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1. NC NBCer: 'Smart' Not Bothered by Wright, But Conservatives... On the syndicated Chris Matthews Show, Kim Genardo, a political reporter for NBC's Raleigh, North Carolina affiliate, WNCN-TV channel 17, divided North Carolinians into two categories -- those who are "smart" and those who are "conservative" -- as she predicted "smart, educated" primary voters won't be swayed by Jeremiah Wright but was unsure how "conservative, white, rural voters" would vote as she admitted she's not "in touch with them." She contended: "The smart, educated pool of voters who go to the primaries, they're not buying necessarily this guilt by association. But, that being said, what about your more conservative, white, rural voters?" 2. PBS, NY Times In House Watchdogs Bark at 'Soft' Wright Coverage "Mainstream media coverage of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright has drawn a round of barking from some of their own in-house watchdogs," FNC's Brit Hume noted in his Monday night "Grapevine" segment. Hume started by highlighting how PBS ombudsman Michael Getler criticized the soft approach of Bill Moyers in his interview with Wright: "Inflammatory, and inaccurate, statements that Moyers himself laid out at the top of the program went largely unchallenged" and "there were not enough questions asked and some that were asked came across as too reserved and too soft." Hume next turned to New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt's disappointment in the paper for putting a review of Wright's performance in appearances ahead of checking what Wright contended against the reality, scolding his employer: "It was a performance strangely lacking in energy at a potential turning point in the election." 3. CNN Declares 'Wright-Free Zone,' Only Lauer Press Obama on Wright Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton each did three broadcast network interviews and three cable network interviews on Monday morning. Only NBC's Matt Lauer pressed Obama on the Reverend Wright controversy. CBS stuck to light horse-race questions, ABC asked Obama about loosening federal scrutiny of the Teamsters union, and CNN's John Roberts declared that they would bow to upset viewers and declare CNN a "Wright-free zone." In all three broadcast appearances, Senator Clinton was hounded from the left over her proposal for a summer gas-tax holiday. ABC presented Warren Buffett as the "oracle from Omaha," while CBS and NBC both touted polls showing voters think the gas tax holiday is a seasonal pandering exercise. But that doesn't mean voters wouldn't support or enjoy their own money being returned to them. 4. NYT Foresees Obama as Victim of GOP Attacks Just Like Dukakis The liberal media just can't get over the way Michael Dukakis lost to George H. W. Bush. The New York Times proved it with Sunday's front page "Political Memo," an analysis by Robin Toner, "In '88, a Lesson on Using Symbols as Bludgeons," in which she complained: "[In 1988] the Republicans used the symbols of nationhood (notably, whether schoolchildren should be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance) to bludgeon the Democrats, challenge their patriotism and utterly redefine their nominee, Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts." Toner fretted: "Like Mr. Dukakis in 1988, Mr. Obama is relatively new to the national scene, and thus vulnerable to being defined by Republican attacks. And like Mr. Dukakis, Mr. Obama lacks experience with the politics of wedge issues on a national stage." 5. Tapper: Clinton Chameleon Playing Pro-Gun, Anti-Gas Tax Populist "Senator Hillary Clinton is multimillionaire former First Lady with a solid liberal voting record," ABC's Jake Tapper observed in a rare story applying an ideological label to a Democrat but, he pointed out Monday night, "you wouldn't necessarily know that from catching up with her on the campaign trail" where she plays a barbecue-eating populist on trade to the right of Barack Obama on guns and the gas tax. From Indiana, Tapper marveled at how the Democratic presidential candidate now bashes Wall Street though she "has taken millions from Wall Street," and then explained some other campaign spins which don't match her record, including the rarely recalled fact that Bill Clinton raised the tax on gas: "The National Rifle Association says Clinton's name is synonymous with gun control. But here, in Indiana, in a new mailer, she suggests Obama would outlaw guns. She has distanced herself from trade deals her husband signed into law and she worked to pass. And while her husband raised gas taxes, she wants to give consumers a summer without them." 6. Newsweek Editor Declares Era of 'American Exceptionalism is Over' NBC's Today show invited on Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria to promote his book, The Post-American World, on Monday's show and during his segment the author depicted the United States as a nation in decline as he declared the "era" of "'American exceptionalism' is over." As examples of America's declining standing in the world the Newsweek editor cited such facts as China now having the "largest ferris wheel in the world," Minneapolis' "Mall of America" no longer being the largest in the world and Macau having surpassed Las Vegas in the size of their casinos. 