National Public Radio has produced a glowing, pro-Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., report this week.
“‘Auntie Maxine’ Waters Gets Ready To Take On The Banks As House Panel Chair,” reads the headline, giving readers fair warning about what sort of article they should expect.
The headline’s use of Waters’ #Resistance nickname seems like gross, overly friendly deference to a person in a position of power. To be fair, NPR published a headline in 2016 that included the use of “Mad Dog” in reference to Defense Secretary James Mattis. But the difference there is that “Mad Dog” is a nickname that has followed Mattis around for years. It wasn’t given to him by partisan activists. “Auntie Maxine,” on the other hand, is explicitly the creation of the #Resistance. Giving it lip service in the headline seems like poor judgment on NPR’s part.
Next, there’s the content the story itself. Hoo, boy.
There are plenty of reasons to suspect the NPR newsroom has a troublingly high opinion of the congresswoman, but none stands out so much as the fact that its report this week makes absolutely no mention of her history of alleged ethics violations or the fact that her family has been making a killing from her political and business connections. To be clear: In a story that goes out of its way to characterize Waters as a “firebrand” who “gives as good as she gets” and claims she has used her influence on the Financial Services Committee to “[position] herself as a voice of the little people,” there’s not one word about her long history of political kickbacks and using her political endorsement to enrich her family.
You’d think a story that takes the time to quote industry experts who say she is a “tough and savvy defender of consumer protection” and “skilled legislator [who has] devoted considerable energy to issues affecting the mortgage industry” would also find time to mention the congresswoman’s well-documented history of unethical behavior.
Readers might be interested in learning more about Waters’ daughter, Karen, who will collect more than $200,000 this year for heading a slate mailer operation for her mother’s 2018 re-election campaign. Readers might also be interested in learning more about the fact that, between 2006 and 2016, Waters’ firm will have collected more than $600,000 in funds from her mother’s campaign.
NPR couldn’t be bothered to mention that Waters was charged in 2010 with violations of the House’s ethics rules after it was discovered she had used her connections to ensure a $12 million federal bailout of OneUnited Bank. NPR couldn’t be bothered to mention Waters’ husband owned OneUnited Bank stock. NPR also couldn’t be bothered to mention the 2004 Los Angeles Times report that found Waters’ relatives pocketed more than $1 million over the course of eight years from businesses and political campaigns that were in some way connected to the congresswoman.
The NPR story does mention, however, that Waters had a video go viral once after she interrupted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hearing. The article also mentions President Trump once called her “low IQ,” which the article then suggests is likely racist because “many people” say so.
That the story’s author and editors believe these stupid side issues are worthier of attention than the incoming chair of the Financial Services Committee’s history of graft (honest or not) tells you an awful lot about where NPR’s priorities are.
