Veterans Affairs

NBC Touts Obama’s Promise to Fix the VA and IG Report Despite Concerns from Whistle-Blower
By Curtis Houck | August 26, 2014 | 9:35 PM EDT

On Tuesday evening, NBC Nightly News offered a soft news brief on the scandal-ridden Veterans Affairs (VA) Administration by promoting President Barack Obama’s calls that the VA’s many issues will be fixed on his watch. In addition, substitute anchor Lestor Holt made quick mention of an inspector general’s report that the actions of the agency in delays in veterans waiting for care did not result in any veteran’s death. 

What NBC Nightly News failed to mention in their one-sided report was that skepticism surrounding the VA remains as both widows of veterans who died awaiting care and one of the whistle-blowers who brought the problems at the VA to light are publically raising doubts about the report’s findings. [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Only CBS Evening News Covers Senate Confirming New V.A. Chief
By Jeffrey Meyer | July 29, 2014 | 9:57 PM EDT

On July 29, the Senate confirmed Robert McDonald by a vote of 97-0 to be the next Secretary of Veterans Affairs but that evening only the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley covered the story whereas ABC and NBC were nowhere to be found.  

Fill-in host James Brown introduced the report on the V.A. by explaining how “the first job for the former CEO of Procter & Gamble will be cleaning up the scandal at the V.A. A new internal audit obtained by CBS News shows it was even bigger than we knew.” [See video below.] 

NewsBusted: Waiting Is the Hardest Part
By NB Staff | July 29, 2014 | 2:25 PM EDT

"Network news programs continue to mostly ignore the VA scandal. In fact, the average waiting period for network coverage of the scandal is now as long as the waiting period for a vet to get seen by a doctor."

To subscribe to NewsBusted via email, sign up here. To watch the Tuesday, July 29 edition, click play on the embed below the page break. To subscribe at YouTube, visit the NewsBusted channel here.

NBC Omits Coverage of Agreement on VA Hospital Bill; Mentions Robots in South Korean Ballpark Instead
By Curtis Houck | July 28, 2014 | 1:50 PM EDT

Over the weekend, leaders from the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees reached an agreement on legislation to reform the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs with the full details unveiled during a press conference Monday afternoon. When it came to the major broadcast networks covering this breakthrough in their Monday morning news shows, NBC’s Today decided not to inform their viewers of the story. Maybe it was because NBC was too concerned telling them how Congress wasn't working to notice.

Between the two networks that did cover the latest in the VA scandal, ABC and CBS, ABC’s Good Morning America clocked in with the lowest amount of air time (no surprises here) with only a 16 second news brief during the 7:00 a.m. hour. Meanwhile, CBS This Morning had a report from CBS News congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes on the bipartisan negotiations and included numerous details of the plan. [MP3 audio here; Video below]

ABC, CBS Ignore Upcoming VA Secretary Confirmation Hearing; Will Networks Cover News Tonight?
By Curtis Houck | July 22, 2014 | 1:25 PM EDT

ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS This Morning both ignored the news Tuesday morning that President Obama’s nominee to become the next Secretary of the scandal-ridden Department of Veterans Affairs will testify today on Capitol Hill in his confirmation hearing. 

NBC’s Today did cover the news, but only in the form of a 24 second news brief during the 7:00 a.m. hour from news reader Natalie Morales. Morales reported that: “VA Secretary nominee Robert McDonald will be in the spotlight today when he goes before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee for a nomination hearing. The former Proctor and Gamble Chairman, President, and CEO was nominated by President Obama last month as the permanent replacement for Eric Shinseki. Shinseki resigned in May in the scandal for long waits of appointments and secret waiting lists at VA medical centers.” [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Column: Mrs. Obama's Operation VA Scandal Distraction
By Michelle Malkin | July 21, 2014 | 6:57 PM EDT

Barack and Michelle Obama are quite the diversionary tag-team. He blames everyone else for his problems. She takes credit for progress on his behalf that he doesn't deserve and distracts public attention from his avalanche of failures with endless feel-good photo-ops.

While the shirker in chief golfed and grubbed for money at closed-door celebrity fundraisers this week, his East Wing flak-catcher provided him cunning cover on the still-festering VA scandals.

