Since Thursday evening, the media profession somehow found a way to even further embarrass itself by taking a steroids-induced trip back to 2015 and 2016 with wall-to-wall Trump coverage in light of his indictment by Soros-backed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg on charges related to the infamous 2016 payments to Stormy Daniels.
As such, a litany of stories that have significant bearing on the country have been ignored and one story has been reporting that the Chinese spy balloon did, in fact, gather intelligence on some of our country’s most sensitive military installations. ABC and CBS have shown zero interest in highlighting this, ignoring it on their flagship Monday evening and Tuesday morning news shows.
In contrast, NBC Nightly News and Today had a combined four minutes and 16 seconds that they first broke on Monday morning at NBCNews.com (which was confirmed by CNN) and, like with major Trump stories breaking in the newspapers, exclusivity has never been an issue if it fits a narrative.
“Our NBC News Exclusive. New details in that Chinese spy balloon over the U.S. What intelligence was it able to gather and send back to Beijing despite U.S. efforts to block it,” announced Nightly News anchor Lester Holt in a tease. That seems like a big deal!
Without calling out the fact that their reporting ran counter to what their friends in the Biden administration had insisted, White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell explained that “the Chinese spy balloon...was able to gather intelligence, passing over sensitive American military sites, before it was shot down in February on President Biden’s order.”
Citing three sources (who spoke to Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee), she added “China steered the balloon in a figure-eight pattern at times and collected electronic signals detected from U.S. bases and weapons systems” and captured by China “in real-time.”
In what should have been a story that laid out how this new reporting blew holes in the Team Biden spin, O’Donnell boasted the Biden regime still believes they took “measures against the balloon that mitigated China’s ability to collect sensitive U.S. data.”
Fast-forward to Today and co-host Hoda Kotb said in a tease:
KOTB: Spy games. Exclusive new details on that Chinese balloon that traveled across the United States earlier this year.
JOHN KIRBY: It had a propeller, it had a rudder. It had the ability to speed up, slow down.
KOTB: The intelligence it gathered from sensitive military bases and sent back to Beijing before it was shot down, and what officials in China are saying about it overnight.
Foreign correspondent Janis Mackey Frayer took this one from Beijing and stated in part (click “expand”):
It still isn’t clear how much information China might have gathered, but U.S. officials tell NBC News that, as the Chinese balloons flew over several U.S. military sites, it was collecting intelligence despite efforts to block it from doing so. This morning, new details about what that Chinese spy balloon was doing as it traveled over the U.S. in February. In exclusive reporting by NBC News, the airship China claims was just a weather balloon was able to gather intelligence passing over sensitive U.S. military sites.
According to two current and one former senior official, the balloon was being maneuvered from China, even steered in a figure-eight pattern at times and collected electronic signals detected from U.S. bases and weapons systems. Today in Beijing, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected U.S. claims of spying, repeating that it was a civilian balloon. What is also now known is that the balloon was able to send back intelligence to China in real-time.
Mackey Freyer too went to great lengths to insist “[n]ational security officials said the U.S. did take measures to limit the balloon’s ability to gather sensitive data, from the time it took off from a launch site on China’s Hainan Island until it was shot down on President Biden’s orders.”
She closed by lamenting “U.S./China relations have hit a new low” and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) would exacerbate that by “meeting tomorrow in California with Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, a summit that officials here in Beijing have called a provocation that’s likely to trigger Chinese military drills around Taiwan as a response.”
Instead, both maximized their time obsessing over their preferred 2024 GOP presidential candidate and even giving this a brief, ABC’s Good Morning America asked whether puffed shoulders are making a fashion comeback. Over on CBS Mornings, they engaged in some corporate whoring by touting a three-hour crossover event between CBS’s three FBI shows.
Tuesday’s bias by omission was brought to you by advertisers such as Carmax (on ABC) and Progressive (on CBS). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from April 3 and 4, click “expand.”
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
April 3, 2023
6:31 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: NBC News Exclusive; China Spy Balloon New Details]
LESTER HOLT: Our NBC News Exclusive. New details in that Chinese spy balloon over the U.S. What intelligence was it able to gather and send back to Beijing despite U.S. efforts to block it?
