inhofe: 'Good for Her' CNN anchor Don Lemon just couldn't resist editorializing over liberal Senator Barbara Boxer's slam against a conservative colleague, James Inhofe. During the 3pm EDT hour of the CNN Newsroom program, anchors Lemon and Brianna Keiler played a contentious exchange between Boxer and Inhofe in which the Democratic Senator chastised the Republican for interrupting former Vice President Al Gore's global warming testimony. After the clip, Keiler enthused: "Wow. All right. That was quite an exchange. And, you know, we were expecting something from Senator James Inhofe. He is a critic of global warming....We thought maybe it might be with him and former Senator, former Vice President Al Gore, but it ended up between him and Senator Barbara Boxer. She really got a stinger in there, I will say." Don Lemon laughed, then quietly offered his admiration: "Good for her." 4. CNN's Surprise: Anchor Raises Clinton's Executive Privilege Claim On Wednesday's American Morning, CNN co-host Soledad O'Brien probably surprised former Clinton administration official and Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel with a tough question concerning the Bush administration's use of executive privilege versus the Clinton administration's use. O'Brien proposed: "You worked in the White House, the Clinton administration, where they claimed executive privilege for Bruce Lindsey and for Sidney Blumenthal in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, essentially. Why that time around was the efforts you made -- it failed, but there was an effort to say executive privilege. Let's protect these guys. They shouldn't have to go testify before Congress. It failed. But that was what was claimed, so why this time around does it not seem fair?" 5. Poll: Media Coverage of Iraq Too Negative & Not Fair or Objective Catching up on an item from last week, a new poll conducted by the polling firm TIPP for Investor's Business Daily found that most Americans think media coverage of the war in Iraq has been too negative (57 percent), too liberal in viewpoint (55 percent) and neither fair nor objective (61 percent). In an op-ed, TIPP's President, Raghavan Mayur, argued that the poll's results showed the media are at risk to "lose their 'customer base' by consistently disregarding what most people believe to be true." Mayur contended: "Americans are sending a clear message: They want their news fair and honest, and if the mainstream media can't provide it, they'll take their business elsewhere."
from 'Movie Star Named Gore' ABC anchor Charles Gibson teased his lead Wednesday night story by touting how "Al Gore goes back to Capitol Hill for the first time since the year 2000 and finds a heated debate on global warming." But the broadcast network evening newscasts didn't get to the debate. They were too busy trumpeting Gore's cause and barely touching his critics. ABC's Kate Snow gave a doubter ten words before running a much longer laudatory clip from former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) which ended with Hastert calling Gore "a movie star." When Gore demurred that "I just have a slide show," Snow, far from exploring the "debate," endorsed the premises of Gore's most dire ideas: "Of course, that slide show won an Oscar. And the man dubbed the 'Goracle' now jets around the planet trying to save it. Gore today called on Congress to freeze carbon emissions and figure out how to drastically reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. The message endorsed by much of the scientific community." With "Planetary Emergency" on screen, NBC anchor Brian Williams excitedly announced, "Look who was back on Capitol Hill today: Al Gore." Over on CBS, Katie Couric celebrated "a lot of excitement on Capitol Hill. A movie star showed up to testify before Congress -- a movie star named Al Gore." Gloria Borger recalled that "the last time Gore appeared on Capitol Hill was in his official role as Vice President, certifying his own loss in the disputed 2000 election," but she championed how "he came back today as a winner, his popular movie, An Inconvenient Truth, grabbing an Oscar." Borger concluded: "Gore could still get in late and run for President. Maybe that's why Hillary Clinton didn't gush all over him today like her fellow Democrats." What excuse do journalists have for their gushing? ABC's Snow and NBC's Chip Reid highlighted Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer's admonition of former Chairman Jim Inhofe for interrupting Gore -- "You're not making the rules....Elections have consequences" -- but neither bothered with any of Inhofe's substantive points. CBS's Borger, however, did: "There are non-believers, like Senator James Inhofe, who all but called Gore a hypocrite since he paid about $30,000 last year for his home energy. Gore's answer: It's not cheap being green." CBS viewers than heard from Gore: "We buy green energy, we do not contribute to the problem that I'm joining with others to try to help solve. We pay more for clean energy."
