A liberal radio host raved over CNN's completely one-sided report on striking fast food workers, and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo acknowledged his praise on Twitter on Thursday.
Cuomo constantly rails against partisanship on Capitol Hill, so it's surprising that a news anchor who wishes to appear above the fray would publish some love from an unabashedly left-wing source. And why did the radio host praise Alison Kosik's report on the fast food strikes that aired on Thursday's New Day? It was barren of any conservative talking points.
Kosik's report featured a striking worker, a liberal professor, and President Obama calling for a higher minimum wage. Nowhere did she interview a member of the restaurant industry or an economist arguing against a minimum wage hike.
The report was clearly sympathetic to the protesters' cause. Kosik touted the "growing movement" and interviewed one of "many" minimum wage earners who "are struggling to get by."
"This News Network Gives a 90-second Master Class on How to Cover Poverty," the Media Matters headline blared. "CNN's Alison Kosik deserves credit for reporting the facts about low-wage workers," liberal radio host Ari Rabin-Havt wrote.
What were CNN's "facts" that he praised?
Kosik interviewed a "58-year-old man with two college age children" instead of "a teenager working for spending money – which is who conservatives claim minimum wage workers are," Rabin Favt insisted. The majority of minimum wage earners, the Acton Institute notes, are still under the age of 25 and about 25 percent are teenagers.
CNN featured a Columbia University professor "who studies 'inequality and American politics'" – and who once compared Occupy Wall Street to the NBA lockout.
Kosik's prediction that "six out of the 10 fastest growing jobs over the next decade will be low wage jobs" – which conservatives would argue is a consequence of liberal economic policies.
No wonder a liberal radio host loved this Democratic tip sheet, and apparently Chris Cuomo was okay with that.
