The trial of U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has started. And if the network news has its way, as few people as possible will know there even is a trial, let alone why it is taking place or what is happening in it.
Nothing important here, folks. Just the first such trial of a sitting United States Senator in 40 years, and the fact that, since Mr. Menendez cannot cast senate votes during the trial, it may mean that new legislation to dump ObamaCare, which failed by one vote last time, can now pass.
And that, of course, is before we get to the fact that if Menendez is found guilty and resigns before the end of the year (a genuine possibility), New Jersey’s Republican/Trump-supporting Governor, Chris Christie, is legally able to replace him – almost certainly with a Republican.
How can this trial not be newsworthy?
Yet, according to Scott Whitlock’s latest article for newsbusters.org,
-ABC did not report on the start of the trial;
-NBC did not report on the start of the trial;
-CBS gave it 22 seconds of bare-bones coverage – the first time CBS has so much as mentioned it at all.
And this, let’s not forget, is on the heels of the New York Times’ 1,300 word article about the Menendez trial, in which it never mentioned, even once, that he is a Democrat.
Is that journalism? Or is that full-press defense for a Democrat who may well have to resign in disgrace and go to jail?
We both know the answer. And we both know what it says about today’s mainstream media.
