The backlash against the increasing delays caused by the TSA has been so bad that on March 24, the TSA reassigned its head of security. According to CBS Evening News, 450 people missed their flights from Chicago’s O’Hare airport on May 15 because of TSA delays.
Despite devoting more than 42 minutes to the abysmal failures of the TSA since coverage began on May 10, neither ABC, CBS nor NBC once even hinted that the Obama Administration might bear even some of the blame on their evening news shows. Instead, the networks pointed the finger at Congress, at airlines, at passengers – but criticism of the White House was as off limits as a 4 ounce bottle of water at airport security.
Even those close to President Obama seem to get a free pass. ABC’s Eva Pilgrim on May 14 introduced Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson as “the man tackling the problem.” Not once was it suggested that Johnson bore any responsibility for the failure, despite the TSA falling under the purview of Homeland Security.
ABC correspondent Mary Bruce observed on May 19 that the TSA was “already operating with tightened security following that embarrassing breakdown last year when screeners who were tested by undercover agents failed to detect mock explosives, weapons or other banned items 95 percent of the time.” According to ABC World News Tonight on May 12, even after that 95 percent failure, the “TSA was blasted for a $90,00 bonus for one of its top officials.” That top official was the now-reassigned (not fired) head of security at the TSA.
Another problem plaguing the TSA is the rate at which their agents quit. “TSA headquarters says two hundred new recruits graduate from the academy every week. Yet one hundred seventeen quit each week,” NBC’s Tom Costello observed on May 16.
On top of their failure to detect threats from passengers, a 2015 report by the Department of Homeland Security found that the “TSA did not identify 73 individuals with terrorism-related category codes” among their own staff, according to a CBS Evening News on May 24.
While the networks started out critical of the TSA, after crash of EgyptAir 804, they began to soften to the idea of waiting in line for hours. On May 19, the day of the crash, NBC’s Pete Williams argued that the disaster “puts the inconvenience in a new light,” despite last year’s failed test revealing that the TSA may not make passengers much safer.
ABC had the most coverage of the TSA (16 min, 49 seconds), followed closely by NBC (16 minutes, 20 seconds) and trailed by CBS (9 minutes, 16 seconds).
