Networks Ignore Latest North Korean Missile Launches; Cover Fashion Designer's Death
As of Monday evening, ABC, CBS, and NBC's morning and evening newscasts have yet to cover North Korea's firing of 25 short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan on Sunday. NBCNews.com did post an unsigned article from Reuters on Sunday about how the "missiles flew for 45 miles before splashing into the sea," and ABC News' website went with AP's write-up on the development, but neither outlet devoted any air time to the story.
By contrast, CNN's New Day on Monday devoted a 20-second news brief to the Obama administration's reaction to this latest instance of North Korean sabre-rattling: [video below the jump]
JOHN BERMAN: The State Department is calling on North Korea to stop launching short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. At least 25 rockets were fired into the open sea on Sunday. The U.S. and South Korea calling on the north to stop what they call provocative actions. North Korea claims the launches are in self-defense, in response to military exercises recently conducted between the U.S. and South Korea.
Instead of covering the totalitarian country's missile launches, all three networks' evening newscasts on Monday found time to devote some reporting to the apparent suicide of fashion designer L'Wren Scott. CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley devoted 24 seconds to the death of Scott, who was Mick Jagger's longtime girlfriend, while NBC Nightly News aired a 49-second news brief on the story.
However, ABC's World News took the cake by setting aside a minute-and-a-half segment to Jagger's paramour. Anchor Diane Sawyer introduced correspondent Mara Schiavocampo's report by hyping the "startling headline – one of those confounding mysteries about a life that seemed pretty much perfect," and pointed out how "even the First Lady [Michelle Obama] was a fan" of Scott.
As part of their regular "Instant Index" segment, the ABC evening newscast also aired briefs on Chicago dying its river green for St. Patrick's Day; live streaming video from Dublin for the holiday; scientists investigating whether the beneficial flavonoid chemicals found naturally in dark chocolate work as well in pill form; and spotlighting how the four-year-old grandson of St. Joseph's University's men's basketball imitated him during a recent game. Sawyer ended the broadcast with a full report on how animal shelter cats in Pennsylvania are helping elementary schoolchildren to read.
— Matthew Balan is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Matthew Balan on Twitter.
