You probably weren’t watching, but CNN earned an honorable mention at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this year for its coverage of the confirmation vote on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Or, to be more precise, the cable network was singled out for praise specifically for the moment when one of its reporters aided anti-Kavanaugh activists in berating a GOP senator for supporting the conservative judge’s nomination. Because that is apparently the sort of news coverage that a journalism advocacy group like the White House Correspondents’ Association believes deserves accolades.
In September 2018, moments after former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., announced he would support Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, two activists chased down the Arizona senator in the Dirksen Senate Office Building to criticize him for his decision. The demonstrators, both of whom claimed to be victims of sexual abuse, caught Flake as he tried to leave in an elevator.
“I was sexually assaulted and nobody believed me. I didn’t tell anyone, and you’re telling all women that they don’t matter, that they should just stay quiet because if they tell you what happened to them you are going to ignore them,” one activist cried as she dressed down the GOP lawmaker, who was unable to leave because the protesters had blocked the elevator door.
The moment was caught on tape by CNN’s camera crew.
The activist added:
It went on like that for a few minutes longer. As the women harangued Flake, CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux interjected periodically with questions aimed at getting the senator to respond to the activists’ criticisms. Malveaux’s questions are as follows:
– “Do you want to respond?”
– “Senator, do you care to respond?”
– “Care to respond?”
– “Senator, do you want to respond to their complaints? Senator, do you care to respond to their complaints?”
– “The American Bar Association says that they should wait for an F.B.I. investigation. Do you not believe that?”
Of these six questions, only the last one had any sort of journalistic value.
Is the White House Correspondents’ Association really going to pretend like Malveaux did not participate in the activists’ attempts to shame Flake and change his mind? Is the White House Correspondents’ Association really going to pretend like this was not a clear-cut example of an ostensibly straight-news reporter diving headfirst into partisan activism?
Never mind the obvious. Someone get that network an honorable mention!
Anyway, the actual winner of the 2018 Merriman Smith Award in broadcast was Fox News’ Ed Henry for his interview with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. The White House Correspondents’ Association’s praise for CNN came in the context of applauding the cable network as a runner-up for the award.
“CNN’s coverage on the day of the hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was aggressive, relied on deep sourcing and felt like one was watching a symphony,” the White House Correspondents’ Association explained in awarding the cable news network an honorable mention. It added referring specifically to the elevator incident, “The news-making moments in which Sen. Jeff Flake … was confronted by two women was just a piece of the extensive coverage that followed every angle, all day.”
The fact that reporters keep winning book deals and praise for this sort of partisan, slipshod behavior is the clearest signal yet that nothing is going to change in terms of newsrooms addressing their political biases.
