Appearing on Fox News's Hannity Thursday night, NewsBusters publisher and Media Research Center president Brent Bozell condemned the network news for its lack of coverage of the brutal oppression of Fidel Castro's communist regime in the wake of President Obama reopening diplomatic relations with Cuba: "[Castro] has been a mythological figure to the left-wing press since the 1950s. They – for 40 years they've chosen to ignore the repressive nature of this Stalinist regime that has done so much to try to harm America."
Between Wednesday's evening newscasts and Thursday's morning shows, CBS, NBC, and ABC devoted 55 minutes of coverage to President Obama reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba. However, only 4 minutes of that air time made any mention of the human rights abuses and oppression in the totalitarian Communist state.
Bozell broke down the numbers: "You look at the coverage last night, Sean, there was 29 minutes and 30 seconds on the networks. And only 3 minutes and 30 seconds dealt with this. This morning, there was 26 minutes on Castro, only 50 seconds dealt with the repressive nature of his regime."
Out of the 12 minutes 50 seconds of reporting on CBS Evening News, a paltry 25 seconds mentioned the plight of the Cuban people. During the 9 minutes 41 seconds of reporting on NBC Nightly News, only 1 minute 5 seconds highlighted the lack of freedom in the dictatorship. The 6 minutes 59 seconds on World News Tonight featured 1 minute 52 seconds on oppression in Cuba.
The disparity on the morning shows was even worse. CBS This Morning had 16 minutes 24 seconds on the topic, with 23 seconds referring to human rights abuses. ABC's Good Morning America gave 4 minutes 34 seconds to Cuba, with only 20 seconds on its Communist oppression. NBC's Today gave viewers 5 minutes 1 second of reporting on Cuba, but only a scant 7 seconds referring to the dictatorial nature of the regime.
Bozell went on to cite the Obama administration's own State Department detailing the brutality of the Castro brothers:
...this is what the Obama administration itself said. They said they're responsible for government threats, extrajudicial physical violence, intimidation, mobs, harassment, detentions to prevent free expression, peaceful assembly, harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrests, selective prosecutions, denials of fair trial. This is the Obama administration saying this.
Bozell gave "kudos" to The Washington Post for its editorial board blasting Obama's action, prompting Hannity to add: "Good for them. And thank God there is Fox News, talk radio, MRC, and others."
Moments later, Bozell promoted MRC's Worst of the Worst Notable Quotables of 2014.
Here is a transcript of the December 18 exchange:
10:38 PM ET
SEAN HANNITY: Welcome back to Hannity. Now since rising to power in Cuba in 1959 after a violent revolution, communist dictator Fidel Castro and his cohorts have been responsible for some of the most egregious human rights violations ever committed in the Western Hemisphere. Now those violations included the execution of thousands of Cubans via mass firing squads, the detention of homosexuals in concentration camps, the indefinite imprisonment of countless political adversaries, active support for Latin American based terror groups like FARK, and of course, an extreme obsession of all forms of – and suppression of free speech and the press.
But if you watch the mainstream media's recent coverage of Cuba, you wouldn't know about any of these atrocities because, well, they didn't cover it. Watch.
DAVID MUIR [WORLD NEWS TONIGHT]: For the first time since John F. Kennedy was president at the height of the Cold War, the United States tonight restoring full diplomatic relations with Cuba, that tiny island 90 miles from the Florida coast.
NORAH O'DONNELL [CBS EVENING NEWS]: During the Cold War, Cuba's economy was propped up by the Soviet Union, so we wondered how today's news is going down in Moscow.
MARK POTTER [NBC NIGHTLY NEWS]: Havana, known for its charm and vintage cars, is on life support. Its economy crippled by the long-standing U.S. embargo. People here now hope that will change.
HANNITY: Here to react to all this, Media Research Center's Brent Bozell is with us. Why tell the truth about a brutal, murdering, robbing, thieving dictator that's been an enemy of this country? Why give the facts to a good story?
BRENT BOZELL: Stunning. I mean, he has been a mythological figure to the left-wing press since the 1950s. They – for 40 years they've chosen to ignore the repressive nature of this Stalinist regime that has done so much to try to harm America.
You look at the coverage last night, Sean, there was 29 minutes and 30 seconds on the networks. And only 3 minutes and 30 seconds dealt with this. This morning, there was 26 minutes on Castro, only 50 seconds dealt with the repressive nature of his regime. But what's interesting is this, this is what the Obama administration itself said. They said they're responsible for government threats, extrajudicial physical violence, intimidation, mobs, harassment, detentions to prevent free expression, peaceful assembly, harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrests, selective prosecutions...
HANNITY: Let's be friends with them.
BOZELL: ...denials of fair trial. This is the Obama administration saying this.
HANNITY: Yeah, if we're nicer to the terrorists, we're nice to the brutal dictators, they'll be nicer to us. Alright, so the MRC every year-
BOZELL: Oh, and by the way, kudos to The Washington Post. They really brought it up and they were very harsh on this.
HANNITY: Good for them. Alright, fair enough. Good for them. And thank God there is Fox News, talk radio, MRC, and others.
