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President Joe Biden

Promoting Their Biden Narrative, Beltway Press Corps Fails Again

Reprinted with permission from Press Run

One day after the New York Times in a page-one piece implied that President Joe Biden is an incompetent who lacks empathy, the State Department announced the U.S. had successfully evacuated 30,000 people from Afghanistan since the end of July, and that 8,000 people departed on Saturday alone, as they filled 60 departing flights from Kabul airport. So much for incompetence.

A thinly veiled opinion column that ran under the banner of "news analysis," the Times piece was written by White House correspondent Peter Baker. Pounding the daily's preferred downer troop withdrawal narrative, Baker went out of his way to suggest Biden, whose administration is overseeing a massive Afghanistan airlift and troop withdrawal, is similarly incompetent to Trump, who oversaw the death of 600,000 Americans to Covid-19 last year. It was a stunning bout of failed, Both Sides journalism by Baker.

Led by the New York Times' and CNN's frenzied reporting and analysis, the media have gone all in with the narrative that Biden's presidency sits on the precipice of ruin in the wake of U.S.'s long-expected troop departure from Afghanistan. (Fact: It does not.)

Deliberately falling down a deep well of optics reporting (Biden is "defiant and defensive") and launching sweeping, and often hysterical, conclusions that are not based in fact, the press gathered up its forces days ago and set off on a one-sidedfeeding frenzy excursion, where week-old "chaotic images" are still treated as breaking news by CNN. Let's be honest, if the State Departement announced it had evacuated 100,000 people from Kabul, it wouldn't change the media's predetermined coverage.

Eager to injure Biden, Beltway scribes gleefully engage in groupthink, echo GOP talking points without pause, and set their sights on the leader of the Democratic Party.

Sound familiar? Does this conjure up disturbing images of the 2016 campaign, when the same invested journalists unleashed a feeding frenzy on the country's top Democrat, feasted on "optics" analysis, badly overplayed the facts of the story, excitedly amplified Republican lawmakers, obsessed over process, and repeatedly demanded apologies from Hillary Clinton for how she handled her private email correspondence?

It's not possible to watch much of the misguided Afghanistan coverage and not see the clear similarities between that and the media's woeful But Her Emails brand of coverage that helped elect Trump.

Reminder: ABC, CBS, and NBC's network evening newscasts in 2016 aired just 32 minutes of in-depth campaign policy coverage. That same year they devoted 100 minutes to the Clinton email stories. Virtually all of the attention was negative.

Both Afghanistan and But Her Emails coverage strictly adheres to a (fantasy) storyline of the media's making, and one that features a floundering Democrat unable to put off raging political fires.

On Sunday, CNN claimed the U.S. was inflicting "moral injury" by "abandoning" allies. This, as America continue to evacuate tens of thousands of allies. That same day CNN claimed that Biden's long-expected troop withdrawal meant the U.S. was "walking away from the world stage" and "leaving Europe exposed." Fact: Most European troops left Afghanistan seven years ago. Not sure how that now means Biden's move in Afghanistan is leaving that continent "exposed."

Despite days of wildly excited media analysis about how Afghanistan could destroy Biden's entire presidency, the press still can't find any evidence the story is registering with voters. It's also impossible to recall a week of nonstop military "crisis" coverage when not a single shot was fired at U.S. troops. But for Afghanistan, the media gladly make an exception.

A Times column recently counseled how Biden could "save his presidency" in the wake of the Afghanistan controversy. Biden's ending an extremely unpopular war and is bringing the troops home without a single U.S. casualty in the process, but he has to "save his presidency"?

That makes no sense.

On Friday, NBC's indignant Richard Engel tweeted his upset over the fact that American officials were negotiating with the Tablian in order to allow for a transfer of power that's as peaceful as possible. Keep in mind, Engel has covered the Afghanistan conflict for years, but on Friday he feigned shock that after losing a 20-year war, the U.S. would be negotiating its exit with the victors of the war. The purposeful naïveté was remarkable — but essential in order to bash Biden. For the record, it was because of those U.S.-Taliban negotiations that U.S. troops have not come under fire in the last week.

Sometimes it was just easier to make stuff up in order to attack Biden. The Times' Frank Bruni accused Biden of "arrogance" because he "thought leaving Afghanistan would be simple," even though Biden never once suggested that leaving Afghanistan would be "simple."

