Both CNN and FOX News whiffed it today in their coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision on Obamacare. CNN’s correspondent was breathless in her exclamation that the Supreme Court had struck down the law. I’ve seen this happen before when reporters try to break news about a Supreme Court decision before actually reading the majority opinion in full. I watch MSNBC, so I missed this while it was happening. But I did see the confusion on Twitter, and it was quite the spectacle as people tried to get their stories straight.
What happened was that reporters only read the portion of the opinion in which Chief Justice Roberts said that the individual mandate couldn’t be upheld on the basis of the commerce clause. What the reporters failed to do was to read a few sections down where the Chief Justice also said that the mandate could be upheld on the basis of Congress’s power to levy taxes. It was an embarrassing moment for both networks. In their attempt to break news they blew the news. You can watch CNN’s coverage above, and FOX’s below.
4 Comments
Ken Temple
“In their attempt to break news, they blew the news.”
That was good, Denny.
I appreciate your cutting edge blog on cultural, politics, and theological issues.
Nate
You watch MSNBC?!
Paula Bolyard
I thought it was weird that none of the cable news stations had reporters on the ground at the SCOTUS. There were throngs of protesters there all day and the stations had cameras focused on that (as background shots), but nobody was interviewing any of them. Why were they only interviewing the “experts” all day? Odd.
Jason Kates
The pressure to be first, to get the scoop, is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s 24/7 media savvy world.
I’d rather they just get it right.