Networks Promote Fearmongering On Sequester Cuts

 

The NBC, ABC, and CBS evening newscasts on Tuesday all recited the same White House talking points as anchors and correspondents wrung their hands over the upcoming sequester budget cuts set to take effect on March 1. While all three broadcasts touted President Obama using “dire language” to warn against the cuts – only amounting to less that three percent of the federal budget – none of them noted that it was the President’s idea in the first place. [Listen to the audio]

At the top of NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams sounded the alarm: “Deep impact….deep budget cuts poised to have a major impact on the military, law enforcement, even food inspection.” In the report that followed, correspondent John Yang fretted: “Through 2021, it means cutting $85 billion a year, half from the Pentagon, half from non-defense programs. Everything from education to national parks to Meals on Wheels.” Yang failed to mention the current annual federal budget is around $3.5 trillion.

 

After Yang hyped the cuts, an exasperated Williams turned to chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd and proclaimed: “Do you wonder why people are so deeply angry, cynical, and checked out of our politics?”

On ABC’s World News, anchor Diane Sawyer touted Obama going after congressional Republicans on the issue: “…the President came out swinging today about the effect on American families when the budget axe falls in less than two weeks….the President likened it to a meat cleaver.”

Chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl actually noted the planned cuts were “less than 3% of the budget,” but then continued to parrot administration spin: “…but the White House says virtually everybody will be hurt, and we’ll see long lines as TSA agents are furloughed, 1,000 FBI and other law enforcement agents forced off the job, and 70,000 preschoolers dropped from the Head Start program.”

Read More at The Media Research Center . By Kyle Drennen.

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