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The Washington Post’s Style section conducted a survey of who could fill the most-trusted void left behind by Walter Cronkite. A series of liberal-media heroes were named: Brian Williams, Bill Moyers, Jim Lehrer, Barbara Walters, Fareed Zakaria, Garrison Keillor, and Jon Stewart. But several people skipped the media stars and selected the Obamas. ABC Nightline correspondent Vicki Mabrey nominated Michelle as a Cronkite replacement: "Rosie the Riveter for our times in a designer gown. You just want to be her best friend forever."

TAPPER: On April 20th -- I know you remember when the president said that he'd asked all the Cabinet secretaries to identify at least $100 million in additional cuts to their administrative budgets, separate and apart from the work Orszag and the rest of the team did. And they were required to report back with their savings at the end of 90 days. So that was 91 days ago, and I'm wondering if you guys have any list of the spending cuts. GIBBS: The -- those are being reviewed now, and we'll release something in the coming days. TAPPER: OK,...

In light of recent reports that Vice President Cheney had ordered the CIA to withhold information about a counterrorism program that was being planned during the Bush administration, on Sunday ABCÂ’s George Stephanopoulos on both Good Morning America and on This Week suggested that the revelations may be "vindication" for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or that they at least "bolster" her claims about the CIA lying to her. Stephanopoulos even seemed to be pushing Pelosi to claim "vindication" even while the SpeakerÂ’s office was reluctant to do so. Stephanopoulos, from Good Morning America: "I spoke with Speaker Pelosi's office about...

First on TVNewser: Yesterday afternoon, ABC News correspondent Chris Connelly sat down with Michael Jackson's father Joe Jackson -- Jackson's first one-on-one interview since his son's death. A small portion was used on "Nightline" last night, more of it today on "Good Morning America" and insiders tell us the interview may be used in an hour-long "Family Secrets" special Tuesday night. But it didn't come free. TVNewser has learned ABC News paid upwards of $200,000 for rights to video featuring Joe and Katherine Jackson - and with it, the interview with Joe Jackson. A source close to the situation tells...

On first glance, the snapshot appears to show President Obama caught in a moment of less than lofty analysis. But upon looking at the video, the moment seems to appear quite innocent -- one of those times when a picture can be misleading. The president was on a higher step and was stepping down -- so he looked down to assure his footing as the woman was walking up the stairs.

Reporters from roughly 30 television networks, newspapers, magazines, and web sites celebrated the Fourth of July with Barack Obama at the White House last weekend. Why didn't you know that? Because they were sworn to secrecy. We reported yesterday that Politico's Mike Allen was spotted milling about as a guest at the White House's "backyard bash" by the pool reporter, who was allowed into the event for 40 minutes and kept in a pen before being ushered out. When Allen quoted from the pool report in his Playbook column the next day, he deleted a reference to his own name...

Despite devoting almost the entire Good Morning America program on Tuesday to Michael Jackson, ABC could only find three minutes for a hard-hitting Jake Tapper interview with Barack Obama. And even though co-host Diane Sawyer promised at the close of the piece, "And we'll have more of the President's interview with Jake Tapper later in the broadcast," the show never returned. Tapper, who was in Moscow to cover Obama's summit with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, quizzed, "Whether it's this summit with President Medvedev, or anything else, can you point to any reason why you're encouraged that your approach to Iran...

Palin Derangement Syndrome On Sunday's Talk Shows The press still shows that it is out of touch with the American people. As expected, the Sunday talk show circuit the discussion centered around Governor Palin's surprising resignation on Friday. But rather the talk center around whether it was a good or bad move for her political career, it was more of the usual Palin Derangement Syndrome. Take example ABC New's "This Democratic Party Week With the Guy Who has morning Conference Calls with Democratic Party Strategists, George Stephanopoulos" When the discussion got to the Palin resignation both the Democratic strategist/host Stephanopoulos...

According to link 1, the CPM rate for network television is $ 20 to 40 per thousand unique viewers. And link two outlines that ABC got 4.703 million viewers on that night. So if we treat this as a standard run of the mill advertisement(which it was, a pure political advertisement) we would have to come to the conclusion that in terms of campaign ad equivalency ABC donated 2,821,200 dollars to help out the effort. (I chose the lowest number; 20 CPM. I also didn't take into account for the length of said ad. Most ads are what.... 1 or...

Some quotes of the day...a good read before you head out of the office for the 4th... “The fact of the matter is that the unemployment rate is much worse than the administration contemplated or that most people expected,” Economist Paul Krugman, to ABC’s Jennifer Parker “My rear end is on the line, just like yours. I’m the guy in charge of this deal. So if it doesn’t work, it’s me.” - Vice President Joe Biden, quoted in Time Magazine, on the success or failure of the stimulus package. "If you account for those who have given up looking for...

