The media protected Jeffrey Epstein and crucified Brett Kavanaugh.
It should be added here that Page Six, the New York Post‘s gossip column, had reported on ABC’s George Stephanopoulos attending parties at Epstein’s townhouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. This not only gives the lie to the excuse that Epstein was insignificant, but it also offers a motive for top brass at ABC to do what they did.
ABC News, ostensibly a news organization, sat on one of the biggest and most consequential stories of the past decade. By the company’s explanation, this was for the sake of an editorial standard, a standard that was strangely missing from its coverage of another significant moment in recent U.S. history.
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For many, this incident connects the dots between left-wing media bias and distrust of journalists. It helps explain why people increasingly reject the role of the media as wise gatekeepers, capable of deciding what is newsworthy. And it explains why so many people cheer when Trump calls the media “the enemy of the people” only to turn and sneer when lectured about this behavior by sanctimonious journalists.
Reminder: Disney, which owns ABC News, that ostensible news organization, was also in bed with Harvey Weinstein for over twenty years.
UPDATE: Here’s where the original “Big Three” television networks stand in 2019:
Our network media in 2019:
ABC: We killed the Epstein story in 2016 to cover for the Clintons.
CBS: So what? We will fire anyone here today who doesn't cover for the Clintons.
NBC: Hey, we killed the Harvey Weinstein story. And protected Matt Lauer. You know where we stand.
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) November 7, 2019
JOHN KASS: Jeffrey Epstein and Brett Kavanaugh, for ABC News, a tale of double standards.
Let’s remember what ABC, NBC and other media did to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing just a year ago, destroying his reputation, smearing him without evidence because he wasn’t on their political team.
Oh, you don’t want to go near Kavanaugh? Then just get off the bus, because I’m going there.
There is just no responsible way to discuss ABC’s alleged spiking of the Epstein story — or NBC’s spiking of the Harvey Weinstein story — without dealing with how those news networks, and other media outlets, worked frantically to destroy Kavanaugh.
Many in the media had one standard for Epstein and Weinstein, who had clout with Democrats including Bill and Hillary Clinton.
But Kavanaugh? He’s a Bush Republican nominated by President Donald Trump.
So that other standard was applied, one that allowed unsubstantiated allegations to be reported and repeated, endlessly, in an attempt to ruin him and keep him off the Supreme Court.It seems clear now, from the Ronan Farrow stories and other accounts, and from Robach’s hot mic take, that NBC and ABC showed great deference to Epstein and Weinstein.
Kass isn’t one to mince words, but “deference” is far too kind a descriptor for the act of providing friendly media cover to a serial sexual abuser and a serial child rapist.
RELATED: ABC Spiking Epstein Story Reactionpalooza.
h/t ED