by Brent Baker
Senator Robert Torricelli, on NBC's Today show last Wednesday took a few seconds to note how the Senate ethics committee “severely” admonished the New Jersey Democrat for not reporting improper gifts, but news reader Hoda Kotbe, the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens noticed, didn't bother to identify his party affiliation.
During the 7am news update she announced: “The Senate Ethics Committee severely admonished New Jersey Senator Robert Torricelli for taking gifts from a businessman he helped. Last night Torricelli apologized for what he called, 'lapses of judgment.'”
In another situation, now that James Traficant is no longer a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Tom Brokaw finally decided to let his viewers know that he served as a Democrat.
In a July 18 story lasting more than two minutes, Brokaw and reporter Joe Johns avoided even once listing the Democratic Party affiliation of Congressman Traficant whom a House committee voted to expel after his convictions for fraud and bribery. See the July 19 CyberAlert for details.
Back in April, following Traficant's corruption conviction in federal court, Brokaw managed to twice inform viewers that Traficant is from Ohio, but not his party affiliation. Brokaw announced on the April 11th NBC Nightly News:”Back here, in Ohio tonight, the verdict is guilty on all counts for long-time Congressman James Traficant of Ohio. A federal jury has convicted him of bribery and racketeering. Traficant served as his own lawyer at trial and he could get up to 60 years in prison when he's sentenced in June.”
But on Tuesday night last week, MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth noticed, Brokaw decided to list Traficant's party. Brokaw's July 30th NBC Nightly News item: “Less than a week after being expelled from Congress, James Traficant is in jail tonight. The Ohio Democrat was sentenced to eight years and fined $150,000 on corruption charges. The judge gave him more jail time than prosecutors requested because in her words, 'Traficant undermined respect for the government.' He said he intends to run for re-election from his prison cell, and he does expect to win.”
Traficant will be making that race as an independent, so Brokaw's reticence to offer a party affiliation will no longer matter.
(This update courtesy of the Media Research Center.)
