(Newser)
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The GE tax avoidance story was kind of a big one—so why wasn't it covered on NBC News when it broke on Friday ... or on Saturday or Sunday or Monday? Critics were quick to point out that GE is NBC's parent company, but representatives insist that had nothing to do with it. "This was a straightforward editorial decision, the kind we make daily around here," says one, who did not offer any additional reason why that particular "editorial decision" was made. And that's "part of a troubling pattern" for NBC, the director of a liberal media watchdog group tells the Washington Post.
The network has played down other troubling GE-related stories in the past, and it has covered other corporate tax-avoidance stories not involving GE. “Imagine if a different company were involved," he says. "If you changed the name to Citibank or Goldman Sachs, would NBC be interested in the story then?” The subject did come up on Rachel Maddow's and Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC shows as well as a CNBC program, but those don't enjoy the audience or the credibility of NBC Nightly News or Meet the Press, neither of which covered the story. Click for Jon Stewart's take on the issue.
