ABC, NBC Note Plight of Dissidents in Cuba During Pope's Visit

As the broadcast network evening newscasts recounted Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Cuba, ABC's Christiane Amanpour on World News and NBC's Andrea Mitchell on the NBC Nightly News both noted reports that dissidents had been detained and prevented from meeting the Catholic leader, while the CBS Evening News failed to mention their plight.

At the end of a report on the pontiff's visit on World News, Amanpour briefly mentioned the imprisoned freedom activists: "Now, Diane, there have been some 150 or so dissidents rounded up ahead of the Pope's trip, that according to Amnesty International. The Pope hopes that the Catholic Church, though, will continue to get stronger and really be a lobby on behalf of the Cuban people."

On the NBC Nightly News, during a report on the Pope's visit, Mitchell brought up the dissidents: "Although hundreds of thousands attended, starting out in a procession before dawn, the Pope did not meet with dissidents, disappointing human rights groups who fear that prominent activists - known here as the 'Ladies in White' - last seen in church Sunday, may have been detained. Their home and cell phones went dead last night."

The CBS Evening News only ran a brief update on Wednesday - having already run full reports on the trip to Cuba on Monday and Tuesday - in which dissidents were not mentioned.