For Inhofe's opening statement: epw.senate.gov (In her Wednesday "Couric & Company" blog, Couric celebrated Gore's "triumphant return" to Capitol Hill to expound on his views on which "the scientific consensus is clear." Abandoning any pretense of not being a liberal advocate, she concluded: "Here's hoping Congress puts partisanship aside, and comes together to act boldly on global warming." See: www.cbsnews.com ) Not that you would know it from network journalists who treated Gore as an oracle, but even the New York Times reported last week how there's a backlash against Gore amongst scientists who believe he's exaggerating. On the MRC's TimesWatch site, Tim Graham highlighted the March 13 "Science" section article: William Broad gave New York Times subscribers a surprise Tuesday, reporting that some scientists are "uneasy" with the soundness of Al Gore's science in his movie and book, that some think "Gore's central points are exaggerated and erroneous." Broad found that underneath all the hype and the glamour and the Oscar, "part of his scientific audience is uneasy. In talks, articles and blog entries that have appeared since his film and accompanying book came out last year, these scientists argue that some of Mr. Gore's central points are exaggerated and erroneous. They are alarmed, some say, at what they call his alarmism." For example: "I don't want to pick on Al Gore," Don J. Easterbrook, an emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, told hundreds of experts at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America. "But there are a lot of inaccuracies in the statements we are seeing, and we have to temper that with real data." END of Excerpt For the posting in full: www.timeswatch.org The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video for the March 21 ABC and CBS coverage on their evening newscasts; I handled NBC: # ABC's World News. Anchor Charles Gibson teased his lead story: "Welcome to World News. Tonight, Al Gore goes back to Capitol Hill for the first time since the year 2000 and finds a heated debate on global warming." Gibson led, with "Global 'Emergency'" above video of Gore: "Good evening. There was something of a time warp on Capitol Hill today. People might have been excused for taking a double take. What is Al Gore doing back at the Capitol? The last time he was on Capitol Hill, he was Vice President, there to certify the election of George W. Bush as President. Today, as Kate Snow reports, he was back to testify before two committees in his new role as an advocate on global warming."
Al Gore, at the House hearing: "I promise you, a day will come when our children and grandchildren will ask: What in God's name were they doing? Didn't they see the evidence?"
Al Gore: "Our world faces a true planetary emergency."
After leading with the "constitutional crisis" over subpoenas, Williams arrived at the story: "There were more cameras than usual on Capitol Hill today, as former Congressman, former Senator, former Vice President and presidential candidate Al Gore returned to talk about the subject that's been a life-long passion of his, the environment. Our report tonight from NBC's Chip Reid."
Chip Reid: "Al Gore spent 16 years in the House and Senate and today was welcomed like an old friend, bringing his crusade against global warming to committees in both houses."
for Climate Change' Gore? In the first hour of Wednesday's Today show, there were not one but two segments that would make Al Gore smile. First NBC's Andrea Mitchell explored whether Al "warrior for climate change" Gore would consider jumping into the presidential race, then in the second half hour Today co-host Matt Lauer, in a segment about environmentally-friendly gadgets, gave Gore face time via a clip from An Inconvenient Truth. In fact, both segments featured preachy clips from the documentary. First up, Mitchell's piece featured the following movie clip of Gore: "The misconception that there's disagreement about the science has been deliberately created by a relatively small group of people." Then Lauer, in his piece featured a clip from the movie with Gore declaring: "Scientific consensus is that we are causing global warming." To her credit, Mitchell did note, at the end of her piece that "some scientists complained recently that Gore's documentary exaggerated some of its claims." [This item, by Geoff Dickens, was posted Wednesday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] However, Lauer and Today co-host Vieira shed any doubts about their stance on global warming in their teases for the segment on green technology: Matt Lauer: "Plus with all the talk about global warming you maybe wondering how you can save some energy and by the way, save a little green of your own along the way. We're gonna show you some energy efficient gadgets that will make you feel good about yourself and allow you to chip in with a very worthwhile and important cause." Later, Meredith Vieira: "But up next doing well by doing good. Useful household items that will save you money and help protect the environment too, right after this." Before showing off the enviro-friendly products with Men's Journal's Paul Hochman, Lauer pushed the green cause in his set-up piece that was full of liberal pontification from Gore and some pretty self-righteous consumers:
Matt Lauer: "And this morning on Today's Tech we are talking about going green. You don't need to be a tree-hugging environmentalist any more to be worried about the planet and what you're doing to it." The full Andrea Mitchell speculation piece as it aired on the March 21 Today: Meredith Vieira: "Now from the weather to global climate change. Al Gore says global warming is threatening the Earth and he's taking his message to Capitol Hill today and there's that big question in the air will he run for President? NBC's Andrea Mitchell has more on that. Andrea, good morning." [On screen headline: "Warming Up For 2008? Gore Returns To Washington."]
