Telemundo Anchor Sticks Pro-Clinton Narrative on to Unrelated Story

September 20th, 2016 8:30 AM

From a recent Noticiero Telemundo newscast, this is one of the stranger (and more grossly blatant) examples of media bias that you'll find. Here is how anchor María Celeste Arrarás introduced a story on how 1 out 4 Americans refuse to stop working while sick:

MARIA CELESTE ARRARAS, TELEMUNDO ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton states that she continued to campaign even after being diagnosed with pneumonia because she didn't think it was a big deal and because she had many commitments on her schedule. It appears that she's not alone, as 1 out of every 4 Americans admits that they've never stopped working due to illness. Christina Londoño tells us why.

As coverage of the Clinton pneumonia story reached a (pardon the pun) fever pitch, the media went into overdrive to accomplish two tasks: First, to push the "powering through" narrative. Second, to suggest that legitimate questions over the (shady) manner in which Team Clinton are evidence of "healtherism", an othering disqualification ultimately undergirded by sexism.

The only mention of Hillary Clinton that you'll see or hear anywhere in the story is limited to what you see above, in Arrarás' flowery introduction. The actual story bears no mention of Clinton whatsoever. None. But the opportunity to further the "powering through" narrative was too good to pass up, so Arrarás dutifully plugged the narrative into this random story that has ZERO to do with Clinton. In fact, the story was filed from Telemundo's Los Angeles bureau- three thousand miles away from Clinton's health scare.

Even the language of the intro is over-the-top. Consider the highlighted portion of the transcript provided beneath the video. What is "she's not alone" if not a variation of "I'm With Her"?

Remember this story the next time you wonder why trust in the media is at an all-time low; linked to its anchor introduction by scant more than unbleached political partisanship, bubble gum, and duct tape.

Tell the Truth 2016