Networks Skip Ideological Labels in Trumpeting Far-Left ‘Trailblazer’ Steinem

On Thursday, the liberal, elitist broadcast networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC offered multiple glowing tributes to far-left feminist Gloria Steinem upon her passing at 92.

The networks did a shameful disservice by omitting any sort of ideological tag, instead gushing she was an “activist,” “journalist,” and “trailblazer” who simply wanted “to help women achieve their dreams.” The closest anyone got was one reporter saying Steinem “campaigned for politicians.”

Of course, the leftist media had a much different reaction when friend of the MRC Phyllis Schlafly passed away in 2016. Seen as a counterweight to Steinem, the left did anything but glorify her when she passed.

CBS Mornings opened the show with a mournful Gayle King announcing the passing of the “author, journalist, and feminist leader” in Steinem, who “was one of a kind” as “a trailblazing figure for women all around the world, inspiring them to claim equal rights in society and the workforce.”

“By 1970, she was a full-time activist for women’s causes, including the Equal Rights Amendment and abortion rights,” she added.

As part of the show’s new push to have more chit-chat between hosts and interviews, Democrat donor King gave away the game by bringing in none other than Hillary Clinton. Here was how the questions unfolded (click “expand”):

KING: For more on Gloria Steinem’s iconic life, we’re joined on the phone by former Secretary of State, that would be Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton, thank you so much for joining us. I know we interrupted your vacation, but I woke up to this news. I just heard it an hour ago, and I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach. I wonder if you could share your remembrances about Gloria Steinem. I know you knew her very well.

(….)

KING: You know, it is something, Madam Secretary, when you meet your heroes, and they’re everything that you think that they would be, I was in awe the first time I met her, and I’d like to think the things that we take for granted now would not have happened without Gloria Steinem sort of paving the way, what do you think is her greatest legacy?

(….)

ED O’KEEFE: Madam Secretary, this is Ed O’Keefe alongside Gayle. Thank you again so much for joining us this morning. You know there are going to be a lot of younger women, little girls maybe, who are learning about her for the first time today and as you alluded to, the work for women’s rights is not done – equal pay, a woman president, you know, equality in the workforce. What would you say to those younger women to maybe encourage them to continue the fight and the work that Gloria Steinem started?

(….)

KING: You know, we’ve been showing pictures of the two of you while you were talking. It’s been a beautiful thing to see. I want to stress, Gloria Steinem was not anti-man, but she did say once, a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. That line always – that line always cracked me up. Thank you so much. I really, really appreciate you taking the time today. We’ll talk again.

In the second hour, King said Steinem “traveled around the world, inspiring women to fight for equality at work and in society.”

Co-host and former NFL player Nate Burleson had his own reflections: “[A]s a Black man, I understand that the fight for equality is never someone else’s fight. And Gloria, she understood that. She also understood that we all have this shared experience of wanting freedom, and that’s why she used her voice for the voiceless. For the majority of her life, a life well lived, in a time where she was meeting her own resistance and obstacles.”

Like we’ll see with someone on NBC, King boasted of having visited Steinem’s home for (far-left_ pow-wows: “I, too have been to her home many times and had little gatherings for women. I felt like when you were talking to Gloria Steinem, you need to sit there with a pad and a pencil because everything she said was something I want to remember that, I remember that.”

Instead of a Hillary interview, Thursday’s CBS Evening News included co-host Tony Dokoupil saying: “A reminder that until 1974, single women often needed a man to co-sign for loans, and married women could only get credit cards in their husband’s name. That and a whole lot more changed thanks to Steinem and the women’s movement she helped lead.”

Fresh off the news she’s returning to CBS Mornings, Norah O’Donnel had the taped obit that emphasized: “The turning point from observer to activist came in 1969 at an event inside a church basement filled with women sharing their experiences with dangerous illegal abortions.”

O’Donnell didn’t frame any of these things as progressive causes: “Throughout her career, Steinem used the might of her voice to support civil rights, LGBTQ equality..Steinem once said she hoped to live to 100 because there was so much to do.”

Shifting to Disney-owned ABC, Thursday’s Good Morning America had fill-in co-host Rebecca Jarvis celebrating Steinem as a “feminist icon,” “journalist,” and “outspoken trailblazer of the women’s rights movement.”

