The mainstream media has cranked up their sympathy machine for Hunter Biden during his gun trial, channeling more tears for him than time for facts. Major networks ABC, CBS, and NBC offer spotlight to sob stories over substance, deriving the slightest bit of dignity this case has left.
With ABC’s omission on Thursday’s Good Morning America, the big three networks lent ear to Hunter Biden’s strange saga almost every day this week. Their coverage, however, leaned tacky tabloid more than serious court coverage. Hunter, as painted by them, is in a pitiful situation where rather private aspects of his life have become public fodder. But they forget to mention he dug the pit himself.
Network coverage clocked more than one hour, a far cry from the almost 96 minutes they vested for Trump’s trials. Yet surprisingly, even with thin coverage, blank slots are filled more with tear-jerking narrative fragments than actual happenings, steering clear of the necessary unpalatable truths.
ABC’s Terry Moran played a particularly mawkish accordion. His tune lamented about the trial spotlighting Hunter’s indiscipline rather than his gun. Such leniency was absent when Trump was the clown in the circus ring.
Something between their reporting lines also slipped through: Hunter’s love affair with Beau’s widow, Hallie Biden. The emphasis lied more in dress-up words like “romantic relationship” than the glaringly apparent, drama-charged reality of an affair.
CBS’ Vladimir Duthiers, however, served some truth sandwich amidst the sugary reporting, highlighting the affair bit, stark and clear. CBS’ Scott MacFarlane sided more with facts, describing Thursday’s trial as laden with “dramatic” testimonies. With his version of events, times when Hallie found Hunter’s gun and later discarded it took centre stage. Hunter’s plea? Not guilty, even as his possession got linked to his illegal substance abuse. Such remarkable audacity.
NBC’s Ryan Nobles chose the sympathy bandwagon over professional reporting. Labeling Hallie’s testimony as “heartbreaking,” he rehashed details of Hunter introducing her to drugs, painting a picture of Hunter’s constant substance abuse than his crime.
In essence, these major networks did little to divert from their inane, high-handed sympathy. They focused more on irrelevant narratives like Hunter’s affair with Hallie, his drug habits, and even the number of golf balls’ worth of cocaine he microwaved, than the actual illegality of him lying about his drug habits to acquire a gun.
Outshining even this convoluted circus was Jill Biden’s special appearance – a pricey ride from France to the U.S., only to fly back to France for D-Day ceremonies. Your guess is as good as ours who footed this bill.
Remember, these are the same networks that highlighted every small hiccup during Trump’s trials. The strict moral fabric they then flaunted seems to have worn out in Hunter’s trial. If their rigorous moral policing and their inconsistent empathy plague isn’t hypocrisy, then what is?
The moral of the story? These networks need a hard lesson in unbiased and clear-cut journalism, reminding them that reporting isn’t playdough they can model to their whims. Or maybe they know, and it’s just too darn hard to adopt. In the end, all they present is a convoluted narrative that tears mere facts to sympathetic shreds.
