Network Deluge: 99 Stories on Cain Harassment Charges in Less Than Nine Days
In only eight and a half days, NBC, CBS and ABC have devoted a staggering 99 stories to sexual harassment charges against Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain. In comparison, eight days into Bill Clinton's scandal's with Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick, there were a combined eight reports.
Additionally, the three network newscasts on Monday offered scant information about the fact that Cain's accuser, Sharon Bialek, has hired the extremely liberal lawyer Gloria Allred. On NBC's Nightly News, reporter Kelly O'Donnell described Allred as a "high profile attorney." On CBS's Evening News, Jan Crawford referred to her as a "celebrity lawyer."
On ABC's World News, Brian Ross avoided discussing Allred and focused on Bialek: "It's been 14 years since the alleged incident with Cain, but Sharon Bialek seemed to have perfect recall of the details today at a New York news conference."
Ross' tone had changed on Tuesday. He clarified, "Overnight, the Cain campaign described Sharon Bialek as a person with a history of severe financial difficulties and questioned who was paying for her lawyer, Gloria Allred, who they said was a long-time contributor to Democratic Party causes."
Ross on Monday also defined the new accusations rather flippantly, calling the charges a "blond bombshell." (Bialek has blond hair.)
On Monday's Nightly News, O'Donnell, who didn't identify Allred's ideology, did explain to viewers: "Allred made a point to say that Bialek is a Republican and that she has not sold her story. Bialek acknowledges she has had some financial and legal problems in the past."
From Monday evening to Tuesday morning there were 15 new stories. One report each on Monday night's evening newscasts and one on ABC's Nightline. Tuesday's Good Morning America had three. There were four on the Today show and another four on the Early Show.
Bialek appeared on all three morning shows, Tuesday, receiving 21 minutes of coverage. For more on how they covered her, go here.
To see a previous update on the numbers, go here.
A transcript of Brian Ross' report on Tuesday's GMA can be found below:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now to those latest allegations against presidential candidate Herman Cain. He's going to hold a press conference later today to answer the first woman who has come forward in public that Cain harassed her when he was head of the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990s. We're going to hear from that woman Sharon Bialek and her attorney Gloria Allred in a moment. But first, here's ABC's chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross with more on Cain and his accuser.
BRIAN ROSS: Good morning, George. Well, the allegations come from a Chicago woman who had lost her job at the National Restaurant Association and went to Washington in hopes that Cain could help to find her a new position. Instead, she says, she found Cain had upgraded her to a luxury hotel suite and wanted to get very personal. Cain remained defiant in an appearance of Jimmy Kimmel Live overnight.
HERMAN CAIN: I'm in it to win it and I'm not going to be discouraged by all this stuff!
ROSS: And he refuted the allegations.
CAIN: There's not an ounce of truth in all of these allegations.
ROSS: The incident is alleged to have happened 14 years ago, outside the National Restaurant Association in Washington, where Cain was CEO. Described in graphic detail by Sharon Bialek, it was a blonde bombshell.
SHARON BIALEK: Instead of going into the offices, he suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt. He also grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch. I was very, very surprised and very shocked. I said, "What are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend." This isn't what I came here for." Mr. Cain said, "You want a job, right?" I asked him to stop. And he did.
ROSS: The allegation against Cain is now the fourth involving women who knew him through the restaurant association. A lawyer for one of the other women says, the alleged conduct was similar to what happened with his client.
JOEL BENNETT: It's not exactly the same and I'm not authorized to give specifics. But the conduct is similar. And it's corroborating evidence for the complaint my client filed.
ROSS: Cain ducked reporters' questions about the new allegation, Monday, which his campaign called "completely false." Later, on a radio program with Bill O'Reilly of Fox News, he says his wife was disgusted by the media's handling of the allegations, but not with him.
CAIN: She's still 200 percent supportive of me and she is still 200 percent my wife. When you know that all of this is totally fabricated, you go from anger, then you go- you get disgusted.
JIMMY KIMMEL: You think the other candidates will follow suit and hire women to charge them with sexual harassment.
CAIN: If they're smart, they will. [Laughs.]
ROSS: Overnight, the Cain campaign described Sharon Bialek as a person with a history of severe financial difficulties and questioned who was paying for her lawyer, Gloria Allred, who they said was a long-time contributor to Democratic Party causes. George?
- Scott Whitlock's blog
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Comments
And the feeding frenzy has begun...
Submitted by Kaleidoscopic God on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 2:26pm.
...God help us all.
All or Nothing
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 3:08pm.
The left views losing the black voting block as something that can absolutely never be allowed to happen. There is nothing that the left will not do, no dirty trick, illegality, or boundary that will not be crossed, when it comes to losing their stranglehold on black political power. The message must be sent to any viable black conservative political figure: Your character and reputation will be destroyed if you attempt to leave the plantation.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
This is nothing more than to
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 3:15pm.
This is nothing more than to sow doubt in the minds of the voters. I say we find out who is paying Gloria Alred.
"99" stories??
Submitted by gopcongress on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 3:18pm.
Was the "99" stories Whitlock's count coincidental, or is there a curious and obvious connection to Cain's "999" plan?
