CBS Omits Party ID of Blagojevich, Emanuel in Trial Brief; ABC, NBC Punt

CBS's Jeff Glor failed to mention the Democratic Party affiliation of Rod Blagojevich, as well as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., during a news brief on Wednesday's Early Show. Glor's report was the only mention on the Big Three network morning shows of the former Illinois governor's lawyers calling the former Obama aide and the congressman to testify in his retrial for corruption.

The news anchor noted during his brief that "some big names could be on the stand" and specified that Blagojevich's attorneys would call Emanuel and Jackson, Jr. He then explained that the former governor is "accused of trying to sell the seat of then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama. His first trial ended in a hung jury."

Glor continues a trend from back in 2009 where the Big Three networks would regularly skip over the party identification of Blagojevich. On January 26 of that year, ABC's Good Morning America devoted over 17 minutes of coverage over four segments to interviewing the then-governor and the accusations against him, but didn't mention once that he was a Democrat. The Early Show itself followed this example the following morning when they also interviewed the Illinois politician.

Blagojevich resigned from the office of governor on January 30, 2009, and all three networks' evening news programs covered the news, but not one gave any hint of his political affiliation.

The transcript of Jeff Glor's news brief on Wednesday's Early Show, which ran 15 minutes into the 7 am Eastern hour:

JEFF GLOR: In Chicago today, some big names could be on the stand in the corruption retrial of Rod Blagojevich. Lawyers for the former Illinois governor are expected to call Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. to testify. Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell the seat of then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama. His first trial ended in a hung jury.