NBC Plays Up Stimulus Funding of DC Reflecting Pool Renovation

On Friday's NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams touted the stimulus spending that went to renovating the reflecting pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC: "Tourists in Washington this holiday weekend will find water in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool for the first time in two years. It was actually stimulus funding that paid for the major renovation project - $34 million worth."

Scott Pelley also gave a brief on the pool's renovation on Friday's CBS Evening News, but chose not to play up the stimulus detail, only noting that "the pool was closed, so that workers could fix leaks and stop it from sinking."

Over the past year or so, NBC journalists has devoted several segments to defending the controversial $831 billion stimulus and called for more such spending. In June 2012, Andrea Mitchell argued for more stimulus spending during an interview of Senator Pat Toomey on her MSNBC program. During an interview of Obama campaign advisor Robert Gibbs just over a year ago, Savannah Guthrie wondered why President Obama "doesn't...just go for broke" in calling for a new stimulus.

In 2011, the Today show cited economist Diane Swonk, who claimed the stimulus "got us to the stage where we're healing." Later that year, the NBC morning show spotlighted a slanted poll that apparently showed support for Obama's proposed jobs bill and higher taxes on the wealthy.

The transcript of Brian Williams's news brief from Friday's NBC Nightly News:

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Tourists in Washington this holiday weekend will find water in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool for the first time in two years. It was actually stimulus funding that paid for the major renovation project - $34 million worth. The site of Dr. King's speech is one of the most photographed spots, of course, in all of Washington.