As gas prices continue to skyrocket to astronomical levels around the country on Monday, ABC’s World News Tonight completely ignored the story. Although both CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News covered the pain American consumers are feeling at the pump, they promoted the Biden administration’s ineffective solutions to the problem.
ABC’s World News Tonight decided they had more important news to cover than Americans getting hit financially by sky-high gasoline prices. Instead of covering this, ABC covered local weather reports in the northeast as if they weren't used to snow.
On CBS Evening News, senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe reported how gas prices have soared to a “fourteen-year average high of more than four dollars” and over forty cents in just the past week. Which O’Keefe noted that by one measure is “the largest jump in history.”
During Monday’s White House press briefing, O’Keefe asked Press Secretary Jen Psaki “what is the President's message to Americans who are going to the gas station today and seeing prices so high?” Her response was that Biden is going to do “everything he can to reduce the impact on the American people including the price of gas at the tank.”
Apparently everything except ramping up domestic oil production in the United States so we wouldn’t need to rely on other countries like Russia for energy.
Unfortunately, CBS didn’t bring that possible solution up, instead they hyped that the Biden administration “is in talks with Venezuela for the first time in three years, part of an ongoing global search for crude oil that’s a substitute for Russia if the ban goes through.”
South Florida was getting redder each election cycle, but by playing footie with human rights abuser Nicolas Maduro, Biden might have increased that pace.
Over on NBC Nightly News, business correspondent Jo Ling Kent reported that a “gallon of regular [gas] is now more than four dollars and ten cents” which has surpassed “a previous record in 2008.”
Kent noted that “in California, drivers spotting an eye-popping $7 a gallon in Los Angeles. Across the country, the biggest jumps are in Rhode Island, Nevada, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Alabama.”
Later on in the segment, Kent reported that Russia’s economy is “heavily dependent on energy exports” which ends up accounting for “nearly ten percent of the global oil supply.” She warned that an American ban on Russian oil would, according to analysts, “trigger even higher gas prices here at home.” Knowing this, Kent interviewed a woman at a gas station:
KENT: If you knew that paying more would mean a better outcome for the invasion of Ukraine, would you do that?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Short answer, yes, of course. If that means paying an extra few dollars, then I'd take it.
What Kent failed to note in her report is that Americans wouldn’t be forced to pay higher prices if the Biden administration would allow more domestic oil drilling.
This latest example of bias by omission by ABC News was made possible by Crest. CBS & NBC failing to mention an easy solution to America’s high gasoline prices was made possible by Progressive on CBS and Liberty Mutual on NBC. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcripts click “expand”:
CBS Evening News
3/7/2022
6:42:30 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Back here at home, stocks fell sharply on Wall Street today as oil and gas prices continue to skyrocket. The Dow fell by nearly 2.5 percent, the NASDAQ and S&P 500 suffered even greater losses. Tonight CBS’s Ed O'Keefe reports on the Biden administration’s efforts to try and ease the pain at the pump.
ED O’KEEFE: President Biden today held a video conference with European leaders intent on pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to reverse course. But as the crisis intensifies, it's causing gas prices to soar, hitting a fourteen-year average high of more than four dollars, up over forty cents in just a week. By one measure, the largest jump in history.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I just never managed to see the cost of gas being this high.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It blows my mind. It's a crazy number.
O’KEEFE: What is the President's message to Americans who are going to the gas station today and seeing prices so high?
JEN PSAKI: He's going to do everything we can, everything he can to reduce the impact on the American people including the price of gas at the tank. What is also true is that, because of the actions of President Putin, because he invaded a sovereign country, that created instability in the markets.
O’KEEFE: The administration is considering banning Russian oil and cutting off the revenue to Putin, though it counts to just three percent of U.S. oil imports. A new poll out today shows seven in ten Americans support a Russian oil ban even if it means higher gas prices. And the administration is in talks with Venezuela for the first time in three years, part of an ongoing global search for crude oil that’s a substitute for Russia if the ban goes through.
NBC Nightly News
3/7/2022
7:12:01 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Just about everyone's feeling the growing economic consequences of this war, most notably at the gas pump as you’ve heard. Jo Ling Kent has that story.
JO LING KENT: Tonight, record-breaking prices at the pump nationwide.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It’s actually killing my budget
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: You feel it, but you just gotta keep going.
KENT: The average for a gallon of regular is now more than $4.10, surpassing a previous record in 2008. Prices skyrocketing nearly 50 cents a gallon over just the last seven days. In California, drivers spotting an eye-popping $7 a gallon in Los Angeles. Across the country, the biggest jumps are in Rhode Island, Nevada, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Alabama.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I could go about two more weeks with this. After this I'm going to park the car and jump on the bus.
KENT: And soon it will go beyond the pump. Experts warn that rising gas prices will lead to more expensive plane tickets. Overnight crude oil prices reaching levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis.
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: We are now in very active discussions with our European partners about banning the import of Russian oil.
KENT: Russia, whose economy is heavily dependent on energy exports, accounts for nearly ten percent of the global oil supply. While an import ban could cripple Russia's economy, analysts say it would also trigger even higher gas prices here at home. If you knew that paying more would mean a better outcome for the invasion of Ukraine, would you do that?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Short answer, yes, of course. If that means paying an extra few dollars, then I'd take it.
KENT: And the price you pay is expected to climb even higher. Gas buddy anticipating the national average could skyrocket 40 to 50 cents a gallon in the coming days and weeks. Lester?
