On Wednesday night, ABC’s World News Tonight and anchor David Muir restarted the media promotion of Chelsea Clinton’s new baby with Bill and Hillary Clinton as grandparents by spending 24 seconds informing viewers of the competition between Bill and Hillary for “who gets to read to Charlotte.”
Muir also took particular interest in how Hillary spends her time with the newest member of the Clinton family, remarking that Hillary has been “trying her hand at lullabies” and then joked that “we want the video of that.”
Following an eight-second tease, Muir had the following brief during the program’s “Instant Index”:
Chelsea Clinton tonight opening up about her life as a new mom. Revealing her morning ritual with 4-month-old Charlotte, reading the news, but apparently, grandma and grandpa, Bill and Hillary Clinton, said to be competitive about who gets to read to Charlotte. Hillary Clinton, also, were told, trying her hand at lullabies and we want the video of that tonight.
Back when Charlotte was born, the major broadcast network morning and evening newscasts spent [1] 14 minutes and 24 seconds (over 14 segments) on the story from Saturday, September 27 to Tuesday, September 30.
As the Media Research Center’s Scott Whitlock reported [1], the networks spent zero time in the entire month of September on the investigation into the 2012 Benghazi terror attacks.
Back on September 30, World News Tonight devoted [2] just over double the amount of airtime to the Clinton baby compared to the protests in Hong Kong for expanded voting rights and greater independence from China.
The transcript of the tease and brief that aired on ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir on January 21 can be found below.
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir
January 21, 2015
6:49 p.m. Eastern [TEASE]
DAVID MUIR: Chelsea Clinton. What she's revealing tonight about the new grandparents, Bill and Hillary. They’re apparently struggling over one thing.
(....)
6:53 p.m. Eastern
MUIR: Chelsea Clinton tonight opening up about her life as a new mom. Revealing her morning ritual with 4-month-old Charlotte, reading the news, but apparently, grandma and grandpa, Bill and Hillary Clinton, said to be competitive about who gets to read to Charlotte. Hillary Clinton, also, were told, trying her hand at lullabies and we want the video of that tonight.
— Curtis Houck is News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Curtis Houck on Twitter. [3]