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NewsBusters
Moving On: ABC Spends Only 16 Seconds on IRS Official's Suspension
Friday's Good Morning America spent a scant 16 seconds on the newest development in the IRS scandal, the suspension of agency official Lois Lerner who oversaw the division responsible for processing tax-exempt status requests. Lerner headed the division while the IRS gave extra scrutiny to Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status.
As NewsBusters reported, Thursday's World News completely ignored Lerner's move. The MRC's Brent Bozell had predicted that the media would "move on" from the IRS scandal, which explains ABC's paucity of coverage on Thursday and Friday.
CBS Hits Holder's 'Outrageous Overreach', But Defers to Obama to Act
Friday's CBS This Morning, unlike NBC's Today, briefly picked up on NBC journalist Michael Isikoff's significant reporting from Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder's "signed off on a controversial search warrant" against Fox News' James Rosen and "authorized seizure of his private emails." However, unlike their strong "Obama's war on journalism" label of the scandal on Thursday, Gayle King and Bob Schieffer gave a more subdued response to this new detail.
King pointed out that "Holder signed off on allowing an investigation into some reporters' e-mails", but merely wondered if President Obama was in an "awkward position" as a result. Schieffer did assert that "there's no question in my mind this was an outrageous overreach", but didn't call for an investigation into the administration's surveillance of Rosen and the AP [audio available here; video below the jump].
NBC Fails to Report Its Own Scoop That AG Holder Approved Investigation of Fox's Rosen
As of Friday morning, NBC News broadcasts had completely ignored an important scoop from the network's own national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff that Attorney General Eric Holder personally approved the Justice Department's aggressive investigation of Fox News reporter James Rosen. Meanwhile, both CBS News and FNC provided on-air coverage of the new development. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
In an article for NBCNews.com on Thursday, Isikoff reported that Holder "signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a 'possible co-conspirator' in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News."
Video: Bozell's Prediction Pans Out, Media In Full-on 'Move On' Mode in Obama Scandal Coverage
Corrected from earlier*: On the May 16 Kudlow Report program on Fox Business Network, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell hit the nail on the head, predicting that the media would quickly shift into the "Move On!" mode as they would start attacking Republicans as scandal-obsessed. The same evening on Fox News Channel's Hannity, Bozell noted how former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather was already using the Clinton scandal playbook and grousing that Republicans need to "move on."
Sure enough, a week later when the Media Research Center returned to Hannity for another "Media Mash" segment [watch the video embed below the page break], he had plenty of fresh material from the networks to illustrate how the liberal media are doing precisely that. After watching a montage of journalists complaining that Republicans may be guilty of "overreach" with their dogged pursuit of the IRS investigation, Bozell reminded guest host Eric Bolling that "this is the old game plan, which is":
Backstabber: WashPost Features Michael Steele Trashing New Conservative Black GOP Nominee in Virginia
On Friday morning – six days after the GOP nominating convention – The Washington Post finally visually acknowledged the Virginia Republicans, those alleged Obamaphobic Tea Party racists, nominated a black minister as their candidate for Lieutenant Governor. The first picture of Rev. E.W. Jackson was on the front page, under the headline “An exciting, challenging turn for Va. Republicans.”
But liberals are enjoying who reporters Paul Schwartzman and Errin Whack found to attack Rev. Jackson as “101 Ways to Lose An Election” – former RNC chairman Michael Steele, sounding very much like the MSNBC contributor that he is:
Leno: ‘Not Looking Good for Obama - Today His Teleprompter Took the Fifth’
Jay Leno continued his humorous attacks on the current White House resident Thursday devoting much of his opening monologue to the various scandals plaguing the Administration.
At one point, the NBC Tonight Show host joked, “It is not looking good for President Obama. Today his teleprompter took the fifth.”
The Long Hike: Media’s 13 Years of Bullying Boy Scouts Over Gays
So the Boy Scouts of America have caved, voting on May 23 to allow openly gay Scouts. It was probably inevitable – just as the organization will inevitably be forced to drop its ban on openly gay adult Scout leaders. Cue the sound of popping champagne corks in newsrooms and TV studios up and down the coasts.