Now we see what is important to ABC

How are Democrats and President Obama going to pay for Government Run Health Care? Video Of The Real Obamcare NEW RNC TV AD "Bipartisan" Video NEW RNC TV AD

Media Bias: ABC's prime-time special starring President Obama was shameless journalistic favoritism. But as a promotional event, it backfired; the broadcast revealed no public demand for his vision of health reform.After announcing that it would carve out a valuable evening slot for what might best be called "The Health Care Show Starring Barack Obama," ABC assured the public it would be no glorified White House infomercial. But an analysis of the broadcast's content indicates otherwise. The program's real name was "Questions for the President: Prescription for America." But it was more like "Long Answers from the President." Obama had plenty...

A full day’s worth of single-payer friendly health care coverage on ABC was just what President Barack Obama’s doctor ordered. The president hopes to radically change the country’s current health care system, so he enlisted his one of his more powerful constituents -- ABC News -- for help. The network devoted significant chunks of its daily programming Wednesday [June 24] to Obama’s plan to broaden the country’s health care system to cover all Americans without giving opponents a chance to respond. And the president delivered, filibustering the tougher questions during the town hall Q&A and ladling out the kind of...

ABC's Sam Donaldson appeared on Thursday's Good Morning America to talk about the developing Mark Sanford scandal and loudly assert that it's hard to forgive Bible-thumping Republicans for their sexual transgressions. He began by deriding, "The problem Republicans have, so many of them are sanctimonious." AUDIO AVAILABLE HERE : http://media.eyeblast.org/newsbusters/static/2009/06/2009-06-25-ABC-GMA-Donaldson.mp3 The longtime contributor continued his attack on members of the GOP who get caught up in sex scandals: "They thump the Bible. They condemn everyone else, and when they- human- they don’t have much credit in the bank for forgiveness." Donaldson, who appeared with fellow ABC contributor Cokie Roberts, did...

Despite ABC’s best efforts, Americans stayed away in droves from the primetime healthcare infomercial (h/t Glenn Reynolds): President Obama’s town hall meeting on health care delivered a sickly rating Wednesday evening. The one-hour ABC News special “Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America” (4.7 million viewers, 1.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) had the fewest viewers in the 10 p.m. hour (against NBC’s “The Philanthropist” debut and a repeat of “CSI: NY” on CBS). The special tied some 8 p.m. comedy repeats as the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network. The special was shot at the White House and...

Seriously. What were they thinking? The health care “town hall” event at the White House staged by ABCNews was clearly intended as part of Pres. Obama’s week-long PR blitz to bolster the case for health care reform, to be followed today with rallies funded and organized by the Usual Suspects.

"ABC News has more than earned the title of the All Barack Channel, they have recklessly fought to achieve it," Media Research Center President Brent Bozell stated in a press release today. The network had promised to deliver a health care presentation that would "not be ‘slanted' in any way - much less a ‘day-long infomercial' or ‘in-kind free advertising'," but not a single expert was offered to counter President Obama's plan to nationalize the nation's health care industry.

President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people -- like the president himself -- wouldn't face. The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson. Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge...

In a rare moment of candor, President Obama explained to an audience how government-run healthcare would work in America....Obama suggested at a town hall event Wednesday night that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive and ultimately futile procedures performed on people who are about to die and don't stand to gain from the extra care.

ABC's White House special struggled for viewers President Obama's town hall meeting on health care delivered a sickly rating Wednesday evening. The one-hour ABC News special "Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America" (4.7 million viewers, 1.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating) had the fewest viewers in the 10 p.m. hour. The special tied some 8 p.m. comedy repeats as the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network. The special was shot at the White House and featured the president answering questions about his health care plan. The president's primary message was that those who like their current insurance will...

[Snip] STURM:My question to you is, outside the medical criteria for prolonging life for somebody elderly, is there any consideration that can be given for a certain spirit, a certain joy of living, quality of life? Or is it just a medical cutoff at a certain age? [Snip] GIBSON: But the money may not have been there for her pacemaker or for your grandmother's hip replacement. [Snip] OBAMA: But what we can do is make sure that at least some of the waste that exists in the system that's not making anybody's mom better, that is loading up on additional...

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/25/obamas-michael-dukakis-moment/ Barack Obama got ABC to move their news division into the White House in order to make the big pitch for his egalitarian, everyone-gets-treated-equally ObamaCare push. Instead, Obama fumbled into a Michael Dukakis moment that exposed him as a hypocrite. ABC itself leads with Obama’s response that he wouldn’t stay within his own plan for his family:

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of senators at work on health care reported progress Thursday in holding the cost of legislation to their $1 trillion target, but Republicans quickly added there was no agreement on even the outlines of a bill. "We have options that would enable us to write a $1 trillion bill, fully paid for," Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters. His comments came one week after analysts set the cost of earlier proposals at $1.6 trillion over 10 years. The Montana Democrat provided no details, but others have said the changes made...