No political label to be found here: “Gloria Steinem was a journalist, political activist, and above all, an outspoken trailblazer of the women’s rights movement in the 60s and 70s…Steinem dedicated her life to breaking barriers, inspiring women to fight for change and take risks.”

Jarvis continued: “Steinem took it upon herself to help women achieve their dreams by co-founding the National Women’s Political Caucus, the women's rights advocate was also among the creators of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, so young girls could learn about future career opportunities, and, in 2005, co-launching the Women’s Media Center.”

This led into a clip of her speaking at the anti-Trump, far-left Women’s March.

Jarvis made her seem like she was culturally on par with Dolly Parton and showed she herself is a total leftist:

Through it all, staying focused on her journey toward social justice and fighting for women's rights and equality…[A]s journalists, as people, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and she really paved the way for so many young journalists. And I saw her not that long ago. She was supporting young female journalists at an event here in New York.

Meteorologist and fellow leftist Ginger Zee gushed she too loved Steinem: “I was at her home. She invited a group of us in climate change – women together, and she said their connections are everything. That is what makes a goddess, and she was the one who brought everyone together – still in her life. And knowing that she did that even when she didn't have to anymore, tells you that was a passion and true inspiration.”

“Extraordinary life-lasting impact. No question about that,” said weekend co-host Whit Johnson.

Jarvis and Johnson returned for World News Tonight with Johnson cuing Jarvis up by saying there were “tributes pouring in” for the “leading architect of the modern feminist movement[.]”

Jarvis’s piece was similar to GMA’s, adding Steinem “encourage[ed] women to use their voice.”

Over on NBC’s Today, Saturday co-host Laura Jarrett fretted over the passing of the “feminist, activist, author, and journalist.”

Longtime correspondent Anne Thompson said: “For seven decades, Gloria Steinem led the march for women’s rights…As a journalist in the 1960s, she wrote about taboo topics like contraception…She helped create New York magazine, where she wrote about the women’s liberation movement and became one of the faces of feminism.”

Speaking of Ms. Magazine, Thompson boasted: “It was a groundbreaking departure from publications of the day. The pages of Ms. spoke out about abortion, domestic violence, and sexual harassment.”

Thompson too made Steinem’s far-left, extreme views uncontroversial: “Over the decades, Stienem wrote books, campaigned for politicians, worked on federal legislation, and continuously spoke out for social change.”

Thompson concluded with more gush, which led into co-host Craig Melvin making sure viewers heard that Jarrett had spent plenty of time with her (click “expand”):

THOMPSON: Gloria Steinem never stopped advocating for women and girls…A feminist revolution that led to a lifetime of activism. Gloria's foundation says she spent recent years doing the two things she loved most, being in community with others and writing. Her memoir is set to come out later this month, a gift she hopes has ripple effects for generations to come. An extraordinary life, an extraordinary woman who originally, when she was a little girl, wanted to be a rockette.

CRAIG MELVIN: Oh, wow. you spent some time with her over the years.

JARRETT: She's one of those people that when you're around her, you lean in a little bit closer –

MELVIN: Yeah, yeah.

JARRETT: – because you're just hoping that she's gonna impart some nugget of wisdom, but she had such warmth and she was also funny.

MELVIN: Yeah.

JARRETT: Just, like, she had a quick wit about her, but that was beautiful to here, Anne.

MELVIN: Certainly tackled a lot of taboo topics long before anybody else did.

Of course, it was left unsaid that Jarrett’s a child of the Democrat Party as her mom is Obama family confidante Valerie Jarrett.

To further drive home the point, Today brought Thompson back for truncated versions in both the second hour and 3rd Hour of Today.

NBC Nightly News had their own label-free fluff, starting with anchor Tom Llamas saying, “We are remembering an American trailerblazer tonight, who carved her place in U.S. history, fighting for equality for women.”

In a reworked package to include Steinem’s appearance on a Netflix show (whose premise is releasing a new interview with someone to be released when they die), Thompson celebrated Steinem as having “us[ed] the power words, spoken…written, and put into action” to become “an entrepreneur of social change.”