ABC's Good Morning America, hosted by former Bill Clinton operative George Stephanopoulos, on Friday skipped any mention of the growing scandal involving foreign donations to the foundation of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Yet, the lengthy program found plenty of time for superficial topics.
GMA's hosts devoted 12 minutes and 35 seconds to the coming Avengers sequel. It should be noted that Disney owns Marvel Studios, the company releasing the film. Unsurprisingly, Disney also owns ABC. (An onscreen graphic briefly noted this. See below.)
The program allowed three minutes and seven seconds on when Britain's latest royal baby will be born. ABC producers flew reporter Sara Haines to London to cover the story. Other "news" items included a look at Bruce Jenner's transgender surgery.
Yet, there was no time for any mention of Stephanopoulos's old boss, Bill Clinton and the potential problems facing 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton. In contrast, CBS This Morning, a far more serious morning program, unloaded facts on viewers:
JULIANNA GOLDMAN: Former President Bill Clinton was paid $1.4 million by a Nigerian news media group to give two speeches there while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. Schweitzer says the group's founder had close ties to the country's president.It also raises new questions about long time friend and major benefactor Canadian billionaire Frank Giustra, including the implication that Secretary Clinton supported the Colombia free trade agreement because it helped Giustra's business interest. In another example, the New York Times reported on a previously undisclosed donation of $2.35 million from the foundation to the owner of a Russian uranium mining company looking to operate in the U.S. That required approval by the State Department, among other agencies.
NBC's Today brought on an "ethics expert" from the Sunlight Foundation, an organization backed by liberal billionaire George Soros, to dismiss the Clinton scandal. However, unlike GMA, at least the show's journalists covered it.
On Thursday night, ABC's World News and the NBC Nightly News covered the story. The CBS Evening News did not.
