Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Media Bias Tag

Posted by New Neo on May 22, 2017 19 Comments
Lately it seems as though there's a story a day reporting some new Trump administration scandal based on a leak from an anonymous government "official." We are asked to take the facts in those stories on trust, without a chance to evaluate the veracity or motives of the source of the remarks. This over-reliance on the anonymous source gives both the journalist and his/her informant an overwhelming power. The most famous anonymous source of them all, of course, was Deep Throat of Watergate fame. He was not only a seminal figure in Nixon's denouement (and thus a hero to liberals everywhere), but he was so renowned that he had his own nickname, taken from a popular porn flick. The reporters involved in the story became famous too; Bob Woodward was played by movie star Robert Redford and Carl Bernstein by Dustin Hoffman in the film "All the Presidents Men."

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on May 21, 2017 26 Comments
Bob Schieffer is an old-school newsman. There's no doubt that the former Face the Nation host leans left, but he is still capable of reporting, you know, the news. That is too much for denizens of the modern MSM to tolerate. On today's Reliable Sources on CNN, Schieffer reported the glaringly obvious truth: that President Trump gave a good speech in Saudi Arabia today. Guest host John Berman had to push back: "you know, Bob, though, that there will be people who look at that last comment you made and say you're normalizing the president." Schieffer gave the perfect response: he wasn't trying to normalize Trump, he was trying to do what reporters [are supposed to] do: report.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 21, 2017 34 Comments
As we've been discussing a lot lately, the media is in the middle of an attempt to bring down the Trump presidency. Call it a coup, a slow-motion coup, or whatever you want. False stories and conspiracy theories are invented and rolled out daily based almost entirely on anonymous sources for the obvious purpose of freezing the administration, enabling corrupting leaks from the bureaucracy, and making it impossible to govern.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on May 20, 2017 26 Comments
On Joy Reid's show this morning, MSNBC terrorism analyst Malcolm Nance said that if the United States "were some third-world nation right now, we'd be watching the army to see if the tanks are getting ready to move for a coup. Or if a guy jumps on a plane and flies to Monaco with all the money from the state." Sounds like a "helpful" suggestion/wishful thinking from MSNBC. Nance, by the way, is the person who nominated a Trump property for an ISIS suicide attack. To date, there's no evidence online that he has apologized or been disciplined by MSNBC.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 20, 2017 40 Comments
I'm so old, I remember when the breaking news was that James Comey was fired because he sought additional resources from the Department of Justice for the Russia investigation. The New York Times broke the story on May 10, 2017, Days Before Firing, Comey Asked for More Resources for Russia Inquiry:
Days before he was fired as F.B.I. director, James B. Comey asked the Justice Department for more prosecutors and other personnel to accelerate the bureau’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the presidential election. It was the first clear-cut evidence that Mr. Comey believed the bureau needed more resources to handle a sprawling and highly politicized counterintelligence investigation.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 19, 2017 46 Comments
Regular readers are familiar with my disdain for Trump, having been a Never Trumper prior to the election. However, once he was elected, Trump became my president because that's just how life works. (My thoughts on that here.) I'm still skeptical of Trump's ability to do the job well, but I grow increasingly aggravated with the collective political media set who seem to be doing everything in their power to destroy this presidency. We don't have an opportunity to praise or criticize the administration and their efforts because the whole of our time is spent debunking misreported claims based on anonymous sources, none of which are favorable to Trump.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 17, 2017 33 Comments
I can't recall a media feeding frenzy quite like has been directed at Donald Trump. What's remarkable about this frenzy is that it takes place in the absence -- as of now -- of any actual evidence of Trump wrongdoing, much less illegality. More on that later in the post. Sometimes I think it resembles how the media swarmed all over Mitt Romney after Benghazi in September 2012, accusing him of politicizing the deaths of four Americans. The media purpose plainly was to help Obama escape political damage by making the story about Romney. I wrote about it at the time, Dead Ambassador dragged through streets, MSM furious at Romney criticism of Obama:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on May 17, 2017 12 Comments
The most egregious part of the Trump administration is the media's coverage of the Trump administration. Dating back to campaign season Trump, political media disproportionately focused on Trump's every coming, going, meal, and insignificant oddity. Not much has changed post-election.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 15, 2017 79 Comments
The Washington Post ran a story late this afternoon claiming Donald Trump, in his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador, disclosed highly classified information, including information that could reveal sources and methods. Despite the length of the story, the allegations of substance are all in this single paragraph:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 14, 2017 24 Comments
The "impeach Trump" movement started on inauguration day, if not before.  From unserious partisans like Maxine Waters pledging her waking hours to ensuring that the president be impeached to the mainstream media chiming in with articles from the Washington Post and the New York Times. Indeed, the tempo has increased this week with the following articles being published across the mainstream press and the regressive blogosphere between May 8 and May 14:

CNN:  A running list of Democrats who have discussed impeachment

Huffington Post:  There's A Faster Way Than Russiagate To Remove Trump From Office

Huffington Post:  The End of Trump

New York Daily News:  Here’s the presidential order of succession — just in case

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 13, 2017 24 Comments
The media seems to "jump the shark" on Trump at least once a week. The newest example comes from CNN which wants you to know President Trump gets two scoops of ice cream while other people get only one. This is a real report from CNN:
Trump gets 2 scoops of ice cream, everyone else gets 1 -- and other top lines from his Time interview President Donald Trump is living every child's dream: More ice cream. According to an extensive interview with TIME Magazine, Trump's White House staff has settled into Trump's routine and know his desires, sometimes before he does.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 11, 2017 13 Comments
Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe spoke to the Senate Intelligence Committee today since President Donald Trump fired James Comey as FBI director two days ago. Well, the firing of Comey caused the MSM to go haywire, splashing out reports to heighten conspiracy theories to show the firing was political. For instance, numerous outlets reported the firing came after the FBI requested more resources for its investigation into collusion between Trump and Russia during the campaign. However, McCabe told the committee that he does not know of any requests. Interesting, huh? Even more interesting? The MSM has skimmed over this crucial part of his testimony.

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 11, 2017 13 Comments
It seems like just yesterday that "the resistance" was sure that Trump is the second coming of Hitler. With the firing of James Comey however, Trump has been transformed overnight into Richard Nixon. In the past 24 hours, countless hot takes have been written about this. Here are a few examples. Scott Lehigh writes at the Boston Globe:
Donald Trump pulls a Richard Nixon Donald Trump has just pulled a Richard Nixon. He’s fired FBI Director James Comey, a man who is leading a criminal investigation into possible collusion between Trump’s campaign circle and Russian operatives, just the way Richard Nixon fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox when his probe was getting too close.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on May 06, 2017 7 Comments
One of the regressive left's favorite pastimes is portraying Republicans as misogynists with a special affinity for rapists.  From relentless attacks on Todd Akin to their kangaroo college courts on sexual assault to hammering the religious beliefs of those who believe that life is a gift from God, even when that life begins with a sexual assault, the regressive drum beat thumps out "Republicans are evil, Republicans hate women, Republicans support rapists," and it works for them. The latest version of this dishonest meme is the widespread insistence that the American Health Care Act (AHCA) "makes rape a preexisting condition." The logic behind this claim is tortured.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on April 28, 2017 26 Comments
Whichever poison you picked this morning—CNN or MSNBC—you would have been treated to snide shots at President Trump. On CNN, responding to President Trump's statement that the presidency has turned out to be more work than expected, David Gregory sneered "thanks, Captain Obvious." Meanwhile, over on MSNBC's Morning Joe, trying to explain President Trump's more measured tone of late, Donny Deutsch wondered if maybe "the meds have changed." When Willie Geist intervened to say that there are no meds involved, Deutsch concurred, saying he was just kibitzing: "we kibitz on Morning Joe." However Donny might want to laugh it off, the fact that he and Gregory were willing to openly say what they did reflects the contempt in which the MSM holds President Trump. Can you imagine members of the liberal media saying something so snide about President Obama?

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 27, 2017 24 Comments
The Washington Post and ABC ran a poll that asked people about the information that comes from President Donald Trump and the media. Unfortunately for the media, the poll shows how little trust the public has in the media. From WaPo:
The media says President Trump makes claims that aren’t true. Trump says the media produces fake news. And in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, at least half of Americans say both Trump and the media “regularly” disseminate false information. Nobody looks good in this survey.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on April 27, 2017 13 Comments
It's unanimous! 7.5 billion to zero! No one in the entire world likes Donald Trump! That would be the conclusion you'd have to draw if you watched the segment NBC's Richard Engel prepared for today's Morning Joe on international reaction to Trump's first 100 days. From the UK to South Korea, the West Bank to Germany, there was amazing consensus against Trump. Among people Engel aired, the best anyone had to say about Trump was British news anchor Alistair Stewart's observation that at least we've literally survived his first 100 days. Said Stewart: there isn't "all-out nuclear conflict—although it is openly talked about."
Accessibility by WAH