(....)
6:40 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: NBC News Exclusive; China Spy Balloon New Details]
HOLT: I want to turn now to our exclusive new reporting on that Chinese spy balloon that traveled across the U.S. Kelly O’Donnell reports that it was able to gather intelligence from sensitive military sites and send it back to China.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: NBC News Exclusive; New Details on China Spy Balloon]
KELLY O’DONNELL: New insights about China’s covert mission high above the U.S. in exclusive reporting from NBC News, the Chinese spy balloon that traveled across the country for several days was able to gather intelligence, passing over sensitive American military sites, before it was shot down in February on President Biden’s order. That’s according to two current and one former senior official. Among the new findings, China steered the balloon in a figure-eight pattern at times and collected electronic signals detected from U.S. bases and weapons systems. The balloon had a remote self-destruct mechanism. Sources say it’s unclear if that failed or China did not use it. The White House today.
JOHN KIRBY: It had a propeller. It had a rudder. It had the ability to speed up and slow down, turn. It had maneuverability.
O’DONNELL: Sources also told NBC News the balloon was able to send back intelligence to Beijing in real-time.
PENTAGON DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: As of right now, we’re still doing an assessment of what exactly the intel was that China was able to gather.
O’DONNELL: China claims it was a commercial weather balloon.
SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (R-FL) [on FNC’s Fox & Friends, 04/03/23]: Part of it is a test to see whether they can penetrate our airspace. Part of it is frankly, collecting intelligence in real-time.
O’DONNELL: Today, national security officials said the U.S. did take measures against the balloon that mitigated China’s ability to collect sensitive U.S. data. Lester?
HOLT: All right, Kelly O’Donnell, thank you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBC’s Today
April 4, 2023
7:01 a.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Spy Games]
HODA KOTB: Spy games. Exclusive new details on that Chinese balloon that traveled across the United States earlier this year.
JOHN KIRBY: It had a propeller, it had a rudder. It had the ability to speed up, slow down.
KOTB: The intelligence it gathered from sensitive military bases and sent back to Beijing before it was shot down, and what officials in China are saying about it overnight.
(....)
7:13 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: New Details on China Spy Balloon]
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: In the meantime, we’re learning more about the Chinese spy balloon that traveled across the United States. NBC News first to report new details on the intelligence it was able to gather and send back to Beijing. NBC’s Janis Mackey Frayer is on the story for us. Janis, good morning.
JANIS MACKEY FRAYER: Savannah, good morning. It still isn’t clear how much information China might have gathered, but U.S. officials tell NBC News that, as the Chinese balloons flew over several U.S. military sites, it was collecting intelligence despite efforts to block it from doing so. This morning, new details about what that Chinese spy balloon was doing as it traveled over the U.S. in February. In exclusive reporting by NBC News, the air ship China claims was just a weather balloon was able to gather intelligence passing over sensitive U.S. military sites. According to two current and one former senior official, the balloon was being maneuvered from China, even steered in a figure-eight pattern at times and collected electronic signals detected from U.S. bases and weapons systems. Today in Beijing, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected U.S. claims of spying, repeating that it was a civilian balloon. What is also now known is that the balloon was able to send back intelligence to China in realtime.
PENTAGON DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: As of right now we’re still doing an assessment of what exactly the intel was that China was able to gather.
MACKEY FRAYER: National security officials said the U.S. did take measures to limit the balloon’s ability to gather sensitive data, from the time it took off from a launch site on China’s Hainan Island until it was shot down on President Biden’s orders.
KIRBY: Obviously this was an intelligence gathering platform, which is why we took action.
MACKEY FRAYER: Sources also say the balloon had a remote self-destruct mechanism. It’s unclear whether it failed or if China didn’t use it. In the fallout over the spy balloon, U.S./China relations have hit a new low. There are no talks on any issue here, and now adding to the tension House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meeting tomorrow in California with Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, a summit that officials here in Beijing have called a provocation that’s likely to trigger Chinese military drills around Taiwan as a response. Savannah.
GUTHRIE: Janis Mackey Frayer in Beijing for us. Thank you, Janis.
