This week, House Republicans are demanding answers from ABC News about Amy Robach’s claim that she wanted to report about Jeffrey Epstein three years ago but was stopped by the network. ABC would rather we forgot about the story, and the story behind the story. CBS News even fired one of their own employees for having access to the Robach tape when she worked at ABC, even if she wasn’t the whistleblower. That’s how scared they all are. But the story isn’t going away. ABC will not escape accountability. And now, surprisingly, some Democrats are holding another major news network to the same standard.
Ahead of this week’s Democratic debate hosted by MSNBC, three presidential contenders are urging the network’s parent company, Comcast, to conduct an independent investigation into sexual misconduct at the news network…
But instead of taking the fight directly to the company, Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are planning to send a letter Tuesday to Tom Perez…
“We, the undersigned candidates, are very concerned about the message it would send to sexual assault survivors if our next debate is sponsored by MSNBC without clear commitments from Comcast, the parent company of NBC and MSNBC, to conduct an independent investigation into the toxic culture that enabled abusers and silenced survivors…”
Then they bring up Trump, saying he’s been “credibly accused of sexual harassment and sexual abuse by dozens of women.” You can agree or disagree that Trump’s accusers are credible, but at least these three Democrats are holding their own side accountable. (And if you don’t think NBC is a propaganda arm of the Democratic Party, pull the other one.) Warren, Sanders, and Booker aren’t just saying, “Well, he did it, so why can’t we?” They’re treating sexual harassment seriously. They recognize that NBC is a dangerous place for women, and they want answers.
We’ll see if this makes any difference, or if it’s just a token gesture to get activists off their backs. But I applaud Booker, Sanders, and Warren for speaking up. I’ll never vote for them, I’ll never trust them, but I tip my hat to them. This isn’t a partisan issue. Journalism has a sexual harassment problem, and powerful people can no longer remain silent about it.
And kudos to Megyn Kelly, who got railroaded out of NBC last year and is now reporting on these issues independently. She’s calmly and rationally showing what you can do when you don’t have to answer to network executives trying to save their own hides.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member