Inauguration Coverage and Media Bias

The wall-to-wall coverage of Barack Obama's inauguration was historic. Viewers were treated to some of the most ridiculous statements and outrageous behavior of all time from the on-air personalities. (I don't think it's appropriate to call the personalities "journalists.")

The swooning was amazing.

Some examples:

NBC special correspondent Tom Brokaw reached back two decades to Eastern European countries' struggle to throw off Soviet domination. "It reminds me of the Velvet Revolution — I was in Prague when that happened, and Vaclav Havel was a generational leader," Brokaw said. "The streets were filled with joy."

CNN's John King turned to a regime change he witnessed in South Africa: the final sloughing off of the oppressive racial apartheid rule, with the election of Nelson Mandela. "As people watch this moment today," King told viewers, "You see African-Americans young and old — tears of joy streaming down their faces — that was very much what I saw in the streets of South Africa."

..."I think we're going to be hearing a lot of superlatives today," CBS' Katie Couric said early on, "but I think it's almost impossible to be too hyperbolic about the significance of this moment in our nation's history, if you think about Barack Obama's journey."

..."All of the buildings in Washington just seem a little brighter. I think Abraham Lincoln just sits a little bit straighter today," said ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, who spent much of his youth in the nation's capital. "There's an ebullience, a happiness, an enthusiasm and a joy that is really extraordinary and I think transcends anything I've seen on one of these inauguration days."

These statements are so over the top. They're positively goofy.

It must be understood that NBC cannot be considered a reliable hard news outlet.

Tom Brokaw was really in rare form.

From NewsBusters:

TOM BROKAW: You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of the Velvet Revolution. I was in Prague when that happened. And Vaclev Havel was a generational leader and was in the square in Prague and the streets were filled with joy. And we're not overthrowing a communist regime here, obviously, but an unpopular president is leaving and people have been waiting for this moment. And there's that same sense of joyfulness and possibility even though, as in Czechoslovakia, they had enormous problems and we do as well.

That is positively buffoonish.

"We're not overthrowing a communist regime here, obviously, but an unpopular president is leaving and people have been waiting for this moment. And there's that same sense of joyfulness and possibility even though, as in Czechoslovakia, they had enormous problems and we do as well."

Has Brokaw been hanging out with Dick Durbin? How dare Brokaw compare being freed from the oppression of a communist regime to the end of President Bush's second term!

That is really inexcusable.

More from Brokaw, also via NewsBusters:

BROKAW: Listen, I just want to say one thing. Having been in the South in the '60s and Los Angeles, in Watts and northern urban areas, when we were evolving as a country, I'm thinking of all the bigots and rednecks and people I met along the way. I'm saying to them, "Take this." You know?

Good grief.

Spare us the self-righteousness!

One more from Brokaw:

TOM BROKAW: It's unfortunate for Vice President Cheney to have had this accident obviously, because there will be those who don't like him, who will be writing tomorrow that he had a Dr. Strangelove appearance as he appeared today in his wheelchair. It's not something he’ll be happy about going out in a wheelchair because he prides himself on his robustness.

That's so completely out of line, certainly not befitting a supposedly distinguished journalist.

Then there was Chris Matthews declaring that the crowd in Washington was made up of MSNBC viewers.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: This is the network that has opened its heart to change -- to change and its possibilities. Let’s be honest about it. These -- these people watch this network out here.

MATTHEWS: This is the network of the 21st Century -- MSNBC, and I think we’re open to it and that’s why this crowd knows us and I think --

MATTHEWS: We’re not crotchety about change -- stuffy.

MSNBC -- UNFAIR AND UNBALANCED AND PROUD OF IT.

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I think that Chris Matthews is mentally unstable.

While I caught a bit of Barack and Michelle Obama walking the parade route, I heard David Gregory, so-called moderator of Meet the Press, unabashedly declare his allegiance to Obama.

DAVID GREGORY: Tom [Brokaw] has talked about the momentousness of this day for so many Americans to see the first African American president, but I also think there's another view, too, which is for members of my generation.

I think about the mayor of Washington, D.C. -- and Tom, you talked about this -- Adrian Fenty, he's 38-years-old. I think for a lot of people in this generation their first thought is not, 'Wow, this is the first African American president.' That seems more natural. It's just that he represents change, that he's a cool guy, that he's got some really good ideas.

OK. So for Gregory, Obama's race isn't what impresses him. It's that Obama is not President Bush, or John McCain. Obama is a cool guy with good ideas.

That's great coming from the MODERATOR of Meet the Press.

After Gregory's remark, Brokaw started talking about his boyhood hero, Jackie Robinson. Brokaw choked up. There was silence as he composed himself.

Al Roker, reporting along the parade route, nearly lost it when he managed to get Obama to acknowledge him. While Obama and Michelle walked down Pennsylvania Avenue, Roker shouted from behind the barricades, hoping that Obama would agree to a quick interview.

Of course, Obama didn't come to Roker. According to Roker, Obama shouted to him, "It's warm."

Roker went nuts. You would have thought the heavens had opened and God spoke to him.

Just now, I heard Brian Williams on NBC's primetime special, discussing Michelle Obama and fashion.

This may not be an exact quote, but it's very, very close.

Williams said:

Is it possible that this woman [Michelle Obama] will single-handedly rejuvenate the fashion industry because she looks great in clothing?

Oh, my God.

Williams thinks that Michelle Obama looks "great in clothing."

Unbelievable. Really.
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From the Los Angeles Times:

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials sometimes let it be known that they stuck with Fox News for their informational needs. And on Tuesday, Fox News returned the favor, even as the rest of Washington remained gripped by Obama fever.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Fox News was the only major national TV outlet that carried a live telecast of former President Bush's homecoming speech to cheering supporters in Midland, Texas.

"Sometimes what I did wasn't popular," a smiling Bush told the crowd. "But that's OK. I always did what I thought was right."

The rest of the networks, however, did not see the Bush address as news fit to broadcast. At 6:40 p.m. EST, MSNBC was in the middle of "Hardball," with host Chris Matthews and guests batting around the meaning of Obama's swearing-in. CNN was carrying live ongoing coverage of the final moments of the inaugural parade, with the Obamas beaming from the White House reviewing stand.

The broadcast networks likewise did not cover the Bush speech. At least in Los Angeles, both KCBS-Channel 2 and KNBC-Channel 4 had returned to regular syndicated programming ("Judge Judy" and "Deal or No Deal"). KABC-Channel 7 was airing local news.

I remember watching the networks' LIVE coverage of Bill Clinton's slow-motion departure from Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2001.

CNN, January 20, 2001:

Shortly after Bush's inaugural address, former President Clinton departed the Capitol with his family. In a lengthy farewell at Andrews Air Force Base, he told supporters gathered inside a hangar that public service "is a process, not a destination."

"The work of this country will never be over, and no one will get to do it forever. And that's not all bad," he said.

"If you really believe in what we did these eight years, you do not have to be in a position of power, in government, to advance those causes," he added.

Clinton said he and his family -- former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, now New York's junior senator, and daughter Chelsea -- would spend the weekend at their new home in Chappaqua, New York. "Then," he said, "Hillary will show up promptly so as not to miss any votes -- and to fulfill the oversight function of the United States Senate."

In a final reminder of his love of crowds, Clinton lingered in a hangar at the base for more than an hour, shaking hands with the invited guests and clearly enjoying the moment.

Liberal bias? What lib bias?