When news first broke back in February that the Boy Scouts of America might allow local charters to decide their own policies on including gays as Scouts and leaders, the broadcast networks were exultant. Well they should be, because they and the rest of the media have waged a long campaign against the Scouts on behalf of the gay lobby.
'60 Minutes' Accused of Anti-Semitism at CBS Shareholders Meeting
A pro-Israel media watchdog accused "60 Minutes" of anti-Semitism at CBS's shareholders meeting Thursday.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the complaint stemmed from a segment aired April 22, 2012, called "Christians of the Holy Land" (video follows with partial transcript and commentary).
Cheer Up, Jay Carney: WashPost Prints Big, Fluffy Story on His Fandom for a Rock Band
The Washington Post carried a huge, almost life-size picture of Jay Carney’s head in the Style section on Friday. But it was designed as a pick-me-up for the embattled Obama spinner. It was a story about...Carney and his favorite rock band.
“Benghazi and the IRS have kept Carney scrambling, and he hasn’t had much time to listen to ‘English Little League,’ the latest album from the Ohio indie-rock band [Guided by Voices] he has affectionately name-dropped in more than one news briefing.” Critics want Carney canned, but the Post wants him to feel happy about the “beer-soaked brilliance” of his favorite rockers:
Only CBS Notes IRS Official’s Leave, Yet ABC and NBC Have Time to Show Obama’s Prom Photo with ‘Foxy’ Friend
Already moving on from the IRS scandal? On Thursday night, only the CBS Evening News of the broadcast network evening newscasts bothered to note how Lois Lerner, the IRS official in charge of the division which processes tax-exempt applications, was put on administrative leave after she took the Fifth and refused to answer questions at a House hearing the day before. Anchor Scott Pelley squeezed in 20 seconds on it.
Yet, ABC World News and the NBC Nightly News made room to highlight a photo of a 17-year-old Barack Obama and his prom date along with a friend and his date.
Robert Redford Blasts America's Belief System, Tech Advancements
Most Americans marvel at the technology at their disposal in 2013, be it a WiFi-enabled iPad or the cell phone in their pocket or purse. Robert Redford sees such goodies as signs of technological excess that may lead to the planet's doom.
The actor, in Cannes to promote his latest film All is Lost, blasted his home country for its past political scandals and thirst for progress.
WaPo's Marimow Fails to Reveal 18-month Delay in Unsealing Rosen Warrant Which Crossed 2012 Election Until Judge 'Apologizes'
One obvious question which occurred to me and I suspect others when I read Ann Marimow's first account at the Washington Post dated May 19 of the search warrant issued in 2009 for the personal emails of Fox News reporter James Rosen was: "Where has this thing been hiding?"
The "Affadavit for Search Warrant" is dated May 28, 2010. Why did it come out just this week? Marimow didn't say. More stories followed, still without explanation. It's not unreasonable to believe that the Post might have sat on knowledge of its existence, and that someone who works at the U.S. Court may have worked to keep it invisible for 18 months after it was supposed to have been unsealed in November 2011.
Hearing on IRS With Lerner Taking the Fifth? Newspapers Had No Front Page Story Thursday
Believe it or not, none of the largest national newspapers put an article on Wednesday’s IRS hearings on the front page. The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal had a picture of Lois Lerner, but sent the reader to an inside page for the story. The New York Times and USA Today offered no picture, either.
USA Today has an excuse: it put Lerner taking the Fifth on Wednesday’s front page in a preview. But The New York Times only put this taxpayer scandal on Page One: “Europe Pushes to Shed Stigma Of a Tax Haven.” Oh, heavens forbid. Andrew Higgins championed a “sweeping global assault on tax evasion,” starting in Luxembourg.
