Logically, in a free society, you should be able to pick any news source at random and get approximately the same stories--maybe with a slightly different slant--but essentially the same stories. Well, we seem to have lost that concept somewhere.
On Friday, Newsbusters.org reported that despite polling showing public support for a balanced budget amendement, ABC, CBS, and NBC did not report on the Cut, Cap and Balance Plan until last week. The article also mentioned that none of the three networks mentioned that the majority of Americans favored a balanced budget amendment despite the fact that polling results have shown as many as 72 percent of Americans favor the idea.
The article reports:
"At CBS, correspondent Whit Johnson on the July 17 "Evening News" was the first to write CCB's obituary without acknowledging public support: "They want immediate cuts, an aggressive cap on future spending, and constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget." Senate Democrats say the proposal has no chance."
"Correspondents Bill Plante and Nancy Cordes joined the hit parade in the following days, mimicking each others reports on the "Early Show" and "Evening News."
"On the July 18 "Early Show," Plante called CCB "dead on arrival," failing to mention the favorable polls: "It would revert spending back to 2008 levels and cap the budget at eighteen percent of gross domestic product. It also calls for a balanced budget amendment, a provision Democrats say is dead on arrival.""
It is unfortunate that the major networks chose not to tell the whole story.
The article also reports:
"On the cable side, MRC analyst Matt Hadro reported that CNN ignored the findings of its own poll released Thursday demonstrating broad suport for capping spending and implementing a balanced budget amendment."
There is a reason Fox News has become so popular--they tend to tell both sides of the story.
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