The American Spectator

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Presswatch

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How could CBS have failed to notice that the president had given it a scoop? One explanation, oddly enough, is pro-Obama bias. On Saturday, the day after the interview aired, CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller posted on Twitter a series of up-to-the-minute reports on Obama's visit to an ice cream parlor. (Examples, quoting verbatim: "Malia had vanilla frozen custart in a waffle cone." "You're gonna laff: Obama & the girls actually bought Frozen Puppy pops for Bo.")

The Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb reported that some of Knoller's Twitter followers took exception to such frivolity in light of the crisis in Iran. Knoller responded: "Surprised by the outrage at the ice cream outing. What is it you expect or want the US to do about Iran? Attack? War?"

The notion that Obama's critics were plumping for war was a partisan trope-and Knoller, by repeating it, was acting as a partisan rather than a reporter. If Knoller's mentality was common at CBS, it may be that the Evening News producers edited Obama's interview to conform to their own preconceived idea of his position. Fixated on the agenda rather than the news, they failed to notice the news that the agenda had changed.