‘Big Three’ Ignore Jailed Marine’s Mother Testifying Before Congress

Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi has been jailed in a Mexican prison for the past nine months for accidentally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with several firearms. Since his arrest, the “big three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks have barely covered his story on their morning or evening newscasts despite the numerous efforts by the public to get him freed.

On Wednesday, Sergeant Tahmooressi's mother appeared before a House committee asking Congress to support a resolution calling for her son’s safe return to the United State and unsurprisingly all three network morning newscasts ignored her upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill.

MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart briefly mentioned today’s hearing during a 34 second news brief on his daily 10:00 program:

And developing right now on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are about to hear from the mother of Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi , the former marine from south Florida being held in Mexico. A subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is taking up a resolution that asks for Tahmooressi’s swift return.

The sergeant has been locked up for nine months on weapons charges, but his attorney said he can't be treated properly in a Mexican jail for his PTSD. Tahmooressi has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation to be reviewed by the judge later this week. This is a story we've been following on this broadcast and we will bring you the very latest information as we get it. 

The network omission of Tahmooressi’s mother’s testimony should come as no surprise given the minimal coverage [1] her son’s case has received from the networks.  

Since Tahmooressi’s initial arrest, NBC has never covered the story and CBS has only mention his arrest once on July 10 when he made made his first court appearance in a Tijuana courtroom. ABC has only covered Tahmooressi’s story twice, on the May 28 and July 10 episodes of Good Morning America.

See relevant transcript below.

MSNBC’s Jose Diaz-Balart

October 1, 2014

JOSE DIAZ-BALART: And developing right now on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are about to hear from the mother of Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi, the former marine from south Florida being held in Mexico. A subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is taking up a resolution that asks for Tahmooressi’s swift return. The sergeant has been locked up for nine months on weapons charges, but his attorney said he can't be treated properly in a Mexican jail for his PTSD. Tahmooressi has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation to be reviewed by the judge later this week. This is a story we've been following on this broadcast and we will bring you the very latest information as we get it. 

- See more at: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeffrey-meyer/2014/10/01/big-three-ignore-jailed-marines-mother-testifying-congress#sthash.wxYLQUPK.dpuf