Tuesday was a terrible day for Michigan Democratic Representative John Conyers as yet another former staffer came forward to accuse the longtime Congressman of sexual harassment. In addition, he was reportedly in talks with the Congressional Black Caucus to possibly resign.
But according to the liberal Big Three Networks, none of that was really newsworthy. Both ABC’s and NBC’s evening broadcasts didn’t have any mention of Conyers while CBS buried it at the end of a report on the Senate GOP tax plan.
Not only did ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News fail to mention that Conyers was reportedly in talks to resign, but they didn’t run a single report on sexual harassment in general. That’s despite the fact that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was apparently being sued for sex-trafficking. But they managed to find time to gush over the months-away royal wedding. ABC fawned for one minute and 41 seconds while NBC rambled for one minute and 55 seconds.
In place of a report on Conyers, NBC kicked off the program by running back-to-back reports stoking fear of the Senate GOP tax plan for a combined four minutes and 54 seconds. And in doing so, they put the news that North Korea launched an ICBM that could reach Washington, DC on the back burner, only getting to it after they were done with taxes. They were the only network not to start their evening newscast with the missile launch.
CBS Evening News couldn’t manage to give the Conyers developments a full segment of their own or a proper news brief. Instead, Temporary Anchor Anthony Mason and Correspondent Nancy Cordes shoehorned it in following her report spreading fear of the Senate GOP tax plan.
“Nancy, you have new information tonight, also, about Michigan Congressman John Conyers who’s facing allegations of sexual misconduct. What can you tell us,” Mason hastily asked. Cordes simply responded with:
That's right, we know he has been meeting this afternoon and this evening with some of his fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss whether he should resign over these allegations by former staffers of unwanted sexual advances. One top Democrat, James Clyburn, told us that it is his understanding that a fifth accuser has come forward. We still haven't heard, Anthony, from Conyers himself about what he plans to do.
A Congressman who had been in office for over 50-years was apparently being forced out by colleagues but that wasn’t worth any serious airtime for CBS. But they did allocate time to run a segment recapping the allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore for two minutes and 14 seconds with no new developments. CBS did mention the new lawsuit against Weinstein.
CBS’s mention of resignation talks wasn’t an exclusive for them. Both CNN and Fox News were reporting it as well. “Several Congressional Black Caucus members are in talks to get veteran Rep. John Conyers to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct, several Democratic sources told CNN on Tuesday,” CNN wrote on Tuesday. “Those members are trying to ease his exit without trampling on his legacy during his 50-plus years in the House.”
This network blackout of the damning developments for Conyers takes on a new meaning when you look at how little they wanted to talk about the allegations when they first broke. Back on November 21, both ABC and CBS only gave the breaking news mere seconds. The minimal coverage of Conyers versus the maximum coverage of Moore proved they’re playing favorites.
Transcript below:
CBS Evening News
November 28, 2017
6:36:03 PM Eastern(…)
ANTHONY MASON: Nancy, you have new information tonight, also, about Michigan Congressman John Conyers who’s facing allegations of sexual misconduct. What can you tell us?
NANCY CORDES: That's right, we know he has been meeting this afternoon and this evening with some of his fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss whether he should resign over these allegations by former staffers of unwanted sexual advances. One top Democrat, James Clyburn, told us that it is his understanding that a fifth accuser has come forward. We still haven't heard, Anthony, from Conyers himself about what he plans to do.
MASON: Nancy Cordes at the capitol. Thanks.
