Every hour but one of CNN's Tuesday evening news coverage featured at
least a mention of former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's
marital infidelity. Guess which anchor backed away [1] from any mention of the scandal?
Schwarzenegger's revelation of his fathering a child with a mistress
was one of the day's leading headlines, and merited a mention if not a
segment on most every CNN news hour Tuesday. During its 5 p.m.-12 a.m.
EDT coverage, CNN reported the story every hour except during the 8 p.m.
EDT slot - the prime-time show In the Arena with Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer
made no mention of the story.
Spitzer, a married man himself, was embroiled in a scandal of his own just three years ago as
governor of New York. A federal wiretap linked him to a high-end
prostitution ring, and he resigned his office abruptly after the news
was made public.
NewsBusters reported [2] that CNN, in its Tuesday coverage of political sex
scandals, shied away from mentioning Spitzer's exploits as governor of
New York. They did, however, name six notable scandals and also showed
brief news clips of others.
Spitzer did find time to offer extensive coverage of IMF chief
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's rape allegations. He also hosted for a
sympathetic interview the CEO of the NBA's Phoenix Suns, Rick Welts, who
has publicly revealed that he is gay.
- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center.