Andrea Mitchell: "Good morning, Meredith. This will be Al Gore's first visit to Capitol Hill since what must have been a painful moment for him, watching George Bush take the oath of office seven years ago. The question now, does Gore still have dreams of some day taking that oath himself? Al Gore -- warrior for climate change."
Inhofe: 'Good for Her' CNN anchor Don Lemon just couldn't resist editorializing over liberal Senator Barbara Boxer's slam against a conservative colleague, James Inhofe. During the 3pm EDT hour of the CNN Newsroom program, anchors Lemon and Brianna Keiler played a contentious exchange between Boxer and Inhofe in which the Democratic Senator chastised the Republican for interrupting former Vice President Al Gore's global warming testimony. After the clip, Keiler enthused: "Wow. All right. That was quite an exchange. And, you know, we were expecting something from Senator James Inhofe. He is a critic of global warming....We thought maybe it might be with him and former Senator, former Vice President Al Gore, but it ended up between him and Senator Barbara Boxer. She really got a stinger in there, I will say." Don Lemon laughed, then quietly offered his admiration: "Good for her." [This item is adapted from a posting, by Scott Whitlock, on the MRC's blog. A video clip will be added to the posted version of this CyberAlert. But in the meantime, to watch the Real or Windows Media video, or MP3 audio, go to: newsbusters.org ] A complete transcript of the segment, which aired at 3:38pm EDT on March 21:
Brianna Keiler: "Let's go now to some new sound coming from the Hill. This is a heated exchange change be between Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat from California, Senator James Inhofe, Republican from Oklahoma. This came during former Vice President Al Gore's testimony on the Hill about global warming. Apparently this heated exchange started because Senator Inhofe wanted shorter answers from Gore. Let's listen in."
Executive Privilege Claim On Wednesday's American Morning, CNN co-host Soledad O'Brien probably surprised former Clinton administration official and Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel with a tough question concerning the Bush administration's use of executive privilege versus the Clinton administration's use. O'Brien proposed: "You worked in the White House, the Clinton administration, where they claimed executive privilege for Bruce Lindsey and for Sidney Blumenthal in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, essentially. Why that time around was the efforts you made -- it failed, but there was an effort to say executive privilege. Let's protect these guys. They shouldn't have to go testify before Congress. It failed. But that was what was claimed, so why this time around does it not seem fair?" [This item is adapted from a posting, by Matthew Balan, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Emanuel replied: "The answer is right in your question. The fact is it all got worked out and they did testify under oath. And Bruce Lindsey testified many times under oath and as did many other senior advisors. That privilege is usually reserved for national security issues. This is not national security, this is whether we respect the Constitution and leave politics out of the pursuit of justice."
& Not Fair or Objective Catching up on an item from last week, a new poll conducted by the polling firm TIPP for Investor's Business Daily found that most Americans think media coverage of the war in Iraq has been too negative (57 percent), too liberal in viewpoint (55 percent) and neither fair nor objective (61 percent). In an op-ed, TIPP's President, Raghavan Mayur, argued that the poll's results showed the media are at risk to "lose their 'customer base' by consistently disregarding what most people believe to be true." Mayur contended: "Americans are sending a clear message: They want their news fair and honest, and if the mainstream media can't provide it, they'll take their business elsewhere."
For the op-ed in the March 14 Investor's Business Daily: www.ibdeditorial.com The results of the IBD/TIPP poll of about 900, conducted March 5 to 11, were displayed in a large graphic above Mayur's op-ed in the March 14 print edition of Investor's Business Daily. Three pie charts displayed the public's response to the poll's questions, which asked them to agree or disagree with the following statements:
Strongly agree: 34% Somewhat agree: 23% Somewhat disagree: 22% Strongly disagree: 19%
Strongly agree: 32% Somewhat agree: 23% Somewhat disagree: 23% Strongly disagree: 15%
Strongly agree: 12% Somewhat agree: 23% Somewhat disagree: 27% Strongly disagree: 35% The disconnect between the public and the press is not new. A survey conducted in 2005 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found reporters were more likely to have opposed the decision to go to war in Iraq, were more pessimistic about the chances of success in Iraq, and were far less likely to see immigration reform as a national priority. Reporters were also more disapproving of President Bush's job performance. For example, the public was nearly evenly split on whether the U.S. should have invaded Iraq in 2003, with 48 percent agreeing with the decision and 45 percent disagreeing. But among journalists, 71 percent said they considered it a bad decision, compared to just 28 percent that thought it was the right move.
For more results from that poll and others which document the comparatively liberal views of the so-called mainstream media, visit our "Media Bias Basics" page: www.mrc.org -- Brent Baker
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