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'Nightly News' Finds Green Lining in High Gas Price Cloud

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:18:01 +0000

Jeff Poor

High gas prices may be eating away at Americans’ bank accounts, but at least they’re supposedly helping the environment. Leave it to NBC “Nightly News” to find a green lining in the dark cloud.

As American automakers struggle – with rumors even swirling about the possibility of General Motors going out of business – NBC’s chief environmental correspondent Anne Thompson found a positive in high gas prices because they are promoting the sale of fuel-efficient automobiles.

'Evening News' Blames GM Cutbacks on Gas Prices, Ignores Union Effect

admin — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:48:57 +0000

Jeff Poor

In May, the “CBS Evening News” blamed high gas prices for depriving little girls of access to public pools. Now it’s citing the rising cost of gas as the reason General Motors (GM) announced it will shut down three plants that produce trucks and SUVs.

Lauer Prosecutes 'The People vs. Exxon' in CEO Interview

admin — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:06:45 +0000

Nathan Burchfiel

The NBC “Today” show used the popular “us vs. them” approach again May 15 in an interview with ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

“Gas prices hit yet another record high this morning and as you suffer, the oil giants are making billions,” co-host Meredith Vieira teased at the top of the show. With an introduction like that, viewers got a clue of the type of interview to follow.

Finding a Gas Station with the Highest Price

admin — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:50:29 +0000

Nathan Burchfiel

When a gas station sign shows up on TV, you can bet the price shown is higher than the national average. That was true again as NBC “Today” co-host Ann Curry reported March 6.

“Oil prices jumped again this morning to yet another record, topping $105 a barrel. The jump followed Wednesday decision by OPEC not to increase production,” Curry said. “The cost of oil is sending gas prices soaring to well over $4 a gallon at this gas station in Redwood City, Calif.”

Media Gas Price Scares Running on Fumes

admin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:07:22 +0000

Jeff Poor

In all the media’s economic fearmongering, exaggerated predictions are rarely corrected. And when it comes to gas prices, exaggerated predictions have become the norm.

CNN's 'Your $$$$$' Gets Gas Price Prediction Wrong

admin — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 15:54:06 +0000

Jack Yoest

CNN’s “Your $$$$$” is ready for a spike in gas prices. It just hasn’t happened despite predictions.

On October 20, the show’s guest Peter Beutel, president of energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover, predicted a 20-cent increase in the price of a gallon a gas. How soon? In the next week.

It didn’t happen.

Media Ignore Judge's Liberal Background in State Emissions Regulation Ruling

admin — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 16:03:30 +0000

Jeff Poor

The media chalked it up as a victory for the global-warming alarmists. The Wall Street Journal claimed a federal court decision giving states the authority to regulate automobile emissions would have “nationwide ripples.” However, it appears to just be another example of a judge legislating from the bench.

Networks Still Get High on Gas

admin — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 13:32:45 +0000

Dan Gainor

News shows have highlighted a volatile stock market and housing concerns in recent months. But even when consumers have had reason to cheer – like a 44-cent-per-gallon drop in gas prices – the networks have misreported it by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio.

CBS and ABC Misreport 'Record' Gas Prices, Again

admin — Tue, 08 May 2007 16:48:55 +0000

Julia A. Seymour

Both CBS “Evening News” and ABC “World News with Charles Gibson” reported that the national average price for gasoline was “just two cents short of the record.”

But the networks’ two cents were wrong.

Gasoline prices, which both programs said were at $3.05 per gallon for regular, are still 17 cents shy of the inflation-adjusted record high price from March 1981: $3.22 per gallon.

Misreporting the record was just one of the ways the two programs hyped “sky-high” gasoline prices on May 7.

Gas Price Season: California, Here We Come

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 21:29:12 +0000

Julia A. Seymour

People pay a pretty penny for gasoline in the Golden State, so when gas prices are on the rise the media frequently point to California as the highest cost per gallon.

“Let me show you what is the most expensive gasoline location in the country. A gallon of unleaded in California right now going for $3.08 a gallon,” said NBC reporter Tom Costello during the March 12 “Nightly News.”

Econ 101: How to Reduce Gas Consumption

admin — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:02:24 +0000

Gary Wolfram, Ph.D.

President Bush announced in his State of the Union address that Americans should reduce gasoline usage by 20 percent over the next 10 years. But how will this be achieved?

With or without government

In 1931 Harold Hotelling published a paper, “The Economics of Exhaustible Resources,” that showed that the market process efficiently allocates the exploitation of a non-renewable resource over time. His basic point is that as the supply of a resource shrinks, the price begins to rise.

Morning Shows Hype Need for a 'Federal Standard' on Rollovers

admin — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 20:44:14 +0000

Ken Shepherd

Just how are car companies staying in business without caring about their customers?

“The manufacturers would prefer to save the $100 that it would cost to make a strong roof and put it into their bottom line,” charged Clarence Ditlow of the Ralph Nader-founded Center for Auto Safety to CBS’s Bob Orr on the December 13 “Early Show.” Orr was reporting on new safety tests that can measure an automobile’s damage during a rollover.

'Evening News' Turns to Brit to Lecture Americans on Gas Prices

admin — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 20:31:11 +0000

Ken Shepherd

Those provincial Americans. They just aren’t living in the “real world,” driving those gas-guzzling SUVs!

Such was the sentiment from Mike Rutherford, a British automotive columnist featured in the December 8 “Free Speech” segment on the “CBS Evening News.” Yet while Rutherford was correct about pump prices, he left out the key reason Americans are “lucky” to have lower gas prices: they aren’t taxed as heavily for the commodity.

Networks Push Government Health Care to Aid Ailing Detroit

admin — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:54:10 +0000

Ken Shepherd

Detroit’s got a fever, and the only prescription for what ails it is more government-run health care. That’s just the medicine the liberal media recommended for the traditional “Big Three” automakers Ford (NYSE: F), Daimler-Chrysler (NYSE: DCX), and General Motors (NYSE: GM).

Unions: Good Ol' Days or Part of Ford's Demise?

admin — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:55:46 +0000

Amy Menefee

When an American auto manufacturer gets in trouble, journalists are quick to declare the American way of life is dying.

Despite the growth and health of Honda and Toyota plants employing American workers, not to mention a strong economy with 4.7-percent unemployment, network reporters often turn to nostalgia and overlook unions’ negative impact on the industry.