Dayhoff Soundtrack: MRC Alert: Shameful: NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Links Boston Explosion to GOP, Others Pile On

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

MRC Alert: Shameful: NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Links Boston Explosion to GOP, Others Pile On

MRC Alert: Shameful: NY Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Links Boston Explosion to GOP, Others Pile On

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 09:15 AM ET

1. Shameful: New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof Links Boston Explosion to GOP, Others Pile On
Never let a tragedy go to waste. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on Monday quickly used the explosions in Boston for political gain, linking the Republican Party to the horrific act. At 4:10pm, Kristof tweeted, "explosion is a reminder that ATF needs a director. Shame on Senate Republicans for blocking apptment." Kristof then tweeted a link to a Washington Post story about Senator Charles Grassley questioning the fitness of Obama's Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms nominee. Kristof's comments earned a rebuke from the liberal Politico. Dylan Byers reported, "Kristof's tweet earned a number of responses expressing either anger or bafflement."

2. Chris Matthews: 'Normally' Domestic Terrorists 'Tend to Be on the Far Right'
Just hours after explosions rocked the Boston Marathon on Monday, Chris Matthews speculated, "Normally domestic terrorists, people, tend to be on the far right." He then reconsidered and suggested, "...That’s not a good category, just extremists, let’s call them that." During live coverage, the Hardball host highlighted a possible explosion at John F. Kennedy's presidential library and thought this could be a personal attack on the Democratic Party: "...But going after the Kennedy Library, not something at Bunker Hill, not something from the Freedom Trail or anything that kind of historic, but a modern political figure of the Democratic Party. Does that tell you something?" (Police are now considering the incident at the JFK library to be fire-related.) One can only guess what it tells Chris.

3. CBS Ends Blackout on Gosnell Trial, Spotlights How 'Firestorm' Went 'Viral'; ABC, NBC Still Out to Lunch
CBS finally ended their on-air coverage blackout of the Kermit Gosnell's murder trial on Monday's CBS This Morning, airing two segments on the story a month after opening arguments began. Jan Crawford acknowledged that the Gosnell case "has received little national news coverage". Meanwhile, ABC and NBC's morning and evening newscasts continue to ignore the ongoing legal proceedings against the abortionist. Crawford pointed out how conservatives "accused the media of ignoring the story because what it called a bias in favor of abortion rights", and how those "charges went viral on Twitter". She even played a sound bite from a former attorney for the murder suspect who questioned the national news media's lack of coverage of the trial.

4. NBC Mentions Criticism of Media Censoring Gosnell Abortion Case...On Its Website
While NBC News continued to ignore the trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell on its airwaves, an NBCNews.com article posted Saturday made brief mention of the media blackout: "Conservative bloggers, including at RedState and National Review, have lashed out this week at national media organizations for not paying enough attention to the gruesome trial of a Philadelphia abortion provider accused of killing seven late-term fetuses after they were born alive." Careful to use the term "fetuses," rather than "infants" or "children," staff writer Erin McClam did not address the validity of the criticism or acknowledge the fact that her network has refused to give any air time to the trial.

5. ABC Is So Intent on Pushing Gun Control, the Network Twice Played Rival NBC's SNL Parody
ABC has aggressively pushed Barack Obama's gun control scheme in recent weeks. But on Sunday and Monday, the network resorted to playing clips of a rival channel's comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Sunday's World News and Monday's Good Morning America both touted Democratic talking points, lamenting how hard it is to get such legislation passed. On Monday morning, Jon Karl hyped, "Congress is just not eager to enact new gun laws. A fact lampooned on Saturday Night Live." He then featured a clip of comedian Jay Pharoah impersonating Obama. Pharoah mocked, "This week, the Senate voted 68-31 to begin debating the idea of discussing gun control. Let me say that again. They have agreed to think about talking about gun control." On Sunday's World News, reporter Rena Ninan didn't even bother coming up with much of a justification. She simply introduced, "Saturday Night Live, overnight."

6. Harrison Ford Tells NBC's Gregory Obama Doing 'Wonderful Job'; Blames Media for Political Divisiveness
At the end of an interview with actor Harrison Ford for the NBC Meet the Press web-based feature Press Pass, about his role in a new film about Jackie Robinson, host David Gregory turned to politics: "I know you're politically conscious, politically active. What is your view of the state of things, and the state of the President's performance?" Ford replied: "I think the President is doing, you know, all things considered, a wonderful job." He then blamed the media for political division in country: "I wish that the country were not so fractious as it is at the moment. I blame a lot of that on the press and the news business. And I wish it wasn't so. And I think it makes things very difficult..."

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