NPR in general and their legal affairs/Supreme Court
correspondent Nina Totenberg in particular want the public to believe that they
view sexual harassment charges against public figures as a very important issue
that demands immediate and full coverage.
The reality according to Newsbusters: they behave that way
only if the accused has a Republican party identification.
The most recent evidence of that: the reporting on the
charges of sexual harassment and sexual assault by San Diego ’s current Democratic mayor and
former 20-year U.S. Congressman Bob Filner.
In the two weeks following the
initial disclosure of the accusations July 11, which was followed by named
accusers coming forward July 22, 23 and 24, NPR has aired a grand total of two
pieces on the matter. The first occurred a full five days after the accusations
first came out, on July 16 (even The New York Times reported it July 12). And
both pieces were done by a public radio journalist in San Diego who doesn’t even work for NPR.
Congressman Filner |
Compare that with the charges of sexual harassment made
against then-Republican primary presidential candidate (and current syndicated radio talker) Herman Cain. In the two
weeks following the initial disclosure of the accusations on October 30, 2011,
which was also followed by multiple named accusers, NPR aired FORTY pieces by
multiple NPR journalists. The first occurred just 8 hours after the accusations
came out—on the first available NPR news show. One black reporter insisted Cain
wasn't suffering yet because he was "willing to be a minstrel" for
white conservatives.
Even NPR’s liberal game show Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me!
skewered Cain in three separate segments in the same two weeks (they’ve done
nothing on Filner).
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