The network evening news programs on Wednesday and morning shows on Thursday skipped covering the suspension of MSNBC host Ed Shultz for trashing Laura Ingraham as a "right-wing slut." Yet, these same networks eagerly jumped all over the story of Don Imus referring to college basketball players as "hos."
On Wednesday, ABC's World News, CBS's Evening News and NBC's Nightly News avoided reporting on this May 24 remark by Schultz: "Like this right-wing slut, what's her name, Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she's a talk slut." (Good Morning America, Today and Early Show did the same.) Later in the day on Wednesday, MSNBC suspended Schultz.
When radio host Imus was initially removed for two weeks in 2007 (before being fired), the evening newscasts devoted six stories (two per network) to the radio host on April 10 alone.
Reporter Dan Harris on the April 10, 2007 World News derided Schultz's "racist, sexist comments." On the same day's Nightly News, Brian Williams lectured, "...We have witnessed an explosive reaction to some hateful words uttered by Don Imus."
The April 11 morning programs, the day after the suspension, couldn't get enough of story. The Early Show devoted three full reports. Today offered an additional three segments, including bringing in Whoopi Goldberg, Spike Lee, Al Sharpton and Imus himself to go over every detail.
Al Roker summed it up best on that day's Today, proclaiming that "Hateful words that have ignited a public and media outcry."
So far, however, there has been no such journalistic outrage over slurring a conservative as a "right-wing slut."
