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There was no consensus on the Story of the Day. Iraq continued to attract the most coverage from the three networks combined, but it qualified as the lead on none of the newscasts. The only breaking news on Iraq was George Bush's meeting with leaders from Capitol Hill--but that was covered as a mere photo-op with no reports from White House correspondents. Congress qualified for the lead on CBS and NBC as the House Ethics Committee released its report on former Rep Mark Foley. At ABC, tainted scallions at Taco Bell topped the newscast, despite the fact that ABC was the network that broke the Foley story in the first place.

The report on the Foley affair--his sexual instant messages to teenage House pages and his party leadership's failure to prevent them--was open to interpretation. ABC's Jake Tapper (subscription required) chose the committee's decision there was no violation of the House Code of Conduct, despite the wording of one rule: "Conduct yourself at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House."

CBS' Gloria Borger and NBC's Chip Reid decided to emphasize the findings of fault. Reid found the language "very hard-hitting" while Borger called it "a stinging indictment of the Republican leaders" for remaining "oddly passive."

Andrew Tyndall 12/9/06 7:42:08 pm

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