Jim Jordan’s Invisible Hearing in New York City
19th April 2023
The House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing in Manhattan on April 17, a brief walk from the offices of the local District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who’s prosecuting former president Donald Trump. Chairman Jim Jordan and the Republicans said it was important to hear from violent crime victims in America’s largest city. The Democrats ardently proclaimed it was a pro-Trump stunt.
ABC, CBS, and NBC also showed an opinion. They ignored it, treated it like it didn’t exist. It wasn’t “news” at all.
This wasn’t a field hearing in Albuquerque, where they might claim it’s not worth the expense of sending reporters and crews. This was in their own home town, their own home borough.
“Public broadcasting?” NPR offered no story in its comically mis-titled evening newscast All Things Considered, but they did have time to glory in the defamation lawsuit against Fox News. The PBS NewsHour earned some kind of paper medal for at least offering a report, and both parties were included in the soundbites.’
At least the nation’s most prestigious (translation: liberal) newspapers would have to cover it. Actually, no! The Washington Post let democracy die in darkness, instead doing a big front-page story on the House Republicans on the debt ceiling debate.