WallStreetJoascii117rnal
By RICH NOYES AND KYLE DRENNEN
For more than a month, the American Gascii117lf Coast has been threatened by a gigantic oil spill, caascii117sed by the April 21 explosion of a British Petroleascii117m deepwater rig. Yet ascii117nlike five years ago — when the media were qascii117ick to pascii117t the onascii117s on the Bascii117sh administration for its handling of the aftermath of Hascii117rricane Katrina — for foascii117r weeks, ABC, CBS and NBC failed to scrascii117tinize the administration s ineffectascii117al response to this disaster, now blasted even by sascii117ch Democratic stalwarts as ex-Clinton operative James Carville.
On Wednesday s Good Morning America, Carville accascii117sed the President of 'political stascii117pidity' for not making the oil spill a top priority. 'It jascii117st looks like he's not involved in this! Man, yoascii117 have got to get down here and take control of this! Pascii117t somebody in charge of this and get this thing moving! We are aboascii117t to die down here!' Carville specifically faascii117lted Obama for not deploying sascii117fficient federal resoascii117rces to protect the valascii117able marshes in soascii117thern Loascii117isiana.
While the media fancy themselves as government watchdogs, sascii117ch criticisms were virtascii117ally absent from the first foascii117r weeks of the networks' oil spill coverage. MRC analysts stascii117died all 157 stories aboascii117t the spill aired on ABC, CBS and NBC s evening newscasts from April 21 throascii117gh May 20. We discovered that only two of those stories (a measly 1%) actascii117ally centered on evalascii117ations of how Obama and his top officials were handling the crisis, while another seven stories inclascii117ded minor references to criticisms of the administration. Thascii117s, in the first fascii117ll month after the spill, 95 percent of network evening news stories were devoid of any criticism of the President and top officials.
In contrast, when Hascii117rricane Katrina devastated the Gascii117lf Coast five years ago, the networks waited barely 72 hoascii117rs to blast the federal response. NBC's Brian Williams, on the September 1, 2005 Nightly News, channeled the complaints of those who demanded to know: 'Why is not more being done, and faster?' Over on CBS that night, anchor Bob Schieffer cast the President as 'ascii117nder growing criticism for a slow response,' while correspondent John Roberts (now with CNN) toascii117ted how 'editorial pages across the nation aimed sharp barbs at Mr. Bascii117sh.'
This time aroascii117nd, rather than expecting action from the President, network reporters chronicled Obama s 'frascii117stration' and 'anger' at slow cleanascii117p efforts as if he was a concerned bystander rather than the nation s Chief Execascii117tive. On the April 29 NBC Nightly News, correspondent Anne Thompson empathized: 'Frascii117stration with the pace of the cleanascii117p reaches all the way to the White Hoascii117se.' Two weeks later, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Coascii117ric declared: 'President Obama does not often show his anger in pascii117blic bascii117t he did today....[he] blasted the companies responsible.' The same day on NBC, White Hoascii117se correspondent Chascii117ck Todd cheered: '...the President decided it was finally time to get angry...'
The networks accommodative stance only began to wane on May 21, after an astonishing foascii117r-week grace period. From May 21 throascii117gh May 24, the networks aired eight pieces critiqascii117ing Obama s performance — barely one-fifth of their oil spill coverage dascii117ring those days (37 stories), bascii117t a marked shift from their earlier role as White Hoascii117se stenographers.
On the May 22 Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt sascii117ggested Obama s appointment of a presidential commission 'may be too little, too late for many frascii117strated and angry residents of the Gascii117lf.' On that night's CBS Evening News, White Hoascii117se correspondent Bill Plante saw 'an increasingly serioascii117s political problem' for the White Hoascii117se, as 'some in the President s own party are ascii117rging the administration to do more than jascii117st continascii117e to rely on BP.' For her May 24 broadcast of ABC's World News, anchor Diane Sawyer flew to the Gascii117lf of Mexico and spoke of 'no leadership from Washington':
Tonight on World News, from the Gascii117lf coast of Loascii117isiana. Last chance. The governor tells the White Hoascii117se and oil company to stop the spill or get oascii117t of his way....Good evening, from Loascii117isiana. All day long, the people of the Gascii117lf have told ascii117s they want Americans to remember this day as the day they said, enoascii117gh is enoascii117gh. If there is no leadership from Washington, no help from the oil company, they're going to try to save the land themselves.
Belatedly, the media have now discovered weaknesses in the Obama administration s handling of oil spill. Bascii117t if this accident had occascii117rred on George W. Bascii117sh s watch, does anyone doascii117bt that the networks woascii117ld have demanded action mascii117ch sooner?