According to the three networks, the serious effort by conservatives to defund ObamaCare isn't worth as much coverage as the addition of a new dog to the President's family. In just a 24-hour period, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening and morning shows devoted six minutes and 23 seconds to the debut of the puppy "Sunny." In contrast, those same shows have granted a scant two minutes and 26 seconds over a two-month period (July 9 through September 8) to the move by conservative senators such as Mike Lee and Ted Cruz to strip funding from the increasingly-unpopular ObamaCare.
The networks didn't bother to stack the deck with segments heavily opposed to the "Defund It" push, promoted by influential conservative organizations and some GOP lawmakers. Instead, they chose to deprive the campaign of nearly all publicity, omitting it from their normal political coverage. ABC was the worst offender, with the network offering a mere eight second reference to the defund effort.
However, on August 19 and 20, the hosts of World News and Good Morning America discussed the Obamas acquisition of Sunny the Portugese Water Dog for 174 seconds. This is a disparity of 20 to one – an accomplishment even more amazing considering that it was July 9 when Senator Lee first began pushing to defund ObamaCare.
The sole ABC mention of the conservative plan came on the August 18 Good Morning America. George Stephanopoulos told GMA Sunday host Bianna Golodryga: "...If [congressional Republicans] shut down the government, say, over their cause to de-fund Obamacare, they will relegate themselves to minority status for generations."
NBC allowed slightly more coverage, 52 seconds worth. On August 9, Chuck Todd simply repeated White House talking points. Recounting an Obama news conference, he hyped, "[The President] said this about Republicans threatening government shutdown: 'The idea that you would shut down the government unless you prevent thirty million people from getting health care is a bad idea.'"
The key players in the effort, people like Lee and Cruz, also didn't get much attention. Since July 9, CBS included one clip of Lee and one of Cruz. NBC allowed just one snippet of Cruz. ABC's morning and evening shows had
Via: NewsbustersContinue Reading...