7. ABC Ignores Bigfoot, UFO Films of Jesus-Debunking Documentarian Over a three day stretch, ABC devoted almost 15 minutes of air-time to a documentary filmmaker who asserts in his movie "Bloodline" that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a massive hoax perpetrated on humanity. Additionally, on Friday's Nightline, reporter Elizabeth Vargas left out any mention of the bizarre interests of the film's director, Bruce Burgess. He's directed and written documentaries on Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, Area 51 and a secretive look at a U.S. government's supposed cover-up of the alien landings at Roswell. 8. Rosie O'Donnell on NBC: Jeremiah Wright 'Made Sense to Me' Rosie O'Donnell appeared on Monday's Today show in its fourth hour, claiming that many have confused her "passion for rage" much in the same way as they've misunderstood Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Indeed, claimed the former View co-host, of Obama's former pastor: "I listen to him, and frankly, it made sense to me. I totally understood what he was saying."
But Conservatives... On the syndicated Chris Matthews Show, Kim Genardo, a political reporter for NBC's Raleigh, North Carolina affiliate, WNCN-TV channel 17, divided North Carolinians into two categories -- those who are "smart" and those who are "conservative" -- as she predicted that "smart, educated" primary voters won't be swayed by Jeremiah Wright but was unsure how "conservative, white, rural voters" would vote as she admitted she's not "in touch with them." She contended: "The smart, educated pool of voters who go to the primaries, they're not buying necessarily this guilt by association. But, that being said, what about your more conservative, white, rural voters?" [This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The following exchange occurred on the May 4, edition of The Chris Matthews Show:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let's talk about North Carolina, Kim. It's where you work. He's had a big lead down there, Barack Obama. Has for weeks now. To view Genardo's bio: www.nbc17.com
at 'Soft' Wright Coverage "Mainstream media coverage of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright has drawn a round of barking from some of their own in-house watchdogs," FNC's Brit Hume noted in his Monday night "Grapevine" segment. Hume started by highlighting how PBS ombudsman Michael Getler criticized the soft approach of Bill Moyers in his interview with Wright: "Inflammatory, and inaccurate, statements that Moyers himself laid out at the top of the program went largely unchallenged" and "there were not enough questions asked and some that were asked came across as too reserved and too soft." Hume next turned to New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt's disappointment in the paper for putting a review of Wright's performance in appearances ahead of checking what Wright contended against the reality, scolding his employer: "It was a performance strangely lacking in energy at a potential turning point in the election." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Hume's lead item in his Monday, May 5 "Grapevine" segment on Special Report wit Brit Hume: Mainstream media coverage of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright has drawn a round of barking from some of their own in-house watchdogs. The Bill Moyers interview of Reverend Wright on PBS drew heavy criticism from viewers and network ombudsman Michael Getler wrote, quote: "Inflammatory, and inaccurate, statements that Moyers himself laid out at the top of the program went largely unchallenged...There were not enough questions asked and some that were asked came across as too reserved and [too] soft…This came across to me," he said, "more as a conversation among theologians than it did as a truly probing interview with a truly controversial person who had said some truly inflammatory things." New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt also was critical of his paper which he said angered some readers by putting a review of Wright's recent appearances on its front page before ever reporting what the reverend actually said in a news story. Hoyt wrote, quote: "It was a performance strangely lacking in energy at a potential turning point in the election." For Getler's May 1 posting, "Too Much Reverence for the Reverend?", go to: www.pbs.org For Hoyt's May 4 column: "The Preacher's New Pulpit," see: www.nytimes.com
