Williams Frets Plight of Blacks Dismissed as Focus is on 'Tax Cuts for Wealthy'

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Friday September 16, 2011 @ 10:21 AM ET

1. Williams Frets Plight of Blacks Dismissed as Focus is Instead on 'Tax Cuts for the Wealthy'
Monday's NBC Nightly News featured Brian Williams' questions from the left to President Barack Obama about liberal exasperation with the President and on Thursday night Williams re-purposed that interview again, this time as a hook to devote nearly six minutes to how African-Americans are disappointed with Obama as Williams advanced the agenda of two left-wing activists, one of them from PBS. "A lot of African-Americans in this country are getting flat out crushed in this economy," Williams noted before fretting over how instead the "DC debate is often admittedly about tax cuts for the wealthy." He then promoted the cause of two far-leftists: "Princeton Professor Cornel West and television host Tavis Smiley have been on a self-titled poverty tour, at times sharply critical and calling on the President to act. It's something I asked the President about during our White House interview."

2. ABC Breaks, Then Ignores Own Scoop on Obama Administration and Solyndra
On Tuesday and Wednesday's World News, reporter Brian Ross exposed e-mails indicating that the Obama administration gave a $535 million loan to the green company Solyndra, despite deep misgivings inside the government about its viability. Yet, Good Morning America has declined to follow-up on the ABC scoop. GMA completely ignored the story, failing to even mention it in a news brief. The morning show did, however, find time to devote over five minutes to the divorce of reality TV star Michaele Salahi. While his own network minimized the new developments, Ross was able to explain the details on Wednesday's O'Reilly Factor.

3. Matthews Delights in 'Ripping Scab' Off 'Ignorant,' Intellectual-Hating GOP
Chris Matthews on Thursday delighted in slamming "ignorant" Republicans and their hostility for anyone "who's even slightly an intellectual." Matthews began a segment on the Republican Party's supposed hatred of science by gleefully announcing, "This is going to rip the scab off of with all the conservatives watching." The Hardball host wondered if the "GOP [has] become a party that celebrates ignorance." He continued, " Look at how the presidential candidates in the field proudly oppose mainstream scientific thought like, well, global warming, evolution."

4. Today Show Gives Platform for Writer McGinniss to Hawk New Palin-Bashing Book
NBC's Today touted an "exclusive" interview Thursday with Sarah Palin stalker and author Joe McGinniss, smearing the former governor with unsubstantiated allegations. NBC didn't try to prove them. They just spread them. Fill-in co-host Savannah Guthrie proclaimed: "Stunning allegations made about Sarah Palin in a bombshell book. Is she really the hockey mom she claims to be? How strong is her marriage to Todd?...Does she use her children as props?"

5. NBC Offers Scant Coverage of Big Dem Loss in NY Special Election
The Today show, which is a four hour program, on Wednesday devoted a scant 43 seconds of air time to a surprising loss by Democrats in a New York special congressional election. Both CBS and ABC offered more expansive coverage. ABC's Good Morning America saw the election of Republican Bob Turner as a "stunning upset." Referencing another GOP win in Nevada, host George Stephanopoulos surprisingly speculated, "Landslide victories for Republicans in two key races. Could these early wins spell big trouble for President Obama?"

6. NYT's Nagourney Disappointed in Lack of Reagan Criticism at Reagan Library
Disappointing absolutely no one, except maybe New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney: "...there is no plan to mark the 25th anniversary of the Iran-contra scandal, Reagan museum officials said." He also faulted the fact that "There is also a sympathetic accounting of the impact of Reagan's economic policies that has drawn questions from Democrats and economic historians."

7. NBC Interrupts 9-11 Commemoration to Scold Iraq War
Just as they did right after the killing of Osama bin Laden back in May, NBC's Brian Williams and Richard Engel interrupted Sunday morning's ceremonies marking the tenth annivesary of the 9/11 attacks to pontificate against the war in Iraq. At about 9:30am on Sunday, during live coverage of the events at Ground Zero, Williams instructed the audience: "Iraq had nothing do with this." Correspondent Richard Engel quickly echoed: "Iraq had nothing to do with this," before complaining: "And that message is still lost today."