What Networks Didn't Mention About West Virginia Mining Disaster

Andrew Tyndall noticed something about the nightly newscasts' (ABC, CBS, NBC) coverage of the recent disaster at Upper Big Branch mine.

"Not once, in all five days of coverage, did a single reporter mention the organization that has worked hardest over the decades to make sure that mining management does not cut safety corners and that miners can monitor their own working conditions with impunity. The union went unmentioned, as did the fact that the Upper Big Branch workforce went unorganized. ABC's [David] Kerley hinted at what was missing, describing how "many here were afraid to speak on camera, fearful they would jeopardize a loved one's job." NBC's [Tom] Costello called the area "a company county...a lot of people here are reluctant to speak out against the employer." I assume that such intimidation derives from the fact that Massey Energy workers have no union to protect them."

Does it matter? "It is absolutely inconceivable that a news organization with a liberal ax to grind—a left-leaning bias—would have treated that fact that this mine was a non-union shop as unworthy of mention, if only in passing. So the next time you hear conservative culture warriors dismissing the network nightly newscasts as just another tired example of the same old liberal media send them this link to disabuse them of that stereotype."