So this was fun. Today, after a press conference where an “America Leads the World in Testing” banner hung in plain view — presumably to advertise our 39th-place world ranking in tests per million population — Donald Trump fielded questions with all the aplomb of a leaky bowel during a pepper eating contest. Two of his biggest nemeses,…
Category: CBS
Here we go again: Campaign press ignoring Democratic policy
There's been a complete transformation in how the campaign press covers elections in the last decade, and it's a defining change that's benefiting Republicans, and specifically Donald Trump. The change is in the way the press has dramatically curtailed its coverage of policy and of what candidate agendas look like. Coverage of policy proposals used…
D.C. press whitewashes its role in 2016 email fiasco after State Department exonerates Clinton
Page 16 and 649 words. That’s how The New York Times treated the recent news that a years-long State Department investigation concluded there was no systemic or deliberate mishandling of classified information via emails sent to and from Hillary Clinton’s private server while she was secretary of state. The Times covered that story regarding a seminal event from…
How Trump's phony Mexico trade deal duped the press
Donald Trump lies about everything. So why do newsrooms still assume he's telling the truth, especially when he unveils grand initiatives? On Friday, Trump claimed he had reached a landmark last-minute immigration deal with Mexico, which meant he no longer had to impose the tariffs he had been threatening, part of his incoherent southern-border policy….
How the Sunday morning network shows became willing Trump enablers
When it comes to the Sunday morning network talk shows, no other influential media platform has done so little to adjust its approach to our radical, untruthful president. Sticking to their staid, deeply respectful format where Republican government officials are treated as perpetual truth-tellers, the Sunday shows remain proudly and utterly oblivious to the seismic…
Four years ago today Trump launched his campaign. Media still hasn't figured out how to cover him
At 11 AM on June 16, 2015, Donald Trump rode down the escalator inside Trump Tower to announce his presidential campaign. With paid actors cheering him on, Trump instantly lied about the size of the crowd as he kicked off a meandering, 45-minute hate speech that was carried live by all three national all-news TV…
TV Networks Set To Kiss Trump's A** Tomorrow Night.
Nothing like continuing to give Trump all the air time he wants. (CNN)The major television networks will provide wall-to-wall coverage of President Donald Trump's prime time address on border security on Tuesday. NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox broadcast network all said on Monday that they had agreed to the White House's request for air time….
CBS affiliate in Champaign, IL pre-empted part of Christine Blasey Ford's testimony
As I type this blog post, Prof. Christine Blasey Ford is currently testifying before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in regards to Brett Kavanaugh’s act of sexual assault against Ford. However, if you live in the same local television market that I do, the Champaign-Springfield, Illinois local TV market that covers a large portion of…
Eighty Million in Compensation for Les Moonves.
CBS has announced that it is giving Les Moonves at least 80 million dollars in compensation, and it could reach as high as 100 million dollars. Not sure how much of this is supposed to be in stock. However, CBS said the amount of the compensation depends upon the results of the investigation by the…
Weak Tea CBS Evening News Interview with Trump.
Jeff Glor needs to go back to journalism school. Basically, Glor didn’t not follow up on his questions to Trump. Here is the exchange between Mr. Trump and Glor: GLOR: “You say you agree with U.S. intelligence that Russia meddled in the election in 2016.” TRUMP: “Yeah and I've said that before, Jeff. I have…
Michael Morrell (CIA, CBS) goes on Charlie Rose with severe anti-semitism claim against Iran
“The Supreme Leader, Ali Khameini, recently called Israelis 'animals.'”This is presented as an official statement. Is this real? Or not? The actual quote relates to loss of life among civilians during the Gaza battles last year. The statement translated from the original Farsi says something quite different: “Israel is a beast carrying out a genocide….
Did you watch the Olympics?
I enjoyed the Olympics, or what little NBC bothered to air of the Olympics. We were stuck mostly with talking heads and human interest stories. How many times did I see a medal ceremony? I can count them on one hand. It's over until 2014 when we have the next winter Olympics. At least the…