"The resignation of President Obama's green jobs 'czar,' Van Jones,
might have come as a shock if you do not watch cable news," FNC's Bret
Baier observed at the top of his Monday night "Grapevine" segment [1].
Of course, it would have been a surprise too if you rely on MSNBC. "In
fact," Baier continued, "the 'big three' evening newscasts and two of
the nation's most-prominent newspapers barely covered the story."
Baier proceeded to provide a day-by-day review, with "Fox Brainroom"
credited for the information at the bottom of the accompanying
on-screen graphics, an apparent reference to a FoxNews.com posting, "Most Major News Outlets Largely Ignore Van Jones Controversy [2]," which he summarized:
There was no mention of Jones by CBS, NBC, ABC, the Washington Post or the New York Times on Wednesday - the night Jones' first issued an apology for past statements. The same was true on Thursday, although a Washington Post blog picked up the story. That night Jones again apologized for a slew of old remarks and the signing of that petition that alleged the Bush administration was behind the 9/11 attacks. ABC and NBC failed to cover the story on Friday after that, although CBS finally did....
Baier's rundown matched what BiasAlert has documented over the past several days (see links below).
BiasAlert posts which tracked in more detail the lack of coverage, as well as what the networks covered instead:
♦ From Sunday night: "'Republican Right's First Scalp,' Nets Portray Van Jones as Victim of Conservatives [3]."
♦ From Sunday afternoon: "Nets Catch Up with Van Jones, Sure 'Sour Note' in 'Summer Squall' Won't 'Damage' Obama [4]."
♦ From Sunday morning: "NY Times Finally Picks Up Van Jones Story - After He Resigns [5]."
♦ From Friday night, with an update on the lack of coverage on Saturday: "ABC & NBC Continue Van Jones Blackout, Instead Tout Obama's 'Transparency' and Rue Attacks on Him [6]."
♦ From Friday afternoon: "FNC Notes Double Standard on Radical Obama Advisor Van Jones [7]."
♦ From earlier Friday: "All Three Morning Shows Skip Any Reference to Radical Obama Czar and 9/11 Truthers [8]."
Baier's lead item on the Monday, September 7 Labor Day "Grapevine" segment on Special Report with Bret Baier:
The resignation of President Obama's green jobs "czar," Van Jones, might have come as a shock if you do not watch cable news. In fact, the "big three" evening newscasts and two of the nation's most-prominent newspapers barely covered the story.
There was no mention of Jones by CBS, NBC, ABC, the Washington Post or the New York Times on Wednesday - the night Jones' first issued an apology for past statements. The same was true on Thursday, although a Washington Post blog picked up the story. That night Jones again apologized for a slew of old remarks and the signing of that petition that alleged the Bush administration was behind the 9/11 attacks.
ABC and NBC failed to cover the story on Friday after that, although CBS finally did. There was no mention from the "big three" evening newscasts or the Times print edition Saturday. But the New York Times blog finally addressed the story as did the print edition of the Post.
On Sunday, the morning after Jones' middle-of-the-night resignation - it was too late for the papers - but the three evening newscasts did file reports. The New York Times print edition finally ran its first mention of the story today on the lower-half of the front page.
- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center