On Fox Business, MRC's Tim Graham Says Obama Team's Rosen Probe Caused Liberal Media to 'Rally Around Fox News'
MRC director of media analysis Tim Graham appeared Thursday on the Fox Business program "Varney & Co." to discuss whether the Obama scandals were going to turn the media elites around on Barack Obama. Graham said this is a temporary rough patch. But he said his cynical side was surprised that other reporters embraced Fox News reporter James Rosen after the Obama administration conducted surveillance of his phone calls.
Graham said, "The Obama administration did something backwards here, because what that [Rosen surveillance] story does is cause the rest of the entire media, the liberal media, to rally around Fox News. So that’s not the kind of day they want to have." [Video below]
Chris Matthews Trashes 'Morning Joe' for Being 'Open to All People's Points of View'
Chris Matthews on Thursday made it crystal clear that he sees his role at MSNBC is to present only one side of any issue.
Clearly oblivious to how he was letting the cat out of the bag for all to see, the Hardball host trashed his own network's Morning Joe for being "open to all people's points of view" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Dennis Miller: 'Nixonian' Obama Will Need Teleprompter to Say 'I Am Not a Crook'
Appearing for his regular "Miller Time" segment on Wednesday's The O'Reilly Factor on FNC, comedian Dennis Miller asserted that the Obama administration is "looking more Nixonian" because of recent scandal revelations.
He went on to crack that when President Obama says, "I am not a crook," he'll need a teleprompter to help him. Referring to the Justice Department's focus on FNC reporter James Rosen, Miller began:
NBC Affiliate: Ft. Hood Shooter Still Drawing Paycheck, Victims Denied Benefits; When Will 'Nightly News' Cover?
Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hassan is still drawing his military paycheck while the Defense Department has refused to deem Hassan's victims as suffering combat-related wounds, which would entitle them to Purple Hearts and additional pay and benefits to aid the cost of their rehabilitation, Scott Friedman of Dallas, Texas, NBC affiliate KXAS reported on Wednesday morning. [watch the original KXAS report below the page break]
Yesterday, native Texan and MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall aired Friedman's report on her NewsNation program in her "Gut Check" segment in which she asked her viewers to weigh in on her Facebook page, "Should the Pentagon designate the Fort Hood shooting a terrorist attack?" [For their part, 76 percent of her viewers agreed that it should.] Although this is a pretty compelling report, at time of publication, neither NBC's Nightly News nor Today programs have aired the story.
Leno: Obama Knows Nothing Because They Moved ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ to the White House
Jay Leno continued his humorous attacks on Barack Obama Wednesday.
During a series of opening monologue jokes about the various scandals plaguing the Administration, the NBC Tonight Show host said that with all the President appears not to know about what's going on around him, it means "They took 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' out of the Pentagon and moved it into the White House."
O'Reilly More Likely Than Obama to Have 'Sex Slaves,' Randi Rhodes Rants
Hard to believe there are people who think along these lines, but that's left-wing radio for you.
One of its ditziest inhabitants, the habitually juvenile Randi Rhodes, resents that she's far less talented and influential than Fox's Bill O'Reilly, so she responds with insipid analysis. (Audio after the break)
Thursday Morning: Fox Gives 15 Minutes to Latest IRS Scandals Details; ABC, NBC, and CBS Ignore.
There have been a number of new revelations this week in the ever expanding scope of the IRS scandal. However, even with so many developments in the investigation of this egregious scandal, there was extremely limited coverage of the unfolding of this affair in the morning news of many more liberal stations like ABC, NBC, and CBS. In contrast, Fox News devoted almost 15 minutes in their programming on Thursday morning’s Fox & Friends show to enlighten the public of all of the new information in the scandal.
The only other station to provide any coverage of the IRS controversy this morning was CBS News, who barely covered it at all. The network devoted all of 50 seconds to covering the controversy on CBS This Morning while also airing a few minutes on their show Up to the Minute, which airs at 3 a.m. Eastern. You can ask CBS for verification, but I do not think their viewership numbers for that show are too incredibly high.