Dateline NBC (8/22/10) did a special look back at Hurricane Katrina last weekend in anticipation of the disaster's five-year anniversary. Watching the collage of 2005 footage and Brian Williams' present-day commentary, I was struck by his characterization of the violence: You know, I've been around a lot of guns and a lot of dead bodies, and a lot of people shooting at people to make dead bodies. But you put them all together and you put it in the United States of America and boy, it gets your attention. You can't shake that…. It was clear already there weren't going [...]
Aug
20
2010
What Do War Critics Think? Well, Ask One
By 22 Comments
During an August 18 segment about the Iraq War, anchor Brian Williams said (emphasis added): Let's bring into this conversation retired U.S. Army Colonel Jack Jacobs. He's a decorated combat veteran, a recipient of the Medal of Honor and, of course, an NBC News military analyst. Well, at this point, people like me always ask people like you, what have we learned. Critics of this war are always going to look at it as an elective. They're always going to say those 9/11 pilots weren't Iraqis. And they're always going to say we never found the weapons of mass destruction. [...]
Apr
22
2010
'The Money Is Not There' for Education, NBC Says–So Where Did It Go?
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Brian Williams introduced a report on NBC Nightly News (4/21/10) with this declaration: "Public schools from coast to coast in this country are looking at tens of thousands of layoffs, a lot of them teachers, because the money is not there." Correspondent Ron Allen went on to report: In Springfield, Illinois, thousands of teachers turned out to try to save their jobs and programs; music, art and sports activities all being threatened with elimination. Many school districts are hoping for federal stimulus help, but in the meantime are locked into longer teacher contracts and higher salaries for tenured teachers. Some [...]
Mar
06
2009
NBC's 'Good Model' for Healthcare
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The night before Obama's big healthcare summit, NBC Nightly News offered some advice. "There's a place where policymakers could look for some tips on how an affordable, well-run system operates," anchor Brian Williams told viewers. "It is already running here in the U.S." Correspondent Robert Bazell explained: "Many experts agree that whatever happens in the health reform debate, a good model is Kaiser Permanente." Bazell went on to describe how Kaiser's salaried doctors "have no incentive to order unnecessary tests or office visits." He also pointed to cost savings from use of electronic medical records. "To be sure, patients sometimes [...]
