"The media finally recognized a[n] [Obama] scandal, but then slowly but surely they took their foot off the gas," Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity noted of the media's treatment of the IRS/Tea Party scandal as he opened the "Media Mash" segment with NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell on Thursday's Hannity. As Hannity opened the segment, an on-screen graphic [embedded below the page break] displayed data collected by Media Research Center (MRC) deputy research director Geoff Dickens which showed the broadcast media's waning interest in reporting on developments in the scandal.
"Look, the first two weeks of this scandal, 96 stories. The second two weeks, 31 stories. This week: one story. It's over," as far as the media are concerned, the MRC founder noted, even though the MRC's own CNSNews.com division broke some damning revelations related to the IRS scandal this week. For example, Bozell noted:
CNSNews broke the story that 1,000 IRS agents have been abusing their credit cards, that's the inspector general's report.
[...]
How about this one? Monday night. We broke the stories, and you guys covered it, that the IRS was investing in spying equipment! Putting spying equipment in ashtrays, spying equipment in cameras, spying equipment in plants, I mean, this is something that East Germany did! Not a story [to the liberal media].
Subsequent to CNSNews.com's story, the IRS canceled the spy equipment order, but the fact remains that the order should have generated broadcast media interest in light of the larger scandal.
In addition to Thursday's "Media Mash" segment, Bozell discussed the media's lack of interest in the IRS scandal on the Friday, June 14 edition of Fox Business Network's Varney & Co. as well as the June 13 edition of FBN's Cavuto.