Lauer Press Obama on Wright Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton each did three broadcast network interviews and three cable network interviews on Monday morning. Only NBC's Matt Lauer pressed Obama on the Reverend Wright controversy. CBS stuck to light horse-race questions, ABC asked Obama about loosening federal scrutiny of the Teamsters union, and CNN's John Roberts declared that they would bow to upset viewers and declare CNN a "Wright-free zone." In all three broadcast appearances, Senator Clinton was hounded from the left over her proposal for a summer gas-tax holiday. ABC presented Warren Buffett as the "oracle from Omaha," while CBS and NBC both touted polls showing voters think the gas tax holiday is a seasonal pandering exercise. But that doesn't mean voters wouldn't support or enjoy their own money being returned to them. [The MRC's Tim Graham provided this round up of the Monday, May 5 morning shows.] # ABC. On ABC's Good Morning America, co-host Diane Sawyer did press Obama for an alternative in any kind of gas price relief before she pressed ahead on the question of loosening up on the Teamsters Union:
SAWYER: Well, I want to turn to the gas tax. You've been sharply critical of Senator Clinton's plan to suspend the tax on gas prices out there. But for people trying to pay $3.62, on average, a gallon of gas, what do you say to them at the summer? What do you offer them for this summer? With Senator Clinton, Sawyer brought a video clip of liberal financier Warren Buffett, lauded as the "oracle of Omaha" even if (or because) he opposes most tax cuts:
SAWYER: I want to turn to the whole question of suspending the gas tax because someone else has weighed in this morning. As we know, some economists have been saying it won't work. Speaker Pelosi has said, basically, it's not going to happen and that it would defeat everything we've been trying to do to lower the cost of oil. Here is another voice and it is the oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffett.
Co-host Maggie Rodriguez also went to the new CBS poll as she questioned Hillary: "You spent a lot of time promoting this gas tax holiday, which Senator Obama and many economists oppose. I'd like to show you a new CBS News / New York Times poll. The first shows that Americans are split whether this is a good idea. 49% say it's bad, 45% say it's good and most voters overwhelmingly believe that candidates who want to lift this gas tax only want to help themselves politically. Given all that, Senator, how do you continue to argue for it?"
LAUER: I want you to bear with me right off the top. I know you said to Tim Russert on Meet The Press yesterday that you're talking way too much about Reverend Wright and not enough about gas prices and food prices and Iraq. But I do want to go over something that Charles Krauthammer wrote in an op-ed in the Washington Post, and he asked this question of you, basically, and that is, what did Reverend Wright say differently in his speech before the National Press Club? What did he say that was different from what he's been saying all along that caused you to finally say enough is enough? Like Sawyer, Lauer asked Obama the devil's advocate question that maybe gas tax relief would help solve emotional strain: "I think you've called it a gimmick and pandering and said that it really won't bring much relief. I'm just curious, what's wrong with even a little relief, even if it's largely symbolic to ease, in a minor way, the financial and perhaps even more in a major way the emotional strain that some people are feeling right now?"
When she interviewed Senator Clinton, Today co-host Meredith Vieira shockingly painted Hillary as spurning all elite opinion on the gas-tax holiday idea: Later, Vieira touted the CBS/New York Times poll on the politics:
VIEIRA: But Senator, you say that Senator Obama is out of touch with the American public on a lot of these issues. There is a new New York Times/CBS News national poll that's out today that says 70 percent of Americans think the idea of suspending the gas tank, tax is mainly a political tactic. So if you look at that poll, it would suggest that you're the one out of touch with the American public. Vieira didn't consider that 70 percent could say a gas tax holiday is a political tactic, and still favor it. As CBS's Rodriguez noted, and Vieira did not, opinion was roughly split down the middle.
