OPINION:
Beacons of the mainstream media are coming to George Stephanopoulos’ defense in the wake of revelations that he donated $75,000 to the Clinton Foundations.
“This isn’t an enormous journalistic scandal,” a Washington Post story said in its online “Plum Line” subsite.
“But the reaction to it shows just how successful Clinton opponents, with the enthusiastic cooperation of the news media, have been at taking a charitable foundation that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on worthy causes and turning it into something that is widely assumed to be shady and suspect by its very nature.”
The article said the donations to a charity run in part by Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton “has helped reinforce the right’s belief that the media are in the tank for Hillary Clinton, something that could barely be further from the truth.”
That word — “reinforce” — was the exact word the New York Times picked for its A1 story: “George Stephanopoulos’s Gifts to Clinton Foundation Reinforce G.O.P. Doubts.”
The paper states as fact: “Until now, though, allegations that he lacked journalistic objectivity had been mostly circumstantial,” then ticks through a series of what it claims is clear evidence that Stephanopoulos is not biased.
The Times also said the revelations of the contributions were “made after the conservative Washington Free Beacon started asking ABC News questions,” even though Politico, a liberal-leaning website first reported the story.
Following in the footsteps of Brian Williams, the disgraced NBC News anchor who embellished stories about his wartime coverage and was suspended for six months, ABC is standing behind its diminutive anchor.
“He made charitable donations to the foundation to support a cause he cares about deeply and believed his contributions were a matter of public record,” the network said in a statement.
“He should have taken the extra step to notify us and our viewers during the recent news reports about the Foundation,” the network added. “He’s admitted to an honest mistake and apologized for that omission. We stand behind him.”
But according to the network’s own policy, employees who donate to a charity must “disclose that to us before covering a story related to that organization.”
For his part, Stephanopoulos said, “I’m sorry because I don’t want anything to compromise my integrity or the standards of ABC News. I don’t want to do anything that would raise questions in the minds of our viewers. I’m sorry all of that has happened.”
But he added: “I am going to continue to cover the 2016 campaign.”
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