He talked for 45 minutes during ABC's "Health Care" infomercial! It's clear to anyone who has ever dozed through an Obama speech that the man likes the sound of his own voice. He's known for rambling, long winded speechifying even in press conferences. ABC's all Obama all day long extravaganza Wednesday was no different. Obama answered one question from the handpicked crew of supporters attending the Town Hall style event on health care with a vague monologue that went on for four minutes and thirty three seconds. No doubt leaving many viewers scrambling for the remote or praying for a...

ABC’s Primetime: Questions for the President managed but a 1.2 demo rating.Full details: Time Net Show 18-49 Rating 18-49 Share 18-34 Rating 18-34 Share Viewers Live+SD (million) 8:00 FOX So You Think You Can Dance? 2.7 9 2.7 10 7.297 ABC Wipeout 2.7 9 2.2 8 7.715 NBC I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! (finale) 1.5 5 1.2 4 4.402 CBS New Adventures of Old Christine (repeat) 1.1 4 0.7 3 4.761 CW America’s Next Top Model (repeat) 0.5 2 0.5 2 1.149 8:30 CBS Gary Unmarried (repeat) 1.1 3 0.7 2 4.373 9:00 NBC America’s Got Talent 3.1...

I am wondering when the euthanasia folks are going to start touting this one? I mean, it sure seemed to me as if the most caring, most civil, most intelligent president evah just said that healthcare could be cheaper if we don’t give old folks and the infirm the full measure of care they now get. It appeared that Obama said we should just let them die or suffer because they aren’t worth the effort. Imagine if Bush had said something like this? The left wouldn’t have hesitated to call him any manner of names. Obama said during the ABC...

Reporting from Washington -- President Obama suggested at a town hall event Wednesday night that one way to shave medical costs is to stop expensive and ultimately futile procedures performed on people who are about to die and don't stand to gain from the extra care. In a nationally televised event at the White House, Obama said families need better information so they don't unthinkingly approve "additional tests or additional drugs that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care."

Elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance. Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get. The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if "it's my...

ABC News: Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance. Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or...

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

I am wondering when the euthanasia folks are going to start touting this one? I mean, it sure seemed to me as if the most caring, most civil, most intelligent president evah just said that healthcare could be cheaper if we don't give old folks and the infirm the full measure of care they now get. It appeared that Obama said we should just let them die or suffer because they aren't worth the effort. Imagine if Bush had said something like this? The left wouldn't have hesitated to call him any manner of names. Obama said during the ABC...

As the country considers major reforms to the health care system, ABC News wants to hear from you. What question would you want to ask the president about health care? What story would you share?

Live thread for commentary on the ABC News Primetime ObamaCare Infomercial tonight at 9:00 PM CT/10:00 PM ET. John Boehner recommends this handy guide to the healthcare informercial from The Freedom Project.A Guide to the President's Health Care Infomercial Obama's Thinking 'Evolves' on Health Care Requirements Acknowledging that his thinking on the issue has "evolved," President Barack Obama says he could support a law mandating that individuals purchase health care coverage, with fines for those who do not, but he stressed that there must be some kind of waiver for those who are simply unable to afford it. (snip) During...

Bills structured to improve health care for Americans are currently being drafted in Congress. The President will address the American people on ABC tonight to discuss why an expansion of Medicaid is needed. Many believe that these efforts will bring the U.S. one step closer to socialized medicine, others contend that the government should provide health care. So far no discussion has been set forth explaining how it will be paid, nor what kind of impact it would have on the already struggling private sector. With many industrialized nations providing universal health care to its citizens, many in the U.S....

Last year during the height of the Democratic presidential primary, I produced a video mash-up that captured the media's infatuation with then-candidate Barack Obama. The video features glowing broadcast segments, news clips and magazine covers about Obama set to the audio of The B-52s singing their 1980s hit, "Love Shack." With ABC News headed to President Obama's love shack today for a one-sided special report on healthcare policy, the video seems even more relevant now than last March. Enjoy!

It seems that congressional criticism about the fairness of the ABC News Obamacare show tonight has struck a nerve in the president of that organization, David Westin to such an extent that he has responded via letter in a less than pleased manner. What sparked this testy reaction was a letter signed by 40 members of Congress that was sent yesterday by the Congressional Media Fairness Caucus to ABC News president, David Westin, criticizing the fairness of the health care special: Dear Mr. Westin,Health care reform is an extemely complex issue involving one of the largest sectors of the economy....

