Three items today:
1. CBS Evening
News led Tuesday's broadcast with a Defense Department report critical
of the Clinton Administration's drug policy, but minutes later Bill Plante
worried that Bob Dole's speech on character may appear
"mean-spirited."
2. Bill
Clinton has saved America's cities, ABC reported Monday night.
According to ABC's story, while dozens of housing developments have been
built under Clinton, during Reagan's years "only one new house was
built in the entire city" of Detroit.
3. In a
California House contest, CBS portrayed the race as between an
"ultra-conservative" woman who is "pro-assault
weapons" and "a soft-spoken" man who is just
"liberal."
1) Back on September 25 Republican Congressman John Mica sent a letter to
the drug czar demanding release of a Defense Department study which found
Bush's interdiction policy was more effective than Clinton's emphasis on
treatment. At the time, Mica's letter and GOP demands to see the study
were not reported by the networks.
Tuesday night
(October 15), the CBS Evening News led with the report, a copy of which
was obtained by reporter David Martin.
Next, analyzing
Bob Dole's speech criticizing the "public ethics" of President
Clinton, reporter Bill Plante worried:"It's a tough speech for him to
make because he runs the risk of looking desperate and
mean-spirited."
2) For the Monday, October 14 World News Tonight, Peter Jennings and crew
traveled to Detroit. They found a booming city and reported that under
Clinton America's cities are on the rebound. Here's the introduction and
beginning of their story of the state of cities this election year:
Peter Jennings:
"Here in Detroit itself we've noticed a difference. It was
impossible to come here in years past without the state of the city
itself being an issue. Not this year, not here. And as ABC's Dean
Reynolds reports tonight, not in many other places as well."
Dean Reynolds,
over video of a building being torn down:
"In
Detroit this morning it was down with the old. Down with the high-rise
symbols of urban rot to be replaced by new neighborhoods. Twenty five
housing developments have started here since the Clinton Administration
took office." Mayor Dennis Archer: "There is a sense that
there is a relationship between the city of Detroit and Washington and
that it is positive."
Reynolds:
"A decade ago during the Reagan era, according to the Mayor, only
one new house was built in the entire city."
3) For the October 6 Sunday Morning, CBS reporter Jerry Bowen examined
some hot House contests. As transcribed by MRC analyst Steve Kaminski,
here's how Bowen described the choice voters face in a California
district:
Jerry Bowen:
"In the 22nd District along California's central coast, freshman
incumbent Andrea Seastrand is in the fight of her political life.
Challenged again by Democrat Walter Capps, the college professor she
defeated by less than 1 percent of the vote last time. It is a contest
of stark contrasts. The 55 year-old Seastrand: ultra-conservative,
pro-life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay, anti-illegal immigrant."
After a soundbite
from Republican Seastrand, Bowen continued:
"The soft
spoken 62 year-old Capps, liberal down the line: abortion rights, gay
rights, gun control, opposed to the death penalty."
Has CBS ever come
across an "ultra-liberal"?
-
Brent Baker
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