CBS Runs Out of Time Before Getting to Biden's China Gaffe; Covers It

August 26th, 2011 6:56 PM
CBS referenced Vice President Joe Biden's recent gaffe about "fully understanding" China's one-child policy on Friday's Early Show as "off-the-cuff remarks" and "interesting comments," but failed to get to it during the segment. Anchor Chris Wragge merely explained that viewers would find "more on that on our website." Oddly, Wragge and his colleagues did broach the subject in an online video…

CBS's O'Donnell Suggests Obama's Reelection is a Done Deal

August 2nd, 2011 4:24 PM
CBS's Norah O'Donnell played the role of a clairvoyant on Tuesday's Early Show as she hinted that President Obama's reelection is assured in 2012. Anchor Erica Hill asked O'Donnell how the White House viewed the debt ceiling bill. She replied, "I think they feel like this was... not necessarily a victory for the President. He did get an extension of this debt ceiling through 2012 and through…

CBS Promotes Taxing 'Fattening, Non-Nutritious' Food

July 26th, 2011 5:34 PM
CBS's Michelle Miller leaned towards supporters of taxing junk food on Tuesday's Early Show, playing three sound bites from them and none from opponents. Miller only made one vague reference to the opposing side, and she immediately followed it by playing up the supposedly positive result of a tax: "While some say a new tax is the last thing we need, it could mean a healthier America." The…

CBS's Idea of Average Minnesotans on Shutdown: Two State Employees and

July 15th, 2011 6:49 PM
[Update, 11:10 am Monday July 18: Jenn Theis was identified on-screen by CBS as a "laid-off government worker." She wrote us to clarify that she was actually employed by a private business that is regulated by the Minnesota racing commission. Another guest from that segment, Chris Lapakko, wrote the author on Twitter on Saturday to call him a "dick;" see screen cap here.] CBS turned to three…

CBS Badgers Republicans on the Economy; Went Easier on Obama

June 14th, 2011 7:54 PM
CBS hounded four Republicans from the left during a town hall on the economy which aired on Tuesday's Early Show. Bob Schieffer, Erica Hill, and Rebecca Jarvis pressed Reps. Paul Ryan and Allen West, Senator Tom Coburn, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to consider tax hikes to deal with the deficit. Schieffer also specifically accused the three members of Congress of "doing nothing" to…

Networks Chide: GOP Debate Was a 'Race to 'Out-Bash the President' Wit

June 14th, 2011 1:00 PM
The morning shows on Tuesday used loaded terms to describe Monday's Republican presidential debate. According to Good Morning America's John Berman, it was a "two-hour race to out-bash the President." On the Today show, Chuck Todd sniffed that "much of the affair was an anti-Obama sound bite contest." CBS's Early Show proved to be more mild. Co-host Erica Hill recounted, "Attacking Obama.…

CBS Grills Breitbart on Sherrod Issue; Casts Doubt on His Credibility

June 7th, 2011 8:59 PM
On Tuesday's Early Show, CBS's Erica Hill pressed Andrew Breitbart over the Shirley Sherrod issue, highlighting how he "never apologized to her." Hill and reporter Joel Brown noted the "multi-million dollar defamation suit" Sherrod filed against Breitbart and turned to a journalist who touted how the blogger is "very defensive about his credibility and...realizes that he has these strikes…

CBS Smacks Romney on Auto Industry Bailout; Goes Easier on DNC Chair

June 4th, 2011 2:04 PM
CBS's Erica Hill hounded newly-announced Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday's Early Show about his 2008 proposal to allow the Big Three auto companies to go into bankruptcy proceedings instead of bailing them out: "Based on what we've seen in the auto industry, weren't you wrong in this case?" By contrast, her co-anchor, Chris Wragge, went easier on DNC Chair Debbie…

CBS: Palin Risks 'Rubbing Voters The Wrong Way' By Turning Only to Fox

May 31st, 2011 7:02 PM
CBS's Erica Hill strongly hinted on Monday's Early Show that Sarah Palin's "extended flirtation...with running" for president and speaking only to Fox News to the detriment of the rest of the media would sour her with the voters. Hill asked former Mitt Romney aide Kevin Madden, "Does any of this risk though rubbing voters the wrong way?" The anchor brought on Madden and former Clinton…

Morning Shows Bombard Pawlenty With Attacks From a Liberal 'Republican

May 23rd, 2011 12:16 PM
All three morning shows on Monday bombarded Tim Pawlenty with a variety of liberal complaints and demands. ABC and NBC singled out an Obama-supporting "Republican" who slammed the presidential candidate's fiscal management of Minnesota. CBS repeatedly lobbied Pawlenty to raise taxes. Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos identified ex-Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson as "one of your…

CBS Turns to Clinton Publicist Jamie Rubin to Boost Obama's Israel Rem

May 20th, 2011 4:14 PM
On Friday's Early Show, CBS called upon Clinton administration alumnus Jamie Rubin to act as a flack for the current Obama White House and to comment on the President's speech on the Middle East. Rubin lamented the President's poor approval rating in Israel: "Unfortunately- and this is unfortunate for everyone, I think...Obama doesn't have the huge popularity in Israel that, perhaps, President…

CBS Gives Obama Over 26 Minutes to Lecture on the Economy

May 12th, 2011 4:24 PM
CBS gave President Obama over 26 and a half minutes to answer 12 questions related to the economy during a town hall aired on Thursday's Early Show. Obama got six uninterrupted minutes to answer one question about Medicare during the hour-long event. Host Erica Hill wondered how the Democrat could "change the mind-set from things are tough to things are turning around" with the economy. Hill…

CBS First of Big Three to Give Obama Air Time After Announcing Reelect

May 6th, 2011 6:07 PM
CBS announced on Friday its plans for a "special town hall meeting on the economy" featuring President Obama. Network personalities Bob Schieffer and Erica Hill will host the event. This announcement comes just over a month after the Democrat officially started his reelection campaign, and on the same week that the President's approval ratings on the economy reached a new low according to a CBS…

In Libya Interview, Sawyer Asks Obama About Praying Like Lincoln and

March 30th, 2011 9:14 AM
The broadcast evening news anchors all got ten minutes with President Barack Obama on Tuesday afternoon in New York City to press him about contradictions in his Libya policy, ceding authority for foreign entities and how he’s a hypocrite after his criticism of President Bush for unilateral actions and not getting congressional approval, but instead they simply prodded him to provide arms to…