Documenting the Bias of Top Journalists and Major News Stories
On December 13 Christiane Amanpour announced she would no longer be host of ABC's This Week. Her run as host of that show was filled with shots at conservatives and their issues, as she called Tea Party candidates "bizarre," and scolded that tax cuts would "hurt" the poor. Here are the top notable quotes from her reporting, starting in 1999.
Matt Lauer became a regular co-host of NBC's Today show on January 6, 1997 and while his partners have changed over the years from Katie Couric, to Meredith Vieira and most recently Ann Curry, he's joined them in regularly serving viewers a hearty portion of liberal spin to go along with their morning cup of coffee.
CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, who returned to the anchor desk Monday morning, repeatedly exhibited a liberal bias in her years with the network -- particularly through her coverage of gay rights issues, her flattering treatment of President Obama, and her promotion of Democratic talking points in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Tina Brown got in hot water for an unflattering August 15, 2010 Newsweek cover photo of Tea Party Republican Michele Bachmann but those who've followed the current Daily Beast and Newsweek editor's career, ever since she brought her version of tabloid journalism over from England to Vanity Fair in 1984, can tell you this is just par for the course.
On June 20th, 2011, left-wing host Keith Olbermann brought his MSNBC program Countdown With Keith Olbermann to Current TV. This came five months after being fired from the liberal cable network. The viciousness in which Olbermann attacked conservatives as Nazis and for their "murderous deceit" is hard to match. Here are his most hateful diatribes.
Wednesday, June 8, marks Meredith Vieira’s last day as co-host of NBC’s Today. Since joining the broadcast in September 2006, Vieira has brought staunch liberal advocacy to the morning news program, following the model of her predecessor, Katie Couric. The Media Research Center has compiled some of Vieira's most biased moments, from her later years on ABC's The View through her nearly five years on Today.
With the May 9, 2011 official announcement that NBC's Meredith Vieira will be stepping down from the Today show co-anchor chair in June also came the news that the longtime newsreader (since '97) of that morning show, Ann Curry, will move up to take her place alongside Matt Lauer to deliver a daily cup of liberal bias to viewers in the AM.
On Tuesday May 3, 2011 CBS News announced longtime correspondent Scott Pelley will be taking the reins of the CBS Evening News from departing anchor Katie Couric. A review of the MRC's archive reveals Pelley will most likely be continuing the long tradition of liberal bias advanced by his anchor predecessors Couric, Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite.
From celebrating the likes of liberal heroes like Hillary Clinton, saying that she is of the rare few that can match Barack Obama's "global star power" to even offering praise of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, depicting him as a "genuinely humble" figure with "no fancy clothes, fancy cars" that was "absolutely incorruptible"
Below are just a dozen examples of Pelley's slanted take over the years as a CBS correspondent for the Evening News and 60 Minutes.
On September 27, 2010, Lawrence O'Donnell debuted as the host of the "The Last Word." O'Donnell, a former writer for The West Wing and a guest host on Countdown With Keith Olbermann, will continue MSNBC's habit of awarding shows to far-left hosts. O'Donnell has trashed Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin and assailed President Dick Cheney as a 'sleazy' defender of torture. Here are his most outrageous rants.
On May 19, 2011, Katie Couric stepped down as the anchor of the CBS Evening News, a position she held for nearly five years. From cheering on Barack Obama's campaign and his liberal presidential agenda, to denigrating the Tea Party and conservative policy positions, Couric perpetuated the bias problem that eroded CBS's credibility under Dan Rather. This profile includes more than 40 examples of the liberal slant that typified her reign as the Queen of the CBS Evening News.
After serving in the White House Press Corps for 57 years, Helen Thomas retired on June 7, 2010. The abrupt end of her career came in the wake of a viral video showing her telling Israeli Jews to "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to Germany. Thomas' long career for Hearst Newspapers included decades of spewing left-wing attacks at conservatives.
After serving as a top presidential aide to Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulos joined ABC News in 1996. First as an analyst, then as anchor of This Week and, currently, as co-host of Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos has provided liberal spin on a variety of programs. In December of 2011, it was announced he would return as host of This Week. This is the best of the worst from the ex-Democratic operative.
Over two decades at ABC, Diane Sawyer has produced numerous examples of left-wing bias on shows such as Good Morning America and, presently, as the anchor of World News. She's lauded Nancy Pelosi as "galvanized steel with a smile" and Hillary Clinton as "dazzling." These are her most shameless examples of spinning for liberals and bashing conservatives.
Here are the most over-the-top examples of liberal bias from Harry Smith, formally the host of CBS's Early Show, the third-rated morning program. Smith, now a correspondent, has denounced the Second Amendment as "the right to deliver instruments of certain death" and condemned the Iraq war.
In April of 2009, network, cable and print outlets responded to the emergence of the Tea Party movement with condescension and outright hostility towards the participants. ABC's Dan Harris insisted they were "largely orchestrated by people fronting for corporate interests." CNN trashed the first rallies as "not really family viewing." Here are the most outrageous examples of liberal spin.