NBC Finally Notices Latest on VA Scandal...Gives It Less Than 30 Seconds
By Kyle Drennen | July 16, 2014 | 3:55 PM EDT

After days of censoring any mention of the latest congressional hearings on the ongoing Veteran's Affairs scandal, Wednesday's NBC Today finally found time to report on the topic, providing two news briefs amounting to a paltry 27 seconds of airtime. 27 seconds out of a 4-hour broadcast. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

By contrast, the network morning show devoted a full 3-minute story to Yankee captain Derek Jeter playing his final MLB Allstar Game Tuesday night. That's over six times the amount of coverage given to the VA developments.

MRC's Bozell Laments 'Trajectory to Oblivion' in Media's Ever-Waning Interest in VA Scandal
By NB Staff | July 16, 2014 | 8:00 AM EDT

"It's a trajectory to oblivion, and this is what's happening with every single Obama scandal to date." That's how Media Research Center founder and president Brent Bozell described the Big Three broadcast networks' waning interest in keeping up tabs on the VA scandal during his July 15 appearance on Fox Business Network's Cavuto program. 

The veteran media watcher observed that the media's coverage of the scandal "evaporated" shortly after the May 30 resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki. To watch the full segment, click play on the embed below the page break:

NBC Ignores VA Whistle-Blower Hearing; ABC Gives News Only 23 Seconds
By Curtis Houck | July 15, 2014 | 12:40 PM EDT

On Tuesday morning, NBC’s Today refused to cover the latest news in the Veterans Affairs scandal as the House Veterans Affairs Committee heard testimony Monday night from additional whistle-blowers who faced punishment from superiors for identifying allegedly manipulated response times for veterans who filed benefit and disability claims.

Coverage of the latest news saw only two minutes and 26 seconds of air time total with only 23 seconds of that from ABC’s Good Morning America. Meanwhile, CBS This Morning spent two minutes and three seconds on the story during the 7:00 a.m. hour. [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Networks Fail to Mention VA Whistle-Blower Silencers Received $100K in Bonuses
By Curtis Houck | July 9, 2014 | 2:50 PM EDT

During the barely two minutes of coverage they allotted to a House hearing on VA scandal whistle-blowers, ABC, CBS, and NBC on Wednesday morning refused to report that the VA officials who tried to silence their colleagues for reporting wrongdoing within the agency received over $100,000 in bonuses in 2013.

Coverage of the House of Veterans Affairs Committee hearing from Tuesday night totaled 2 minutes and 24 seconds with only 44 seconds of that from NBC’s Today and a scant 26 seconds from ABC’s Good Morning America. [MP3 audio here; Video below]

Press Largely Fails to Note or Downplays How New VA Director Was Forced Out of P&G
By Tom Blumer | July 3, 2014 | 4:14 PM EDT

The identity of President Obama's nominee to head the scandal-plagued, bloated mess known as the Department of Veterans Affairs was known on Sunday.

Very few news outlets (the Fox news item just linked is an exception) noted that Obama's pick was particularly odd because McDonald's run as CEO at Procter & Gamble was not considered a success. He was essentially forced into retirement after four years at the helm in May 2013.

VIDEO | Terry Moran to MRCTV: Don't Like ABC Ignoring IRS, VA Scandals? There Are Other 'Places [You] Can Get That'
By Ken Shepherd | June 30, 2014 | 3:40 PM EDT

Insisting that he's really been out of the domestic news loop, ABC News Supreme Court correspondent Terry Moran told Dan Joseph of NewsBusters sister site MRCTV.org this morning that he was in northern Iraq the past few weeks and wasn't really aware of his network's recent decisions to ignore stunning new developments in the IRS and VA scandals. What's more, he suggested, if folks really care about news regarding the IRS scandal, well, there are other places to go besides ABC.

"You know, the news judgment of every network and of every person is different," Moran offered. "I understand that for some people, that's a hugely crucial issue, and there are places that they can get that," he added. The former Nightline host then tried to establish distance from the network's story selection process before insisting he was out of pocket anyway because he was overseas. [watch the full exchange below the page break]