Also on Friday, the Wall Street Journal ran a Biden gotcha "exclusive" on page one, which was widely picked up by other news outlets: "Internal State Department Cable Warned of Kabul Collapse." The smoking gun, right? Biden's team was warned that the Taliban would quickly take over Afghanistan in early August when U.S. troops were withdrawing, but the Biden team ignored the counsel.

Wrong.

The State Department cable warned of an Afghanistan government collapse after the troops withdrawal deadline of August 31. Also, halfway through the article, the Journal conceded the cable was received by top State Department officials who welcomed the on-the-ground-analysis, and who folded the information into the contingency plans. So much for that gotcha. But all day, journalists were buzzing about a confidential cable that Biden's team supposedly ignored. "A WSJ scoop that casts perhaps the harshest light yet on the administration's performance," Politico exclaimed, completely misrepresenting the Journal story.

When the press eagerly signs off on a crisis narrative involving a Democrat, almost no new facts on the ground will change their committed view. We saw that in 2016 when the press played a key role in tearing down Clinton, and we're seeing it this month with unrestrained Afghanistan coverage.

Top Female U.S. News Anchor Steps Down

Top Female U.S. News Anchor Steps Down

Washington (AFP) – Diane Sawyer, the only female anchor of a major U.S. network newscast, said Wednesday she was signing off from ABC’s “World News Tonight” to pursue new projects with the Disney-owned network.

“After wonderful years at ‘World News,’ I decided it is time to move to a new full-time role at ABC News,” the 68-year-old journalist said in a statement.

Succeeding her on September 2 at the helm of the nightly newscast will be David Muir, 40, the network said in a statement. He is currently the weekend “World News” anchor and co-host of the “20/20” news magazine.

“This is an incredibly humbling day,” said Muir on his Twitter feed.

George Stephanopoulos, one-time advisor to president Bill Clinton, will meanwhile become ABC’s chief anchor, “driving our live network coverage for the biggest stories,” ABC News said.

A one-time TV weather girl in her native Kentucky, Sawyer joined CBS News in Washington in 1978 after a stint on the staff of disgraced president Richard Nixon.

In 1984 she began a five-year run as the first female co-anchor of CBS’s flagship “60 Minutes” news magazine, then moved to ABC in 1989 where, after two decades hosting current affairs programming, she assumed the “World News” hot seat.

“I’ll see you right back here again tomorrow night,” was her folksy signature sign-off.

In her new role, Sawyer — who has interviewed the likes of Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein as well as successive US presidents — will help create “original reporting, big ideas and interviews for all platforms,” said ABC News president James Goldston.

In a memo to staff, he said it was Sawyer who initiated “a conversation” at the end of 2013 about a new role.

Last month Barbara Walters, the first woman ever to host a US network newscast, also on ABC, resigned from day-to-day TV broadcasting at the age of 84 after a remarkable career that spanned six decades.

Another top female anchor, Katie Couric, 57, who helmed the “CBS Evening News” from 2006 to 2011, shifted to new media as global anchor for Yahoo! News after ABC canceled her eponymous daytime talk show.

©afp.com / Kevork Djansezian

Supreme Court Justices Cautious About Broadcasters’ Bid To Shut Aereo

Supreme Court Justices Cautious About Broadcasters’ Bid To Shut Aereo

By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices sounded uncertain and conflicted Wednesday in trying to decide whether a TV streaming service that allows users to receive their favorite programs through tiny, rented antennas violates the broadcasters’ copyrights.

The case of ABC v. Aereo has the potential to reshape the broadcast and cable industries if the Brooklyn-based upstart prevails in the high court. And that appeared possible after Tuesday’s argument.

An attorney for the broadcasting industry urged the court to shut down Aereo. It allows “tens of thousands of paying strangers” to watch the programs they wish, but without paying any copyright fees to broadcasters. If Aereo prevails, some experts think the cable and satellite companies may decide to stream their own signals in the same way Aereo does and refuse to pay licensing fees to the broadcasters.

Before Wednesday’s argument, most legal experts were convinced the justices would rule against Aereo’s service as a violation of copyright laws. But that certainty faded during the hour-long argument. Several justices admitted they were struggling for the right answer.