Just Like Dukakis The liberal media just can't get over the way Michael Dukakis lost to George H. W. Bush. The New York Times proved it with Sunday's front page "Political Memo," an analysis by Robin Toner, "In '88, a Lesson on Using Symbols as Bludgeons," in which she complained: "[In 1988] the Republicans used the symbols of nationhood (notably, whether schoolchildren should be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance) to bludgeon the Democrats, challenge their patriotism and utterly redefine their nominee, Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts." Toner fretted: "Like Mr. Dukakis in 1988, Mr. Obama is relatively new to the national scene, and thus vulnerable to being defined by Republican attacks. And like Mr. Dukakis, Mr. Obama lacks experience with the politics of wedge issues on a national stage." [This item is adapted from a posting, by the MRC's Clay Waters, on the MRC's TimesWatch site: www.timeswatch.org ] Toner portrayed Democrats as victims of Republicans challenging their patriotism (without showing any actual examples of such) from Dukakis in 1988 to Obama now: But it can never be that simple for anyone with direct experience of the 1988 presidential campaign. That year, the Republicans used the symbols of nationhood (notably, whether schoolchildren should be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance) to bludgeon the Democrats, challenge their patriotism and utterly redefine their nominee, Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts. The memory of that campaign -- reinforced, for many, by the attacks on Senator John Kerry's Vietnam war record in the 2004 election -- haunts Democrats of a certain generation. The 1988 campaign was, in many ways, the crucible that helped create Bill Clinton's centrist philosophy and his fierce commitment to attack and counterattack, which drove the politics of the 1990s. Senator Barack Obama has promised a different politics, one that rises above the fray and the distractions of wedge issues. As Glenn Greenwald, a columnist for Salon, recently put it, "The entire Obama campaign is predicated on the belief that it is no longer 1988." But is that true? .... Even with so many big issues at stake this time around, the race between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton has often been focused on questions of values, background and character -- witness the recent fixation on Mr. Obama's ties to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., or the continued unfounded rumors that Mr. Obama is a Muslim. Like Mr. Dukakis in 1988, Mr. Obama is relatively new to the national scene, and thus vulnerable to being defined by Republican attacks. And like Mr. Dukakis, Mr. Obama lacks experience with the politics of wedge issues on a national stage. SUSPEND Excerpt For "wedge issues," you can read "any issue that benefits the GOP." Toner again defensively insisted without evidence that attacks on Obama equated to attacks on his patriotism: Attacks on a presidential candidate's patriotism, are hard for many politicians to take seriously. "Unless you're talking about the Manchurian candidate, the idea that someone who put their heart and soul into running for president didn't care deeply for their country is kind of ridiculous," said Drew Westen, a psychologist and political consultant. "The GOP is attacking our patriotism!" is a running talking point among poor-me Democrats around election time, one reliably amplified by the party-helpers at the Times. Rarely is any actual evidence offered to accompany the accusation. Toner even engaged in some post-post-mortem defense of Dukakis -- his controversial take on schoolchildren saying the Pledge of Allegiance was based on advice from his crack team of Harvard lawyers, you see. Yet that invited a "contemptuous question" from George H.W. Bush: Michelle Obama has already drawn conservative fire for declaring that, because of her husband's success and the voters' hunger for change, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country." And Mr. Obama has been questioned about why he does not wear a flag pin every day. In 1988, one of the central attacks revolved around the Pledge of Allegiance. Mr. Dukakis, as governor, had vetoed state legislation in 1977 that required teachers to lead their students in the pledge. He did so on the basis of an advisory opinion from the state court, which said the legislation was unconstitutional. Mr. Dukakis, a Harvard lawyer surrounded by other Harvard lawyers, believed himself on very firm ground. But by August 1988, his Republican opponent, Vice President George H.W. Bush, was rousing huge crowds with a contemptuous question: "What is it about the Pledge of Allegiance that upsets him so much?" Mr. Dukakis, Mr. Bush said, was "out in deep left field on these issues." He was also "a card-carrying member of the A.C.L.U.," more concerned with giving furloughs to criminals -- like Willie Horton -- than upholding national values, the vice president asserted END of Excerpt For the article in full: www.nytimes.com For details on the latest bias in the New York Times, check TimesWatch daily: www.timeswatch.org
