From Sunday through Friday, ABC's Good Morning America allowed a scant three minutes and 49 seconds of coverage to the unfolding details of Hillary Clinton's e-mail scandal. That's despite an available 11 hours of air time during the week. In fact, the liberal morning show completely skipped the story on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday.
On Friday's CBS This Morning, John Heilemann gravely noted that Clinton's e-mail scandal is "getting worse by the day." Today's Tamron Hall revealed, "Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is capping off an already tough week for her campaign with even more glaring headlines tied to her e-mail crisis." Kristen Welker told viewers that the Democrat is "mired in the e-mail scandal."
But one wouldn't know that from watching GMA. While the two hour-long program skipped the important Clinton story on Friday, the hosts of the superficial show devoted 15 minutes to a rock concert by the band 5 Seconds of Summer.
The latest news that ABC avoided? From Politico:
A federal judge has added fresh fuel to the incendiary controversy over Hillary Clinton’s email, asserting during a hearing Thursday that she violated government policy by storing official messages on a private server when she worked as secretary of state.
On Tuesday, one of the two days this week that GMA covered Clinton's scandal, journalist Amy Robach allowed a meager 16 seconds:
AMY ROBACH: And new revelations about Hillary Clinton e-mails. Officials say so far they have flagged more than 300 of Clinton's messages for further inspection, but they did not say if they were secret in nature. Clinton insists she never used her private server to send or receive e-mails marked classified at the time.
On Monday, GMA again avoided the story. While the other networks didn't do much better, CBS This Morning's Heilemann showcased the seriousness of the controversy: "I don't think they’re worry that Hillary Clinton’s going to be indicted but I do think they worry that this could stretch on for a lot longer and that there are more trap doors out there."
Wednesday saw the only substantial coverage from GMA's journalists. The show offered three minutes and 33 seconds. (This came in the form of one full report and one anchor brief.) Even in this case, Robach spun the candidate as "fed up." She added, "Hillary Clinton defiant, facing questions once again about those e-mails she turned over to the FBI. "
George Stephanopoulos allowed, "Democratic front-runner defiant during a testy exchange about her e-mails as that brand-new poll shows the questions may be having a bite." Jon Karl returned to the fighting back theme, insisting that "Hillary Clinton is literally throwing up her hands at questions about her private e-mail server."
GMA's star co-host is George Stephanopoulos, a man who in May admitted to secretly donating $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Clinton may be struggling with the e-mail scandal, but it helps to have friends who will overlook such controversies.