To be frank, I would have waited another 15 minutes for the hundredth story to emerge to announce the hundredth story, which would have been epic.
EDIT: Oh, I see the full irony. I forgot to add the "in less than 9 days" part of the headline, therein completing the third 9 of the "999" connection.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
"PALATIAL" Suite... and DOESN'T EVEN GET ON ELEVATOR??????
Submitted by Annie Ashe Fields on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 3:51pm.
He upgrades her to a "palatial" hotel suite, presumably for sex, and CHOOSES THREE TIMES IN A ROW NOT TO USE IT????? Because THAT'S HER TESTIMONY. Consider:
He upgrades her to a "palatial" hotel suite... and meets her in the hotel lobby bar.
He upgrades her to a "palatial" hotel suite... then LEAVES the hotel and takes her out to dinner.
He upgrades her to a "palatial" hotel suite... and parks outside the National Restaurant Association...
...and picks THERE & THEN to ASSAULT HER?
Really?
Cupcake got told "no" - as in "no job" - THAT'S the only "assault" that took place in that car.
And the Chicago Sun-Times has a pictures of her posing for a friendly photo with him A MONTH AGO... Is THAT how you behave around YOUR ASSAILANT?
No.
She was CLEARLY charmed by him. HE COULD HAVE *ASKED* for sex... and probably got it... and if THAT was the story she told, I, a HUGE supporter who has given his campaign hundreds of dollars WOULD HAVE BELIEVED THAT.
But ASSAULT?
No.
NO.
When Clinton did similar with
Submitted by motherbelt on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 3:55pm.
When Clinton did similar with Paula Jones, the feminists called it nothing more than "crude courtship."
9-9-9 Upside Down is 6-6-6
Submitted by Dr. Sandy Kramer on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 5:26pm.
9-9-9 Upside Down is 6-6-6.
Sharon Bialek upside down is 6-9.
Dr. Sandy Kramer
Publicity is publicity
Submitted by LionKing on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 6:53pm.
It appears that publicity for CAIN, whether the intent is malicious, seems to be backfiring.
CAIN is garnering new-name recognition thanks to failed efforts of the LSM.
This analysis of story count
Submitted by tombaker on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 7:30pm.
This analysis of story count is flawed and foolish.
1. Cain is being attacked by disorganized rioting mob of liberal reporters tossing innuendo and misreporting to slim Candidate Cain.
2. It is juvenile and ignorant analysis to count the number of stories put out in a fully formed digital media, compared to the media which was nearly entirely television and PRINT on Paper back in the Clinton comparison.
3. Using the assumption that the media did something wrong or correct with Clinton is a needless exercise. The headline talks about counting, however the rest of the article then goes back to beneficial analysis of content and what is going on now.
4. Complaining that the media did something with Clinton or other MORE THAN 2 year events is for lack of a better word....just stupid. The world has changed.
5. MRC is certainly able to count blog postings in news blogs such as Politico.com but what is the point? Will you next talk about how many twits news reporters are doing?
As the later portions of the article do....stick with content instead of MEANINGLESS METRICS.
Reading is fundamental
Submitted by LionKing on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 7:34pm.
He starts by discussing ABC, NBC, etc. Correct me if I am wrong, but that is NOT print.
It can be
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Wed, 11/09/2011 - 9:19am.
if a liberal feels it strongly enough. Or argues that there is quite a lot of text on the screen, so your dichotomous definitions really don't amount to much.
Yeah, a lot has happened in two years
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Wed, 11/09/2011 - 9:30am.
A leading Republican presidential candidate is black, and innuendo about sexual indiscretion went from "not newsworthy" to newsworthy.
You're definitely right, 2 years is a lifetime for liberals to reverse their most sanctimonious of pronouncements on high for one that gives them a better advantage in the current environment. A lot of crap flows out of the liberal sewers in two years. Heck in a few months we can go from "violent rhetoric has got to stop" to "'Take these b-stards out' isn't inherently violent".
Why, just wait for the wind to change again.And waif for a lib to tell you what the new standards are....
Another Leftist Assault on someone they fear...
Submitted by alp on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 10:14pm.
This is nothing but another Liberal tactic of character assassination. It is so typical of the left way of dealing with a person/process that they fear, or can't intimidate. They (including the Liberal MSM) can't deal with the truth of the situation as it REALLY is, but have to fabricate lies, or report on rumors the have started, and when that fails, begin the name calling . The final step is resort to violence! In this case Mr. Cain is seen as a threat because he is topping the GOP Candidate polls, and is a direct threat to the Democrats hero, Barack Obama and they are at a loss as to how to deal with him! He is African American (a TRUE African American) and so they can't play their Race card. They have no other option but to find some will o' the wisp rumor/innuendo to try to stop his campaign. They have chosen this smear campaign about 'sexual harassment' and have no hope of succeeding; they know it, and it has put them in a desperate situation!!
Instead of Occupy wanting to
Submitted by goldbough on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 9:25pm.
Instead of Occupy wanting to break up banks and corporations, they need to switch their protests to the main news networks for not being fair in their stories.
goldbough
Submitted by 26CX on Tue, 11/08/2011 - 9:28pm.
Give Occupy enough time and they will turn on everyone.