CNN Responds to Bozell Letter Demanding Coverage of Catholic Outrage at Obama; We Reply
CNN senior vice president and Washington bureau chief Sam Feist responded on Tuesday to MRC president Brent Bozell’s letter demanding television coverage of President Obama’s unprecedented attack on the religious liberty of Catholics through Obamacare. Here is the letter, and below it our response: Dear Brent, I woke up to see this MRC press release/letter to network presidents criticizing the television networks for ignoring the fact that the healthcare law requires Catholic institutions to provide birth control as a part of their healthcare coverage. ( http://www.mediaresearch.org/press/releases/2012/20120206020329.aspx ) I was surprised to see that your letter and press release included CNN and said that according to MRC, we (along with others) had effectively ignored the story. In fact, CNN has done that story numerous times on TV and online, particularly after the HHS secretary announced the administration’s position on the policy on January 20th. An important example was a lengthy piece on this subject by our White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar that ran a number of times last week and all weekend long. In addition, here’s a link to a CNN story on the controversy that appeared on CNN.com on January 20th; that story incorporated both the Obama Administration position and the statement of Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan: