CNN Deflects Scrutiny Away From Rapper's Violent Lyrics, Dismisses Con

May 12th, 2011 5:00 PM
On Thursday morning, CNN largely dismissed the controversy over the White House invite of rapper Common, using talking points from the White House and Comedy Central's Daily Show to marginalize conservative critics. Anchor Carol Costello deflected attention away from the rapper's violent lyrics by quoting a rap of his that has a pro-life message. She quoted none of his violent lyrics,…

Sarah Palin Cuts Off Unauthorized CNN Interview

December 4th, 2010 6:35 PM
Sarah Palin on Thursday cut off an unauthorized interview with CNN. As his crew was taking footage of the former Alaska governor signing books at an Iowa Walmart, Jim Acosta tried to take advantage of the situation by asking her a few questions (video follows with transcript and commentary):

CNN's Acosta and Costello Parrot Obama Talking Points on Offshore Dril

June 25th, 2010 4:45 PM
CNN's Carol Costello and Jim Acosta revealed their disdain for a federal judge's decision to overturn the Obama administration's 6-month moratorium on offshore drilling when the expert they interviewed on the June 25 "American Morning" made a convincing case against the moratorium.Tom Bower, an author who has written extensively on the oil industry, tried to explain the devastating economic…

AP Humanizes Times Square Terror Suspect, Cites 'Unraveled' Life

May 5th, 2010 4:25 PM
John Christoffersen's article for the Associated Press on Tuesday night highlighted the life woes of Faisal Shahzad, the suspect in the failed Times Square bombing plot, citing how "his life seemed to unravel." Christoffersen also noted Shazad's "outspokenness about [former] President George W. Bush and the Iraq war."The AP writer's article, titled "Times Square bombing suspect's life had…

CNN: 'Pressure' of Foreclosure Contributing Factor to NYC Terror Plot

May 4th, 2010 4:40 PM
On Tuesday's American Morning, CNN's Jim Acosta sympathized with the suspect in the failed Times Square terror plot, Faisal Shahzad, citing how a guest claimed that his family's house in Connecticut went into foreclosure in 2009: "One would have to imagine that that brought a lot of pressure and a lot of heartache on that family" [see video here].Acosta remarked on Shahzad's familial difficulty…

Bozell Column: Tea Parties vs. Hard-Left Protests

April 14th, 2010 7:58 AM
In the mind’s eye of the conservative movement, the Tea Party phenomenon right now is maybe the crucial factor in slowing socialism in Washington, on everything from the federal health care takeover to the hidden taxes of cap-and-trade legislation. It’s also a fascinating visual. When was the last time you saw such a spontaneous eruption of conservative grass-roots anger, coast to coast? On both…

CNN's Acosta Omits Liberal View of Protesters, Highlights 5th Grader

March 10th, 2010 6:47 PM
CNN's Jim Acosta omitted the left-wing affiliation of pro-ObamaCare protesters during a report on Wednesday's American Morning, referring to them as only "health care advocates and labor groups." Acosta, like his colleague Nancy Cordes at CBS, also highlighted child protester Marcelas Owens, and labeled him a "brave young man."Kiran Chetry and John Roberts introduced Acosta's report, and the…

The Short Memory of Rick Sanchez and His Tea Party Coverage

March 10th, 2010 3:14 PM
In an event most likely coordinated with help from the White House, more than 1,000 protesters supporting Obama's radical health care agenda demonstrated in D.C. on March 9, going so far as to attempt a citizen-arrests of health insurance executives holding a conference at a hotel in Dupont Circle. Covering the story on "Rick's List," CNN's Rick "Down the Middle" Sanchez assured viewers he would…

CNN's Acosta: Tea Partiers are 'Recession-Raging Conservatives

February 3rd, 2010 3:54 PM
[Update, 5:24 pm Eastern: Audio and video clips from Acosta’s report added.]CNN’s Jim Acosta continued his network’s bias against tea party protesters on Wednesday’s American Morning by depicting them as “recession raging,” and questioned one participant over her depiction of President Obama as the personification of death: “Do you think having the President dressed up as the Grim Reaper is a…

CNN Smears CEI with False Funding Info

December 10th, 2009 11:11 AM
Despite teasing the segment as NASA's "ClimateGate of its own," CNN's "American Morning" did its best to present global warming as the problem and discredit skeptics by misreporting their funding on Dec. 10. Correspondent Jim Acosta reported that NASA's climate data "shows the earth is getting hotter and changing fast" and quoted NASA scientist Thorsten Markus, who claimed rising temperatures…

CNN's American Morning Leans Towards ClimateGate Deniers

December 7th, 2009 3:10 PM
Monday’s American Morning on CNN covered the ClimateGate scandal extensively, but slanted towards those who deny that the exposed e-mails amount to much. Anchor John Roberts let the interim director of the Climate Research Unit at the center of the controversy give his talking points without question. Out of the four segments on the scandal, two featured skeptics of the theory of manmade climate…

CNN Again Touts Apparent Rise in Militia Activity

November 16th, 2009 2:34 PM
On Monday’s American Morning, CNN’s Jim Acosta rehashed a three-month-old report from the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center about the apparent rise in militia activity in the U.S., and extensively featured a militia from Michigan whose members purportedly “could not specify which of their constitutional rights are being peeled away.”Acosta didn’t use any specific ideological labels to…

CNN Again Neglects Left-Wing Affiliation of Former Health Care 'Player

October 1st, 2009 6:03 PM
CNN’s Rick Sanchez joined two of his colleagues in omitting the left-wing affiliation of Wendell Potter, a senior fellow at the Center for Media and Democracy. In fact, Sanchez went so far as to deny Potter’s alignment with liberals: “Is he [Potter] some crazy lefty? Is he Ralph Nader? Is he Dennis Kucinich? No. In fact, he’s a former player in the health insurance world.”Before the CNN anchor…

CNN Pushes Massachusetts 'Model' for Health Reform But Admits 'Rising

August 20th, 2009 2:27 PM
CNN went searching for an example of health care reform without a public option on Aug. 20. Correspondent Jim Acosta found such a “model” in Massachusetts, but downplayed the state program’s flaws. “What do you get when you take the public option out of health care reform? Well, according to some experts you get Romney Care,” Acosta said. “Three years after enacting its own version of…