When Barack Obama spoke on the weekend to a black-tie audience of the nation's leading television journalists, the inside jokes were very definitely on them. "A few nights ago, I was up tossing and turning, trying to figure out exactly what to say," Obama said at the annual Radio and Television Correspondents Association dinner. "Finally, when I couldn't get back to sleep, I rolled over and asked Brian Williams what he thought." The punch line aimed at the NBC Nightly News anchor - who recently hosted a warm and fuzzy, two-night prime time White House special on Obama - produced...

ABC News on lapel flags after 9/11: “Overseas, it could be perceived that we’re just mouthpieces for the U.S. government, and that can place our journalists in danger.” ABC News on having any debate President Obama’s health care plan: “I would have thought that a subject as important as the health care received by the American people would rise above this sorry spectacle.” The same network that ordered its reporters not to wear the flag on their apparel after 9/11 for fear that someone would see the American Broadcasting Company as favoring one side — our side — in the...

I heard ABC News report on the radio at 2:00 PM today that made me sick. They had "sources" that stated that the "Neda" video of her being shot and dying on the street "was definitely not from an Iranian security force" and "appeared to be staged to get international attention". I guess I can't be too surprised. The liberals at ABC News are running propoganda broadcasts for Obama, so why not for the Iranian dictators? Besides, that fight for freedom in Iran is none of our business. ABC and the rest of the American left need to squelch it...

Breaking: TVNewser has learned the CBS Evening News has once again set an all-time low last week with 4.89 million Total Viewers and 1.42 million A25-54 viewers. But it was also the lowest (since records began in the 1991-'92 season) for ABC's World News with Charles Gibson. The Gibson program drew 6.42 million Total Viewers and 1.77 million A25-54 viewers.

ABC will air the special from the White House during primetime on June 24. "Prescription for America," to be moderated by ABC News' Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, will originate from the East Room and will feature the president explaining his plans for reforming the nation's healthcare system. Officials with the network claim they will air opposing views, that the audience that will offer up questions for the president during the program will be made up of Americans "who have divergent opinions" in the debate on national healthcare. However, critics think the network will basically be providing President Obama and...

Boycott ABC on June 24th! Watch Fox News or better yet, turn off the tube and read a book. Let ABC ratings plummet and let EgObama's head shrink a wee bit when no one cares or gives rats &&^%! what he has to say about his socialist medicine! Watch it on YouTube the next day or TIVO it, but do not tune in on that broadcast! hmmm, if I TIVO/DVR a show, does it get registered as a rated viewer? If it does, then don't TIVO it or do anything to allow the ABC ratings to climb. :-)

They signal economic impatience. A still-impressive 65 percent of Americans in this new ABC News/Washington Post poll approve of Obama's job performance. But there's been a retrenchment in the expectation that his stimulus plan will improve the economy -- and, consequently, a halt in what had been steadily improving views of the nation's direction.

It takes a village.

Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer popped up on Sunday's Reliable Sources and swore that ABC's much-scrutinized health care special with President Obama "won't be an infomercial." She also seriously touted the objectivity of the network, cheering, "I know that our network has worked very, very hard to be completely-completely responsible and fair and serious about big issues."

Media types often have a habit of masking their true beliefs in their online blogs in attempt to maintain the fiction that they are "unbiased." One such blog that comes to mind is the Daily Nightly blog of Brian Williams in which he attempts (not always successfully) to hide his liberal bias to an extent that it comes off as quite inane. In fact, your humble correspondent has labeled the Williams blog as the Daily Dully. In stark contrast to the Williams ennui is the new John Stossel blog of ABC News, John Stossel's Take, which began less than two...

ABC News is lending itself to the Obama administration for the night of Wednesday, June 24, for a live broadcast of ABC World News Tonight from the Blue Room of the White House. This will be followed by an hour-long primetime special entitled "Prescription for America," which will advocate the Obama health care plan. The Republican National Committee noted that with the absence of opposing views, the programming amounts to little more than a campaign commercial -- one that should rightly be paid for by the Democratic National Committee. ABC predictably took offense and claimed that it will have complete...

Media Bias: As much of the U.S. private sector, including health care providers, resists government takeovers, what a sorry sight to see ABC News leap forward to make itself a propaganda arm of the government.But that's the story as ABC crosses the line from journalism to advocacy in turning its coverage of health care over to the White House. This Wednesday, on every show from "Good Morning America" (kicking things off with an interview with the president) to "World News Tonight" (broadcast from the Blue Room) to a prime-time special called "Prescription for America" (and emanating from the East Room),...

As indignation turned to outrage Thursday among critics of an ABC News prime-time special on President Obama's health care policy, The Washington Times has learned that ABC employees gave 80 times as much money to Mr. Obama's 2008 campaign for president than to his rival's.