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March 21, 2007
Morning Show Gatekeeping
In my hotel room watching the cable news morning shows (FNC's "Fox & Friends" and CNN's "American Morning"), I noticed that both were covering many of the same stories.
- The war in Iraq, specifically the new insurgent tactic of reducing suspicion by having kids in cars intended to be a car bomb.
- The issues surrounding the firing of the 8 US attorneys. Both networks had Democrats featured voicing their objections (Fox showed Chuck Shumer, CNN had Rahm Emmanuel).
- The recovery of the lost Boy Scout.
But as much as I looked for it (and I left CNN on longer to see if they would cover it), "American Morning wouldn't touch, as far as I could see, the upcoming testimony of Al Gore in front of Congress on global warming, specifically the unprecedented considerations and concessions being made for him and how he's abusing them. I kept CNN on long enough to start hearing them repeat the same stories (how to eat healthy at Chinese restaurants), so they had plenty of time to deal with it.
If it's legitimate to cover Democrats questioning why the President will only allow administration officials to testify without being under oath (and it is a legitimate question and a legitimate story), why ignore this other major story about a former Vice President testifying to Congress? Could it be because it doesn't look good for Democrats or global warming alarmists when Gore ask for more time for his opening remarks than anyone else, and that he requested to submit the written version of those remarks 24 hours ahead of time instead of the customary 48, and that he hadn't submitted them as of the morning of his appearance?
Those, too, are legitimate questions about a legitimate story, but CNN, if they gave it any time, gave it the shortest of shrift at best. And while Fox is covering stories that look bad for both Democrats and Republicans, CNN isn't. So who's a shill for whom?
Posted by Doug at March 21, 2007 10:56 AM
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Comments
The al gore stuff is, at best, like Jennifer Lopez's backstage demands. Kind of funny, and something that confirms our suspicions of their respective diva-hood. Not exactly hard news, though.
Posted by: jpe at March 23, 2007 12:12 AM
Yet J-Lo's "diva-hood", as little as it matters to world affairs, gets covered, but Al Gore returning for the first time to Congress since certifying the election results of his loss, bringing dire warning of global catastrophe, and the unprecedented demands he placed on them, and the fact he even broke those promises, isn't.
We're not talking about someone's bottled water preference. We're talking about not giving Congress enough--any--time to examine his statements before he gives them, unlike every single other person who appears before them, on a matter that has long-term consequences for our governmental policies.
It's not hard news only if you're pulling for one side, which the media show, once again, they're doing. Handwaving away Gore's behavior as "diva-hood" by the Left is disingenuous.
Posted by: Doug Payton at March 23, 2007 10:39 AM