Getting carried away with her enthusiasm, Diane Sawyer opened ABC's
World News on Tuesday night by proclaiming: "As of today, it is the
law of the land that every man, woman and child in America will have
health care coverage." CBS's Harry Smith, however, filling in for
Katie Couric, led by reporting the bill President Obama signed "will
ensure that 94 percent of Americans have health insurance, the closest
the nation has ever come to universal coverage."
Later, Smith displayed Obama's signature as he trumpeted: "This is
what history looks like, as it came from the hand of President
Obama today with 22 different pen strokes comprising his signature."
(See screen shot below)
Sawyer couldn't resist reminding viewers of the "Kennedy Legacy" (the
on-screen tag) as she highlighted a photo of his son's grave side note:
"You heard the President pay tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy, who
devoted his career to health care reform. But there was another quiet
tribute at the Senator's grave. A note left by his son, Congressman
Patrick Kennedy. It said simply: 'Dad - the unfinished business is
done.'"
Late December: "ABC's Sawyer Touts Robert Byrd's Dedication to 'Health
Care Champion' Kennedy [1]"
Sawyer led the Tuesday, March 23 World News on ABC:
Good evening. As of today, it is the law of the land that every man, woman and child in America will have health care coverage. And at the White House, the President signed the bill and marked this day in history, while Republican opponents marshaled forces, hoping to undo the law...
Smith began the CBS Evening News:
It took just a few strokes of a few pens to make health care reform a reality. President Obama today signed into law a bill that will ensure that 94 percent of Americans have health insurance, the closest the nation has ever come to universal coverage. But moments later, the attorneys general of 14 states - all but one of them Republicans - filed suit against the federal government claiming the law is unconstitutional...
Late in the newscast, as noted above, he took a few
seconds to show Obama's signature:
This is what history looks like, as it came from the hand of President Obama today with 22 different pen strokes comprising his signature.
-Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at
the Media Research Center. Click
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