We all know network nightly newscasts are bad, but just how bad are they?
The Congressional Budget Office released new cost estimates for Obamacare and, surprise, surprise, they’re about double what they said they would be when Democrats arm-twisted, bribed and lied the bill into law. Ten-year estimates increased from $940 billion to $1.76 trillion, not exactly chump change.
You’d think that would be “news,” right? I forced myself to watch all three to see and … nope.
The near doubling of cost of Obamacare didn’t get a single mention on any of the three network nightly newscasts. Not a peep.
So what did the “Big Three” cover? Below is a breakdown of each of the shows by topic in the order they were covered.
ABC World News with Diane Sawyer – Stock market rally, “economy is heating up!” Warm winter is boosting the economy. Bill Austan Goolsbee, identified simply as an “economics professor,” not former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Obama. Allergies due to early blooming plants. Floods in Louisiana. Delta plane slid off runway in Atlanta. Primaries in Alabama and Mississippi. Afghanistan massacre. Stores facing theft of Tide laundry detergent. Which city is the most and least “hopeful?” A story on the President’s dog Bo running behind a Univision report. Jaycee Dugard interview.
NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams – Afghanistan massacre. Primary elections. Voter ID laws. “Spring fever,” about the warm weather. Stock market numbers. A story in Ft. Lewis, home base of the Afghan shooter. A story on the Encyclopedia Britannica ending their print form. Delta plane going off the runway. Homeless wifi hotspots at SXSW ending. Bo the President’s dog “photo-bombing” Univision. “Making a difference” segment on a 100-year-old teacher still teaching.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley – The stock market, “look how far the Dow has come.” Bank “stress test” results. Afghanistan massacre. Southern primaries. Floods in Louisiana. Federal government refusing the request for Harrisburg, Il to be declared a “disaster area” by FEMA. Mobster Whitey Bulger may have written two autobiographies. Arrest in UK phone hacking scandal. Delta plane goes off runway. A young boy who lost 85 pounds inspired his family and friends to exercise.
That’s it, that’s everything they covered. No mention of the near doubling of the projected cost of Obama, only passing mention of ever-rising gas prices, but only in the context of the primaries, nothing about Vice-President Biden saying Republicans don’t understand the middle class while dining “on grass-fed New York strip steaks and white truffle mashed potatoes” at a minimum $10,000 per couple dinner, or the White House pulling back yet again on their transparency pledge.
But we do know Bo the dog ran through the background of a live shot on Univision, so there’s that.
There’s bias through spin, and there’s bias through omission. The “Big Three” are certainly guilty of both.