l****z 发帖数: 29846 | 1 Double Standard: NBC Gives News Christie Innocent In Bridgegate Scandal 38
Secs; Spent Nearly 5 Mins When Story Broke
By Curtis Houck | September 18, 2014 | 9:09 PM EDT
An enormous development in the Bridgegate scandal broke late Thursday
afternoon when federal officials reported that they have cleared New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie (R) of any wrong-doing relating to the closure of
lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September 2013.
When it came to the major broadcast networks covering this huge development,
ABC and CBS punted on the story and refused to cover it in their Thursday
night newscasts. NBC Nightly News did cover the story, however, but only in
the form of a news brief that lasted for 38 seconds.
This stands in stark contrast to the nearly five minutes (4 minutes and 55
seconds to be exact) that NBC’s evening newscast devoted to Bridgegate when
it broke mid-morning on January 8. According to the Media Research Center's
Scott Whitlock, “the big three” networks devoted a combined 88 minutes of
coverage to the story in its first two days.
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams reported that:
A major headline this evening in the federal investigation into New
Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his administration. Federal officials
tell NBC News that, after nine months, investigators have concluded there is
no evidence that Governor Christie had advance knowledge of any politically
motivated scheme to shut down lanes on the George Washington Bridge, which
is the world's busiest span. This is the federal investigation, mind you.
While a separate grand jury continues to investigate over alleged abuses
involving the Port Authority, no headline tonight. The headline here,
however, the federal charges are now ruled out for Chris Christie and the
affair that came to be known as Bridgegate.
An article posted on NBC 4 New York’s website noted that the investigation
is still “ongoing,” but did determine that “authorities have uncovered no
information Christie either knew in advance or ordered the closure of
traffic lanes.”
While Williams said the news of Christie’s innocence was a “major headline
,” he described the controversy on January 8 as “what some are calling an
abuse of power and an act of political retribution by those close to one of
the most prominent politicians in our country.”
During that same program, he tied the story to the entire Republican Party:
“[A] scandal has now erupted around the Governor of New Jersey, Chris
Christie, a man a lot of Republicans regard as a consensus candidate for the
party nomination in 2016.”
In discussing the news with Williams that night, NBC News political director
Chuch Todd asserted that the Bridgegate controversy “re-enforces a
negative stereotype that you and I both know has been out there for years
about him, that he is just a bull at heart every once in awhile and kind of
mean.”
In another example of this double-standard, the evening newscasts on ABC and
CBS found plenty of time to cover the Christie story when it broke on
January 8. That night, ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer covered it for
two minutes and 49 seconds while the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
spent five minutes and 14 seconds talking about the story that CBS News
political director John Dickerson deemed “a bruise that’s not going to go
away easily” for Christie.
The complete transcript form the news brief that aired on NBC Nightly News
on September 18 is transcribed below.
NBC Nightly News
September 18, 2014
7:09 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: The Investigation]
BRIAN WILLIAMS: A major headline this evening in the federal
investigation into New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his administration
. Federal officials tell NBC News that, after nine months, investigators
have concluded there is no evidence that Governor Christie had advance
knowledge of any politically motivated scheme to shut down lanes on the
George Washington Bridge, which is the world's busiest span. This is the
federal investigation, mind you. While a separate grand jury continues to
investigate over alleged abuses involving the Port Authority, no headline
tonight. The headline here, however, the federal charges are now ruled out
for Chris Christie and the affair that came to be known as Bridgegate. | d*****n 发帖数: 754 | |
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