At the top of Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams pleaded:
"Why now? In a tight economy with so many Americans living on the
financial edge, why are they being asked to pay so much more for gas?" Moments
later, he warned: "...there's still one thing that could crush it all
and ruin any hope for a real recovery right now, and that's the price of
gas."
Compare that sentiment to this question [1] Tom Brokaw put to President-elect Obama in December of 2008 on Meet the Press: "Why not take this opportunity to put a tax on gasoline, bump it back up to $4 a gallon
where people were prepared to pay for that, and use that revenue for
alternative energy and as a signal to the consumers: 'Those days are
gone. We're not going to have gasoline that you could just fill up your
tank for 20 bucks anymore.'"
Here's
how Matt Lauer reacted to the rising cost of gas on Wednesday's Today:
"And some bad news for drivers and the overall economy. Gas prices are
up 13 cents in the last month alone. There is new worry that we could
hit all-time highs by the summer driving months."
Now look at what former co-host Meredith Vieira asked [2]
Chevron CEO David O'Reilly on the June 21, 2007 broadcast: "Would we be
better off, sir, if gas prices were even higher, if it were four, five,
six dollars a gallon? Wouldn't that provide the incentive we need to
come up with alternative forms of gas and to stop this dependence that
we have on foreign oil?"
So aren't these soaring gas prices exactly what Brokaw and Vieira were demanding? What changed?
[h/t to Ed Driscoll [3] for noticing the glaring contradiction in coverage]
Williams opening to the Nightly News on February 14:
7:00PM ET TEASE:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Why now? In a tight economy with so many Americans
living on the financial edge, why are they being asked to pay so much
more for gas?
7:01PM ET SEGMENT:
WILLIAMS: With Americans right now looking for any positive uptick in
the economy, any reason to feel good about hiring or wages or industrial
production, there's still one thing that could crush it all and ruin
any hope for a real recovery right now, and that's the price of gas. Too
much of our economy runs on it, too many families depend on it, and
very few people can afford to pay even more for it right now. The
problem is gas prices are going up, according to AAA, the national
average for regular unleaded is up 13 cents in just the last month,
averaging $3.51 a gallon across the country. And that's continuing the
climb from last month, when we saw the highest gas prices on record for
the month of January. NBC's John Yang starts us off tonight on why and
what more we can expect....
JOHN YANG: Americans are feeling a big pain in the pump that's
spreading to the rest of their lives....And it's not just family
finances being squeezed. Analysts say that every 50 cent increase in gas
prices takes almost $150 billion out of the rest of the economy. That's
bad news during a struggling recovery.
(...)
Lauer on the February 15 Today:
7:02AM ET TEASE:
MATT LAUER: And some bad news for drivers and the overall economy. Gas
prices are up 13 cents in the last month alone. There is new worry that
we could hit all-time highs by the summer driving months. We're going to
tell you what's behind this most recent price hike.
7:16AM ET SEGMENT:
LAUER: Here's some troubling news. Gas prices are back on the rise and
some analysts say it could get even worse just in time for the summer
driving season. NBC's John Yang is in Chicago with the details on this.
John, good morning to you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Pain at the Pump; Gas Prices Soar, $5 Per Gallon By Summer?]
JOHN YANG: Good morning, Matt. You know, we're all used to gas prices
going up in springtime, when the driving season is about to approach,
but this year the increase is happening sooner and it is going up more
than before.
(...)
-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here [4] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.