After Promoting Levi Johnston in '09, CBS Ignores His Admission of Fal

July 7th, 2010 11:45 AM
In an interview with People Magazine on Tuesday, Levi Johnston admitted: "I publicly said things about the Palins that were not completely true." On Wednesday, the CBS Early Show failed to make any mention of the admission, despite having provided a media platform for Johnston last year by conducting exclusive interviews with him.On the April 8, 2009 broadcast, co-host Maggie Rodriguez conducted…

CBS 'Early Show' Follows ABC's Lead, Touts Kagan's SNL-Worthy Humor

July 2nd, 2010 11:58 AM
During the 'Early Wrap' segment on Friday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith discussed the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan with a panel of media pundits: "The almost unknown, practically under the radar, the Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, before committees this week being funny. She was downright funny."GQ Magazine's Washington correspondent Ana Marie Cox…

Kagan Hearings, Day #3: ABC and NBC Skip Nominee's Partial Birth Abort

July 1st, 2010 11:39 AM
Wednesday's evening news shows and Thursday's morning programs continued to minimize or leave out important moments of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings. ABC's Good Morning America, for instance, has offered only 67 seconds of coverage over three days. Today and The Early Show each provided a single ten second news brief on Thursday. It's not as though the second day of…

Network Morning Shows Unanimously Gush Over Larry King

June 30th, 2010 4:59 PM
The morning programs of the Big Three networks all sang the praises of CNN host Larry King after he announced on Tuesday his upcoming retirement from his program, while overlooking his liberal bent at times. Both Willie Geist on NBC's Today show and CBS's Harry Smith labeled King "legendary," while ABC's George Stephanopoulos heralded how he was "on top of his game" for most of his career.NBC…

Network Morning Shows Laud the Comedy of 'Lively,' SNL-worthy Kagan

June 30th, 2010 11:57 AM
All three morning shows on Wednesday made sure to tout the "lively" sense of humor of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, this as ABC continued to ignore the hearings. Over two days, Good Morning America has devoted a scant 67 seconds to Barack Obama's nominee. After a news brief featuring Kagan cracking jokes at her hearings, former Democratic operative George Stephanopoulos gushed, "...If this…

Morning Shows Spare a Scant Two and a Half Minutes for 'Landmark' Gun

June 29th, 2010 12:16 PM
Despite referring to it as "landmark" and "huge," the network morning shows on Tuesday mostly ignored Monday's Supreme Court ruling, which declared the Second Amendment a fundamental right that cannot be violated by state governments. Good Morning America, The Early Show and Today devoted just two minutes and 34 seconds to discussing the important decision. ABC's GMA offered 21 seconds with a…

NBC and ABC Barely Touch Kagan Hearings, CBS Promotes Her As 'Very Agi

June 29th, 2010 12:01 PM
While ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today spent little time on the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on Tuesday, the CBS Early Show featured a report from legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who cheered Kagan finally being able respond to Republican "attacks" in a "very agile" way. Good Morning America devoted only a single news brief early in the 7AM ET hour to the…

CBS: Robert Byrd 'One of the Hardest Working Senators in Modern Histor

June 28th, 2010 5:39 PM
On Monday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Whit Johnson reported breaking news of the death of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd and proclaimed: "By all accounts, he was one of the hardest working senators in modern history." Johnson touted Byrd's "four volume history of the Senate" and described him as the "unequaled master of the Senate rules." Part of the "hard work" Johnson cited was the…

Networks Defend 'Consensus Builder' Kagan; Downplay Military Recruiter

June 28th, 2010 12:38 PM
The Monday morning shows on CBS, ABC, and NBC all worked to portray President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan as a moderate and open-minded legal scholar, downplaying her liberal views. All three network programs also minimized her controversial decision to ban military recruiters on campus while Dean of Harvard Law School.On CBS's Early Show, legal correspondent Jan Crawford touted…

Morning Shows Skip Sexual Assault Charge Against Al Gore

June 24th, 2010 11:34 AM
All three morning shows on Thursday ignored allegations of "unwanted sexual contact" by Al Gore against a woman in 2006. This is despite the fact that the claim was reported by the AP, the New York Times and the Washington Post. CBS's Early Show, NBC's Today and ABC's Good Morning America failed to mention the charges made by an Oregon massage therapist that Gore tried to have sex with her. Yet,…

'Early Show' Panelists on Marriage: 'Who Wants to Sign up for That

June 23rd, 2010 5:16 PM
Apparently unmarried men don't have to bother ‘putting a ring on it' anymore. A CBS' "Early Show" panel on June 23 made marriage look like an obsolete tradition by  highlighting several couples who've cohabited for years-with little or no intentions of ever saying "I do." CBS co-host Erica Hill cited statistics showing a record-high 6.4 million couples currently cohabitate in the United States…

Network Morning Shows Rage Against BP CEO's Yachting Trip, Ignore Obam

June 21st, 2010 12:40 PM
All three morning shows on Monday railed against BP CEO Tony Hayward for attending a yachting race in England on Saturday, but they found no such anger for Barack Obama's golf outing on the same day, ignoring the story. The pattern was nearly identical on Sunday, with only Good Morning America briefly mentioning the President's recreational activities. On Monday's Early Show, Katie Couric…

ABC Focuses Oil Spill Blame on BP and Coast Guard, Not Obama; CBS Give

June 17th, 2010 5:23 PM
On Thursday's Good Morning America on ABC, co-host George Stephanopoulos laid blame on BP and Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen for mishandling the Gulf oil spill response but depicted the Obama administration as having done everything it could. In contrast, on the CBS Early Show, guests from both sides of the aisle gave the President a 'C' grade for his response.  At the top of Good Morning America…

ABC's Stephanopoulos Lobbs Softballs to Gibbs; CBS and NBC Provide Cha

June 15th, 2010 1:30 PM
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made the rounds on the network morning shows on Tuesday, ahead of President Obama's prime time Oval Office address on the Gulf oil spill. While he had confrontational interviews on CBS's Early Show and NBC's Today, on ABC's Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos made sure Gibbs's appearance was low-stress.Stephanopoulos kept the questions…