Anti-Gas Tax Populist "Senator Hillary Clinton is multimillionaire former First Lady with a solid liberal voting record," ABC's Jake Tapper observed in a rare story applying an ideological label to a Democrat but, he pointed out Monday night, "you wouldn't necessarily know that from catching up with her on the campaign trail" where she plays a barbecue-eating populist on trade to the right of Barack Obama on guns and the gas tax. From Indiana, Tapper marveled at how the Democratic presidential candidate now bashes Wall Street though she "has taken millions from Wall Street," and then explained some other campaign spins which don't match her record, including the rarely recalled fact that Bill Clinton raised the tax on gas: "The National Rifle Association says Clinton's name is synonymous with gun control. But here, in Indiana, in a new mailer, she suggests Obama would outlaw guns. She has distanced herself from trade deals her husband signed into law and she worked to pass. And while her husband raised gas taxes, she wants to give consumers a summer without them." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] This is the second time in a week Tapper has informed viewers of Clinton's duplicity. The May 1 CyberAlert item, "ABC Corrects Clinton's Indiana Tale Blaming Bush for Closed Factory," recounted: ABC reporter Jake Tapper on Wednesday night undermined Hillary Clinton's campaign trail tale blaming the Bush administration for allowing a Valparaiso, Indiana manufacturer of magnets for smart-bombs to move to China, costing 200 jobs and giving the technology to the communist regime. Tapper, however, pointed out that the sale occurred in 1995 and was approved by....the Clinton administration. "Senator Clinton decries how the company Magnequench moved from Indiana to China in 2003," Tapper reported, "but there's one key part of the story Senator Clinton tends to leave out: Her husband's role."... For more, see: www.mrc.org Giving Hillary Clinton her due, in Monday's story Tapper reported Clinton's populist pitch "seems to be working" and featured a soundbite from an Indiana woman who hailed her as "brilliant." The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcript of Tapper's story on the Monday, May 5 World News on ABC:
JAKE TAPPER: Well, Senator Hillary Clinton is a multimillionaire former First Lady with a solid liberal voting record, but you wouldn't necessarily know that from catching up with her on the campaign trail. She has repackaged herself as a working-class hero. New York Senator Hillary Clinton has taken millions from Wall Street. Less than a year ago, she appeared on the cover of Fortune magazine: "Business Loves Hillary." But this is what Clinton sounds like here in Indiana.
Exceptionalism is Over' NBC's Today show invited on Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria to promote his book, The Post-American World, on Monday's show and during his segment the author depicted the United States as a nation in decline as he declared the "era" of "'American exceptionalism' is over." [This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Monday morning on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] As examples of America's declining standing in the world the Newsweek editor cited such facts as China now having the "largest ferris wheel in the world," Minneapolis' "Mall of America" no longer being the largest in the world and Macau having surpassed Las Vegas in the size of their casinos. The following is the full interview as conducted by co-host Meredith Vieira on the May 5 Today show:
MEREDITH VIEIRA: The baseball legend Satchel Paige famously said, "Don't look back, something might be gaining on you." So should the United States be looking over its shoulder? A new book called, "The Post-American World" argues that the rest of the globe is catching up to us. Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria is the book's author. Fareed, good morning to you.
