NBC Takes 'Wage Gap' Activism to White House, Brags of Obama's Support
NBC News special anchor Maria Shriver played both roles of journalist and activist on Tuesday's Nightly News, as she promoted her own report on closing the gender "wage gap" while touting President Obama's support for her cause.
"NBC's Maria Shriver was invited to the White House to present her
report to President Obama late today," reported anchor Brian Williams,
unconcerned about the conflict of interest of a reporter going to the
White House to drum up support for her own work.
[Video below the break. Audio here.]
Shriver gave Obama free publicity as being "sympathetic" to working single mothers:
"As the son of a single mother, President Obama said he is very sympathetic to these issues that one in three women is living on the brink of poverty in the United States of America. And one of the main reasons is the persistent wage gap that exists between men and women."
She also pitted a supportive Obama against a Congress that is
supposedly dragging its feet on the matter: "While President Obama has
pledged to fix the problem, Congress has been slow to respond."
And after her report, Shriver enjoyed one last brag about the President
getting behind her cause: "President Obama told me that he would like
the issues that are in this report to inform a summit that he wants to
hold here at the White House in the spring on working families."
One problem with Shriver's segment is that there is another side to the
issue, but as an activist she was only willing to plug her own report.
For instance, the Heritage Foundation called her main statistic "misleading" and noted that multiple variables
factor into the "wage gap," like choices of occupations and child care.
However, no expert taking issue with Shriver's report was interviewed.
Below is a transcript of the segment:
NBC
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
1/14/14
[7:14 p.m. EST]
BRIAN WILLIAMS: All this week across NBC News, we have special coverage
of the economic status of women in this country and the pay gap that
exists between the genders. A new bound document called the Shriver
Report is getting a lot of attention, including as we mentioned a minute
ago from Beyonce, who is among many interviewed in the report and calls
gender equality a myth. She says, quote, "Men have to demand that their
wives, daughters, mothers and sisters earn more." NBC's Maria Shriver
was invited to the White House to present her report to President Obama
late today. She's been able to join us from there tonight. Hey, Maria,
good evening.
MARIA SHRIVER, NBC News special anchor: Good evening, Brian. As the son
of a single mother, President Obama said he is very sympathetic to
these issues that one in three women is living on the brink of poverty
in the United States of America. And one of the main reasons is the
persistent wage gap that exists between men and women.
(Video Clip)
EILEEN RIZZO, math teacher, Fresno County Office of Education: Can you count them?
SHRIVER: (Voice over) Eileen Rizzo is a math consultant. She helps
teachers teach math for the Fresno County Office of Education.
(On camera) You are in a fight for equality?
RIZZO: Yes.
SHRIVER: If someone had told you years ago you would be doing this, what would you have said?
RIZZO: I wouldn't have believed it. I really wouldn't.
SHRIVER: (voice over) Rizzo, a mother of two, is the first in her
family to go to college, and has two masters degrees. But one day a new
male colleague revealed that his starting salary was nearly $12,000 more
than she was making. After four years in the same position.
RIZZO: My heart dropped. I was – my mind was just whirling and thinking, well how did this happen?
SHRIVER: When she complained to her bosses, she was told that starting
salary was based on someone's previous pay. Outraged, Rizzo joined the
advocacy group, the American Association of University Women, to help
her fight.
RIZZO: The thought is that I'll never catch up.
SHRIVER: On average women make 77 cents to every man's dollar. The
Shriver Report finds that closing the wage gap would cut the poverty
rate for working women in half, adding close to a half a trillion
dollars to the economy.
SHRIVER: (on camera) Why do you think the wage gap still exists today?
KATHARINE LUSK, advisor to the mayor, city of Boston.: Unconscious bias is a huge part of it.
SHRIVER: (voice over) Katherine Lusk is a policy adviser for the city
of Boston, which intends to be the first city in America to pay women
and men equally.
LUSK: Women are penalized when they try to negotiate for pay. They're
less likely to be considered for jobs that have historically been held
by men. All of those things hold women back.
BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States: It's time to pass the
Paycheck Fairness Act so that women will have more tools to fight pay
discrimination.
SHRIvER: While President Obama has pledged to fix the problem, Congress
has been slow to respond. And Eileen Rizzo feels she has no choice but
to take her fight to the courts. Recently she won the right to sue her
employer. The Fresno County Office of Education declined to comment to
NBC News, but in a letter they sent to Rizzo, they said that their
hiring formula had not resulted in a disproportionate impact on gender.
Undeterred, Rizzo says her fight is about the future for her daughters.
SHRIVER: (on camera) Are you proud of your mom?
DAUGHTER OF EILEEN RIZZO: Yeah.
RIZZO: I'm passionate about what I do and I love it. And at the same
time, I had to decide that I wanted to see it through, because I wanted
the world to be different for my daughters.
(End Video Clip)
SHRIVER: Brian, President Obama told me that he would like the issues
that are in this report to inform a summit that he wants to hold here at
the White House in the spring on working families.
WILLIAMS: Maria Shriver, having presented her namesake findings to the
President at the White House late today. Maria, thanks for being with us
tonight.
— Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Matt Hadro on Twitter.
