So True! More Double-Standard at Play

[Colossus_500]

Broadcast TV Morning Shows Offered 64 Words on Maine Gay Vote
By: Tim Graham
November 04, 2009 15:37 ET
mcr.org

Maine's successful referendum to repeal a newly-imposed "same-sex marriage" law would have been a huge national story if the gay left had won. But since they narrowly lost, the broadcast network morning shows on Wednesday barely acknowledged it. In fact, NBC avoided the news for its entire four hours of Today. The Early Show on CBS offered 20 words from Jeff Glor early in the show: "In Maine, a loss for supporters of gay marriage yesterday. Voters voted down a law that had legalized same-sex marriage."

ABC’s Good Morning America led the pack with two quick mentions. In the first hour, Diane Sawyer told George Stephanopoulos: "In Maine, you probably heard about this, voters were voting on gay marriage. They decided against gay marriage, 53 to 47 percent." That’s 22 words. In the 8 am hour, this squib from news anchor Chris Cuomo: "And we do have the results of one widely watched ballot initiative. Voters in Maine repealed a law that allowed same-sex marriages." That’s also 22 words.

At least the networks didn’t offering the typical labeling imbalance, where "conservatives" defeated "gay rights activists." In his 8 am newscast, Cuomo noted "conservative Republican" Bob McDonnell won, and Bill Owens "defeated his conservative opponent in upstate New York."

Maine is the 31st state to vote against "same-sex marriage," although the margins of victory have shrunk over the last few years. A left-wing victory there surely would have been a striking new development. But the avoidance of electoral results that cause liberals to gnash their teeth (or make liberalism less than the inevitable wave of the future) give the networks a very politically selective image.

[Hedgehog]

Maybe Morning TV shows are big in the gay community.

 

[Colossus_500]

and before anyone starts throwing rocks at mrc.org, check out this article that they've run about Fox News:

Fox News Misreported Robert Gibbs Press Gaggle Comments
By: Kyle Drennen
November 04, 2009 11:10 ET
mrc.org

UPDATE:

At 10:15AM ET during America’s Newsroom on Fox News Channel, co-host Martha MacCallum reported that in a gaggle with reporters Wednesday morning White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs claimed that President Obama did not watch election results Tuesday night but rather watched an HBO special about his 2008 campaign.

A tipster contacted NewsBusters questioning that report and after having acquired a transcript of the press gaggle, we have confirmed that the Fox News report was incorrect and Gibbs did not make any such statement. 
 
Fox News White House correspondent Major Garrett made a correction during Studio B in the 3PM ET hour (near the end of the video clip in the link).                   

Gibbs made this statement at the beginning of the untaped discussion with White House reporters:

    One thing I should contextualize – the President obviously got updates about the election last night.  He did not watch – as I told some of you – did not watch election returns.  I wouldn’t read a ton into that since he didn’t actually watch election returns when he was running.  If you did watch the movie on HBO – we called him and told him he won Iowa.  He did not watch election returns.

Clearly Gibbs was simply referencing the HBO documentary as evidence that the President does not routinely watch election returns.

Later in the gaggle, Gibbs was again asked if the President watched the election results. Gibbs reiterated: “He was not sitting in front of the TV watching them.  Again, I sent him some e-mail updates and I talked to him....He just doesn’t – I mean, again, and I don't mean to sort of oversimplify this, but he never watched them when he was running.  He just doesn’t.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

During the 10AM ET hour of America’s Newsroom on Fox News Channel, fill-in co-host Martha Maccallum told viewers what President Obama watched on election night while Democrats suffered big losses in New Jersey and Virginia: “Robert Gibbs said, well, he was actually watching, you know, the HBO special about his year-long campaign and how it all went.”

On Tuesday night the White House had worked to downplay the Democratic gubernatorial defeats by claiming the President did not watch the election returns. Apparently Gibbs thought it would look better if the commander in chief was watching a self-indulgent fawning documentary about himself. Interestingly, Obama apparently previewed the HBO special a few days earlier, as Gibbs himself explained to the blog Talking Points Memo: “White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says Obama has already seen ‘By the People’...Gibbs told TPMDC Obama’s review: ‘Thumbs up!’”

On FNC, Maccallum noted: “...we know that Michelle and the girls went to the Miley Cyrus concert last night... So he’s all alone in that big house, right? Nothing to do but sit back and watch – reminisce about the long campaign and watch HBO and the special.” The HBO documentary, ‘By the People,’ debuted on Tuesday, in commemoration of the one year anniversary of Obama’s election.