Brian Williams Skips Vindication of Scott Walker's Union Law, Finds Time for Spider-Man
In a combined ten hours of programming, Wednesday, the networks devoted a mere 41 seconds to an important ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that allowed Scott Walker's collective bargaining law to be implemented. NBC Nightly News' Brian Williams, however, found time to focus on Spider-Man and the 2012 Academy Awards.
On June 15, only NBC's Today and CBS's Early Show covered it. That day's newscasts, including Evening News and World News, totally skipped it (as did Nightline).
On Tuesday, the Wisconsin court ruled 4-3 to reinstate the law's ability to limit collective bargaining and require state employees to pay more for health care. Although Nightly News ignored the story, anchor Williams read viewers the latest reviews of Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark, the troubled Broadway play.
He also informed his audience of important rule changes for how the Academy of Arts and Sciences will decide the 2012 best picture category.
As reported on Wednesday, this is a stark contrast to how the networks reacted to the original protests back in February by liberals and union members. Christiane Amanpour praised the "people power" and compared it to Middle Eastern countries demonstrating against dictatorial governments. NBC's Williams did the same.
— Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
