NEWS AND OPINION:
It is the sin of omission, media style. Cable news networks which appear hostile toward President Trump and his administration are curbing their broadcasts of the White House daily coronavirus press briefings — intended to inform, engage and reassure the American public during an alarming era. Some critics have already called for the news media to cease covering the briefings. Now comes a new study which has identified “aggressive censoring” of the White House events at a pivotal time.
“CNN and MSNBC on many days repeatedly cut in and out of the daily White House briefings on the coronavirus pandemic, with CNN the most eager to replace remarks from President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence or any number of medical and logistical experts with derisive commentary by its anchors and reporters. MSNBC carried a little more than CNN, but its anchors also weren’t hesitant to chime in with their condemnations of Trump’s remarks,” writes Brent Baker, vice president of research for the Media Research Center, a conservative press watchdog.
A close study of the recent broadcasts found that CNN aired 69% of the total briefings conducted March 30- April 14 — or 999 minutes out of a total of 1,435 minutes. Translated, that means the network cut out seven hours and 16 minutes of the briefing. MSNBC has aired live 1,088 minutes, or 76%, censoring five hours and 47 minutes worth of content.
“Thus, CNN and MSNBC viewers missed more than 13 hours of the briefings,” notes Mr. Baker, who says anchors made numerous “condescending” judgment calls on the briefings in progress.
“Briefings have a tendency to veer in a lot of different directions, not all of them informative or relevant. If it veers too much off, we will break off,” MSNBC’s Chuck Todd told viewers at one point.
And what about Fox News?
“The network cut out a few minutes early on two days, but otherwise has carried all the briefings in full, airing 1,383 minutes, about 96% of the total duration,” advises Mr. Baker.
FOR THE LEXICON
“Stenographers of the elite.”
This four-word phrase was coined by Americans Spectator contributor Matt Shapiro to describe sketchy press coverage of the coronavirus pandemic from journalists who aspire to be authorities.
“Our courageous truth-tellers are, in fact, nothing more than florid stenographers for the institutional perspective. They can write in a way that entertains and mimics original thought, but their thoughts are not their own. They are merely regurgitating the opinions fed to them. They rewrite press releases in a conversational tone and then cast themselves as the smartest kids in the room,” Mr. Shapiro writes.
HOLLYWOOD STIMULUS
The Small Business Administration’s paycheck protection loans did not overlook the entertainment industry, which received over $8 billion in funds, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film and TV business cover two sectors, one devoted to entertainment, the other to informational products.
“In the first sector, which includes writers, actors, agents, performing arts and many non-entertainment businesses such as fitness centers, the Small Business Agency reported 25,785 approved loans amounting to almost $3.7 billion. Meanwhile, for the information sector, which encompasses movies, television, cable and music, as well as books, magazines, software and more, the SBA reported 13,693 approvals totaling over $4.4 billion,” the Reporter notes.
As multiple news organizations pointed out, the $349 billion paycheck program ran out of money Thursday.
LADIES NOT FIRST
Whom should Democratic presidential hopeful Joseph R. Biden pick for a running mate? Americans have their own preferences, though their choices may not mesh with media coverage which currently centers on potential female candidates,
Voters say other qualities, beliefs or abilities take preference. The importance of a female candidate is near the end of the list, in fact. A new Politico/Morning Consult poll reveals that voters would prefer Mr. Biden choose a conservative or a “religious” person over both a liberal and a woman.
Two-thirds of voters say it’s important Mr. Biden pick a running mate who has both executive and legislative experience while 48% think he needs a running mate who is “younger than him.” A third say it’s important Mr. Biden pick someone who is “religious” while 31% say he needs someone who is “more conservative than him.” Then along comes the 29% say it’s important he pick a running mate who is a woman. A quarter believe Mr. Biden should pick someone who is “more liberal than him,” while 14% say it’s important that he pick someone who is a man.
The survey of 1,990 registered U.S. voters was conducted April 10-12.
FOXIFIED
Fox News Digital — the network’s online presence — finished the first quarter of 2020 with 5.7 billion visitors who spent 13.2 billion minutes at the site — the highest online ratings numbers ever, according to Comscore, an industry source.
For the 67th consecutive month, Fox News remained the No. 1 most engaged news brand on social media compared to other the news sources, with 53.8 million interactions on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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POLL DU JOUR
• 79% of U.S. adults say they themselves, family members or friends work from home during the coronavirus pandemic; 79% of Republicans, 72% of independents and 89% of Democrats agree.
• 45% overall say it is very or somewhat difficult to work from home; 53% of Republicans, 34% of independents and 49% of Democrats agree.
• 28% overall say it is not very difficult to do this; 28% of Republicans, 34% of independents and 23% of Democrats agree.
• 23% overall say it is not at all difficult; 18% of Republicans, 23% of independents and 26% of Democrats agree.
Source: An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 U.S. adults conducted April 12-14.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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