CBS Discredits Steele and DeMint on ObamaCare as 'Harsh' and 'Incendia

July 20th, 2009 8:49 PM
For the second weekday in a row, Katie Couric teased the CBS Evening News on Monday night by delivering President Obama's aggressive retorts to critics of his health plan as reporter Chip Reid pitched in to help, discrediting critics by disparaging their perspectives as “harsh” and “incendiary” attacks -- all before Couric caught up with ABC and NBC from the night before and promoted Ted Kennedy'…

CBS Spins Setback for Obama on Health Into 'Warning from the President

July 18th, 2009 3:06 PM
A night after CBS and NBC skipped the assessment from the chief of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) that the Senate and House health plans won't meet President Obama's pledge to not increase deficit spending, the two networks caught up only when Obama, reacting to “anxiety” even from Democrats, addressed the setback to his quest late Friday. CBS anchor Katie Couric spun the bad news for…

CBS: World Leaders ‘Relieved’ Obama President Instead of Bush

July 10th, 2009 12:44 PM
On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Chip Reid described the relief of world leaders at the G-8 Summit that Barack Obama was representing the United States: "...the President showed yet again he's the most popular leader here...And some leaders said they're relieved that President Obama is here instead of President Bush."Reid’s report focused on Obama’s efforts to get world leaders to…

An Internal Discussion Between the Press and White House

July 2nd, 2009 6:15 PM
By this time, the NewsBusters connoisseur will have surely heard about yesterday’s unofficial celebration in the White House press briefing.  Like many parties, it was somewhat louder than normal, a bit tense at points, and the press – specifically Chip Reid and Helen Thomas – topped off the early Independence Day festivities by roasting (figuratively, of course) Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.That…

Helen Thomas and Chip Reid Slam White House Control of Media

July 1st, 2009 9:39 PM

Helen Thomas, Chip Reid Question White House Control of Media

July 1st, 2009 8:47 PM
Is the press corps starting to tire of the Obama Administration? At a press conference today, Helen Thomas and CBS’s Chip Reid got into it with Robert Gibbs over how the administration has been prepackaging media events. First Reid asked why the questions for Wednesday’s town hall on healthcare were being preselected. After Gibbs tried to dodge that question a few times, Thomas became involved…

CBS: Obama’s ‘Elegant Words’ May Prevent ‘Another D-Day

June 8th, 2009 4:18 PM
On Sunday, White House correspondent Chip Reid gave a glowing review of President Obama’s overseas trip: "A trip laden with symbolism and elegant words, asking the world to look beyond old hatreds and wounds. In doing so, he hopes to create a world where there never has to be another D-Day." [audio available here]During CBS Sunday Morning, Reid reported on Obama’s trip to the Middle East and…

Flashback: Nets Were Quick to Tag Alito and Roberts as 'Ultra' and 'Ha

May 26th, 2009 2:37 PM
Network anchors and reporters didn't hesitate to apply strong ideological labels (not just quoting others) to President Bush's two Supreme Court nominees, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. Will they be as willing to tag President Obama's nominee, U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, as “staunch,” and “hardline” and “ultra” liberal, or at least as “very liberal”?In July of 2005, on the night…

NBC and CBS Use Cheney and Obama Speeches to Jab at Cheney

May 21st, 2009 9:38 PM
Thursday's NBC Nightly News featured Andrea Mitchell chastising and correcting former Vice President Dick Cheney for his speech on fighting terrorism, but the network saw no need to correct anything asserted by President Obama in his address on the same topic while anchor Brian Williams asked if Republicans are “happy” to have Cheney as “their messenger?” CBS delivered contrasting conclusions in…

Networks Lead the Cheer for Obama’s Notre Dame Address

May 18th, 2009 5:02 PM
Since its announcement in March, the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite President Barack Obama to give this year's commencement address and receive an honorary doctorate in law has been a big story for American Catholics. Pro-life Catholics were outraged and  more than 366,000 people signed a petition urging Notre Dame to rescind the invitation. Somehow, though, the controversy didn't…

CBS: Obama ‘Welcomed With Open Arms’ At Notre Dame; Protesters

May 18th, 2009 10:55 AM
On Monday’s CBS Early Show White House correspondent Chip Reid reported on President Obama’s controversial commencement address at Notre Dame University over the weekend, but dismissed pro-life protesters as interlopers from outside groups: "The President did come under fire, but mostly from university outsiders, anti-abortion activists. But inside that graduation ceremony, his reception was much…

Nets: Specter 'Driven Out' of GOP by 'Right Wing' and 'Fringe of Party

April 29th, 2009 12:55 AM
The evening newscasts on Tuesday night attributed Senator Arlen Specter's motivation for changing parties to how he realized he wouldn't win the Republican primary in Pennsylvania, but they also, just as they did with Senator Jim Jeffords in 2001, eagerly relayed -- without any challenge -- Specter's spin that, in the words of the TV journalists, he “had been driven out by the right-wing of the…

NBC Hails Obama's Turkey Visit as 'Shrewd', CBS: Highest-Ever Approval

April 6th, 2009 8:23 PM
Giving a warm wind-up to President Barrack Obama's overseas trip as it comes to an end in Istanbul, NBC's Chuck Todd declared Monday that the decision to make Turkey the last stop “could prove to be one of the shrewder early moves in this young presidency.”On CBS, anchor Katie Couric highlighted how a new CBS News/New York Times poll pegged Obama's approval at 66 percent, the highest ever in that…

'Inspirational' Michelle 'Mega-Star' Obama; Press Corps 'Begged' to Qu

April 2nd, 2009 9:23 PM
The broadcast networks continued their infatuation Thursday night with Michelle Obama as ABC anchor Charles Gibson teased: “Center stage. With substance and style, the First Lady steps onto the world stage, becoming something of a mega-star.” He soon equated her popularity with Jacqueline Kennedy, the last First Lady to so enchant the press. On NBC, Dawna Friesen trumpeted how “she has dazzled…