NBC Ignores Certification of 43rd President as Well as His First Remarks to the Nation - Press Release - November 27, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 27, 2000

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Wright (703) 683-5004, ext. 132

Wouldn’t Interrupt ‘Titanic’ For Even A Few Minutes

NBC Ignores Certification of 43rd President as Well as His First Remarks to the Nation
Bozell: “Obviously, NBC – Just Like Its Candidate Al Gore – Is Not Yet Willing To Concede The Election”

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Media Research Center Chairman Brent Bozell today blasted NBC News for its refusal to interrupt its broadcast of the movie “Titanic” last night for even a few minutes to report that George W. Bush had been certified the winner of Florida’s 25 electoral votes, making him the President-elect of the United States. Nor did NBC break away from the movie to broadcast Bush’s first live remarks to the nation after his certification.

“Obviously, NBC – just like its candidate Al Gore – is not yet willing to concede the election,” Bozell said. “NBC’s refusal to timely report the news of Bush’s certification again betrays how blatantly the network has chosen sides in this election from the beginning. NBC obviously views last night’s events as either meaningless, or harmful to Gore, and therefore censored them from its viewing audience,” Bozell said.

ABC News and CBS News did break in to prime time programming to broadcast both the live announcement of Bush’s certification by Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and the live remarks Bush gave to the nation two hours afterward.

“For a national news network to make the judgment that last night’s events were not newsworthy is as clear a signal as any that its news organization might as well be viewed by the public as simply an extension of the Al Gore for President campaign,” Bozell said.

Media Interviews
To schedule an interview with Mr. Bozell, or another MRC spokesperson, contact Katie Wright at (703) 683-5004, ext. 132.