Documentarian Over a three day stretch, ABC devoted almost 15 minutes of air-time to a documentary filmmaker who asserts in his movie "Bloodline" that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a massive hoax perpetrated on humanity. Additionally, on Friday's Nightline, reporter Elizabeth Vargas left out any mention of the bizarre interests of the film's director, Bruce Burgess. He's directed and written documentaries on Bigfoot, the Bermuda Triangle, Area 51 and a secretive look at a U.S. government's supposed cover-up of the alien landings at Roswell. See: www.imdb.com Wouldn't it be relevant to know that Burgess seems to be fascinated with every weird conspiracy imaginable? (And hasn't the mainstream media mocked bloggers for not being restrained journalists? How serious is Bigfoot and the the subject of the Bermuda Triangle?) On Sunday's "Good Morning America," Burgess's second stop on his ABC tour, co-host Bill Weir at least asked about his extravagant interests: "I do have to point out the fact that some of your other documentary work includes the Bermuda Triangle, Area 51, looking for Bigfoot in Oklahoma." (See a NewsBusters blog by Mark Finkelstein for more: newsbusters.org ) [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Weir then wondered: "Why should we believe you of all people when it comes to something this huge?" Vargas, during her nine minute promotion of the documentary, failed to find time for such a query. She did, however, repeat verbatim, the crux of Burgess's argument: "One theory is that [19th Century French priest] Father Sauniere was paid for his silence, because he'd found proof of a shocking secret that Mary Magdalene, known as the prostitute in the Bible was actually married to Jesus. And that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a child. That after the crucifixion she fled with that child here to this rugged and very remote corner of southern France. That their descendants and their secret were protected in the Middle Ages by a group of crusaders whom historians called the Knights Templar...The novel, The Da Vinci Code is based on the theory that those knights also buried some sort of proof that the bloodline of Jesus exists." Now, occasionally, Vargas did challenge what Burgess contended could be "the greatest cover-up of all time." But the rebuttals were of file footage from the controversy that erupted during the 2003 and 2004 coverage of Dan Brown's novel, "The Da Vinci Code." She talked to no one specifically on the subject of charges made by Mr. Burgess. Finally, if Mel Gibson, director of "The Passion of the Christ," also happened to be fascinated with whether werewolves, unicorns and leprechauns were real, journalists surely wouldn't have ignored such relevant information. A partial transcript of the May 2 Nightline program:
TERRY MORAN: If you've read 'The Da Vinci Code" or seen the movie version, you're familiar with the notion of the Holy Grail. That's the belief that the chalice used by Jesus at the last supper survived through the centuries and retains miraculous power. Well that legend is right at the core of 'The Da Vinci Code,' but with a twist. In Dan Brown's version, the grail is not a chalice. Brown imagines the chalice is instead Mary Magdalene carrying the child of Jesus. 'The Da Vinci Code' is pure fiction, of course. Some people believe this controversial theory, including a filmmaker you are about to meet. And in a new documentary he claims they may have found new evidence to support it. Elizabeth Vargas reports.
'Made Sense to Me' Rosie O'Donnell appeared on Monday's Today show in its fourth hour, claiming that many have confused her "passion for rage" much in the same way as they've misunderstood Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Indeed, claimed the former View co-host, of Obama's former pastor: "I listen to him, and frankly, it made sense to me. I totally understood what he was saying." O'Donnell also defended Wright's conspiracy theory view on AIDS, chalking that up to Wright's "genetic memory" of the Tuskegee Institute. O'Donnell incorrectly asserted the U.S. government infected the patients in that syphilis study. [This item, by the MRC's Ken Shepherd, was posted Monday, with video, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] Below is the transcript, taken down by NewsBusters resident O'Donnellogist Justin McCarthy:
HODA KOTB, co-host: You know Rosie there has been a void on morning TV since we don't hear your opinions. Every times there's like, I was going through a story today "I wonder what Rosie thinks about that." What about, can I ask you about just the little Jeremiah Wright thing? [...]
KOTB: Well, there's a quote, and I don't have the exact one, they kind of gave me a little sketchy one. It says Barbara [Walters] says, "Rosie tells me she loves me. She tells me I'm old and then she tells me she loves me. She's a great talent with emotional issues." -- Brent Baker
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