The broadcast industry relies heavily on a provision in the copyright law that a television broadcast may not be aired “publicly” without the permission of the broadcaster. Cable and satellite companies pay fees to broadcast networks to transmit those signals to their subscribers, but Aereo does not.

The competing lawyers argued over whether a customer of Aereo’s service is receiving a “public” performance of a copyright broadcast or instead is watching a private show at home.

The attorney for Aereo said its service was like the videocassette recorders that became popular in the 1980s, which allowed homeowners to make copies of programs to be viewed at home.

Aereo “could rent DVRs in Brooklyn, and it would be the same situation,” said Washington attorney David Frederick. He added that Aereo’s tiny antennas “pick up over-the-air signals that are free to the public.”

But former Solicitor General Paul Clement, representing ABC and other broadcasters, said Aereo had devised “a gimmick” to make money by sending TV signals to thousands of paying customers. This large-scale streaming is clearly a “public performance,” he said, not a private one at home.

Justice Department attorney Malcolm Stewart said the government agreed with the broadcasters that Aereo was violating copyright laws by transmitting broadcast signals without a license.

Twice during the argument, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Aereo had designed its system to “circumvent” the restrictions in the copyright law. But that did not necessarily mean it was illegal, he added.

The justices are expected to reach a decision by late June.

AFP Photo/Karen Bleier

Disney/ABC TV Chief’s Exit Comes As A Surprise

Disney/ABC TV Chief’s Exit Comes As A Surprise

By Meg James, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — The most powerful woman at the Walt Disney Co. — and perhaps in all of Hollywood — said that she would leave her job overseeing the company’s $10-billion-a-year entertainment TV networks, leaving Disney to search for a successor in an increasingly treacherous television business.

After 18 years at the Burbank entertainment giant, Anne Sweeney surprised many by saying she would step down as president of Disney/ABC Television Group by next year to work on the creative side as a television director.

Her successor must navigate a business in transition and steer the company’s ABC network at a crucial time. The once-mighty broadcaster is in fourth place, trailing CBS, NBC and Fox in the ratings. Although all the broadcast networks have struggled amid increased competition from cable channels, over the last five years ABC’s prime-time audience has fallen nearly 20 percent.

And Disney’s networks, like all traditional television outlets, face an onslaught of competition and new online rivals, including Netflix and Amazon.

Sweeney’s planned departure also shrinks the already small number of top female executives in Hollywood. Among women who run large entertainment organizations, Sweeney had few peers — among them Universal’s Donna Langley, Sony’s Amy Pascal, CBS’ Nina Tassler, NBCUniversal’s Bonnie Hammer, Fox’s Dana Walden and DreamWorks Studios’ Stacey Snider.

Sweeney, who worked as an ABC page as a college student, said she began contract discussions with Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger last summer. She was offered a three-year contract extension, she said, but soon found herself considering something new.

“The one thing that kept banging at the back of my brain is that I’ve loved the creative process but I’ve never really been part of it,” Sweeney, 56, said Tuesday. “If not now, when?”

Some Hollywood insiders speculated that Sweeney decided to step down after it became apparent she would not be named to succeed Iger, who plans to exit in June 2016.

Sweeney waved off that suggestion, saying she was not gunning for the top job.

“Other people wanted it for me, but I didn’t want it,” she said.

Iger is expected to name a successor to Sweeney in the next few weeks to ensure a smooth handoff as ABC enters the important period of TV pilot selection and advertising sales for the new TV season.

“Anne has been a very successful executive in our senior ranks,” Iger said in a statement. “Over the years she grew our Disney Channel business into a global powerhouse … built ABC Family into a top cable network here in the U.S.; made ABC a strong, successful content creation engine; and has been a great partner in leading our industry into the digital age.”

Iger must now replace Disney’s only female head of a business unit. The company’s other five division heads are Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Thomas Staggs, Disney Interactive President James Pitaro, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn, Disney Consumer Products President Bob Chapek and Disney Media Networks Group Co-Chairman John Skipper, who also is president of ESPN.

Staggs and Disney Chief Financial Officer James Rasulo are considered the leading contenders for Iger’s job.

Sweeney’s empire includes ABC and cable channels ABC Family, Disney Channel and Disney Junior, as well as Disney’s stake in the A&E Networks. (The lucrative ESPN networks are managed separately.) She first disclosed her resignation in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Photo: Andy Castro via Flickr