The Big Three networks coverage so far of the Justice Department's questionable investigation of Fox News' James Rosen has followed a similar pattern to that of their coverage of the Kermit Gosnell case. Jan Crawford's report on Thursday's CBS This Morning was the first full report on growing controversy on ABC, CBS, and NBC's morning and evening newscasts. NBC briefly covered the investigation on Tuesday's Today, and ABC has yet to mention it.
Crawford pointed out how the DOJ's "unprecedented" surveillance of Rosen has "really just set off a firestorm of criticism from the left and right. For the first time ever, a presidential administration is treating news reporting like a crime, and a reporter like a criminal suspect." [audio available here; video below the jump]
Anchor Charlie Rose teased the correspondent's report by wondering if "the Obama administration gone too far in its fight to stop leaks." Rose also pointed out that "the Obama administration is being accused of crossing a line. For the first time, a reporter is being treated like a criminal suspect for doing his job."
After playing a clip from a recent White House press conference, where colleague and former Fox News correspondent Major Garrett questioned the "standard never before seen in a leak investigation", the CBS journalist underlined that "the investigation into Rosen has sparked a rare thing in Washington: bipartisan outrage over what some are calling 'Obama's war on journalism'. Just last week, the Justice Department came under fire for seizing two months of phone records from the Associated Press – action the President defended on national security grounds."
Later, Crawford played two soundbites from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who blasted the Obama Justice Department's pursuit of the Fox News correspondent. She also highlighted that "journalists that I'm talking to here in Washington...say they're already seeing the impact of this, that their sources and whistle-blowers... [are] staying silent. And that, they say, could be the real impact of this. If the administration, kind of, intimidates people into not coming forward, people stay silent and the administration gets to control the information and the story."
On Tuesday's Today on NBC, news anchor Tamron Hall gave the same news briefs twice on the Rosen investigation – once just after the top of the 8 am Eastern hour and the other time 11 minutes into the 9 am hour:
TAMRON HALL: The Obama administration is also taking heat for prosecuting a State Department expert on North Korea and declaring that a Fox News journalist committed a crime by disclosing information that was leaked to him. During its probe of the State Department adviser, officials issued a search warrant for the private e-mails of Fox News chief Washington correspondent James Rosen, with the FBI naming him a criminal co-conspirator in this leak.
Now, his comings and goings from the State Department were also tracked. No charges have been filed against Rosen, but Fox News has come to his defense, saying he was acting within his right as part of a free press.
One wonders when ABC will get around to covering the ongoing controversy on Good Morning America or World News.
