Week One of Spying Scandal: Nets, CNN Bury Blockbuster Claims Against Clinton

Simply over one week in the past, a bombshell broke on the earth of politics. However in case you bought your information solely from the networks, you may need missed it. On Friday, February 11, Particular Counsel John Durham alleged in a court docket submitting that the 2016 Clinton marketing campaign successfully spied on the Trump marketing campaign to push a Russian collusion narrative.

Whereas retailers like The Washington Instances and The Washington Examiner jumped on the story instantly, CBS and ABC stonewalled all week, censoring the explosive allegations on their morning or night newscasts. That is ZERO protection. 

NBC against this, supplied a meager 5 minutes, 16 seconds on February 17. The community reporting supplied a defensive posture, dismissing the “unproven claims” towards Clinton. 

By comparability, MSNBC produced significantly extra protection than NBC, totaling a whopping 84 minutes, 15 seconds over one week. But it surely was virtually totally dismissive, insulting individuals who care in regards to the claims as “whole asses.” By way of time, CNN managed a center floor, 13 minutes, 26 seconds. The community’s tone, nevertheless, was equivalent to MSNBC. 

Right here’s how the protection broke down on the networks and MSNBC and CNN from February 12 to February 18, 2022.  

ABC AND CBS: 0 minutes and 0 seconds 

ABC and CBS flat-out refused to cowl the case Durham is constructing and the implications it has on the media obsession over “collusion” by the Trump marketing campaign. As an alternative of protecting precise information, ABC supplied tales on a stuffed panda on the Winter Olympics and promotional segments for company father or mother Disney. CBS supplied an equally embarrassing little bit of company sucking up: CBS Mornings hosts on Wednesday allowed a full section on ViacomCBS renaming itself Paramount. 

NBC: 5 minutes and 6 seconds 

NBC, like ABC and CBS, ignored the spying accusations for a lot of the week. However on Thursday morning, the Right this moment present broke from the opposite two. Co-host Savannah Guthrie could not take it critically. Right here is her introduction: “Nicely, now to a narrative making huge waves in Washington. It’s what quantities to unproven claims that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential marketing campaign paid to spy on Donald Trump.” 

The informal contempt was clear from reporter Hallie Jackson. She dismissed, “It might be explosive if it have been true…. However Hillary Clinton now slamming the entire thing as ‘a faux scandal to distract from Mr. Trump’s actual ones.’” One other Clinton-defending report aired on the February 17 Nightly Information. 

MSNBC: 84 minutes and 15 seconds 

MSNBC, not like the networks, offered loads of protection. But, it served the identical objective as ABC, CBS and NBC: Suggest that solely silly individuals would take this critically. On Tuesday morning alone, Morning Joe hosts devoted 27 minutes, 48 seconds on the Durham probe. Co-host Joe Scarborough attacked the “willfully silly” individuals selling the story. 

On Thursday, he upped the insults, attacking the “full, whole asses” who care about alleged surveillance. On Wednesday’s Deadline: White Home, anchor Nicolle Wallace made no effort to cover her contempt. She started a 16 minute, 10 second section this manner: 

Over the previous few days, Donald Trump and his allies and conservative media have been completely consumed by a narrative, they are saying, look forward to it, is greater than Watergate. These of us on earth one could have missed it. 

Wallace seethed over the “harmful disinformation” pushed by the “right-wing media.” 

CNN: 13 minutes, 26 seconds 

By way of whole time, CNN landed in a center between the networks burying the story and MSNBC’s appreciable — however dismissive — protection. But, whereas the entire time could also be lower than MSNBC, the contempt was related. On Tuesday’s Inside Politics, reporter Evan Perez declared Durham’s accusation wasn’t “precise spying.” He additionally concluded that the entire story is simply so previous: “That is one thing trying again at 2016 and right here we’re in 2022.” 

CNN once more coated the story very early on Friday. In case you have been up at 5:27 AM ET, you heard Early Begin anchor Laura Jarrett make this mocking introduction: “This subsequent story is a couple of prosecutor, a conspiracy idea, and the way onerous it’s to place the genie again within the bottle.” 

The Wall Avenue Journal’s editorial web page on Tuesday greatest summarized the issue with the journalistic dismissal: 

The press corps doesn’t often help authorities spying, however on the subject of Donald Trump they’re making an exception. The journalists who gave themselves prizes for urgent the Russia collusion narrative that turned out be false at the moment are dismissing information that their narrative was inflated with false info collected by eavesdropping on Mr. Trump.

The Journal, a prestigious media outlet that is truly protecting the Durham claims, concluded, “We don’t apologize for considering that each one of that is information that readers would possibly wish to learn about. The thriller is why the remainder of the press corps desires everybody to disregard it.” Nicely stated. The identical retailers that devoted 2,634 minutes to all issues Russia, now discover themselves all of a sudden silent on the intense cost that Hillary Clinton could have been caught red-handed surveilling her opponent. 

(Observe on methodology: For this February 12 to February 18, 2022 examine, MRC analysts reviewed the morning and night newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC, in addition to the cable channel protection on MSNBC and CNN. For the cable channels, this was between the hours of 5AM ET and 12 AM ET.)