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Sen Carl Levin mined soundbite gold from a hoard of internal e-mails from Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank. The senator called the so-called Masters of the Universe before his investigative sub-committee to ask why they were selling worthless packages of securities, based on soon-to-foreclose home mortgages, as the financial bubble in real estate was about to burst. How did Levin manage to turn the normally arcane world of derivatives trading into the unanimous choice for Story of the Day, the lead item on all three newscasts? He latched onto a salesman's own evaluation: "Boy, that Timberwolf was one shitty deal!"

Of course the broadcast networks, using the FCC-regulated public airwaves, could not air Levin's soundbites unexpurgated. The deal was "bleeping" instead as far as the news was concerned. On the three newscasts combined, we heard that "shitty" being bleeped a total of twelve times.

Levin was not alone. "This went well beyond a public flogging," NBC's Lisa Myers exaggerated. "For eight hours, seven current and former Goldman executives were pilloried by members of both parties." ABC's Jonathan Karl noted that "these senators, the ones I have spoken to, are clearly frustrated. They have come with questions and they do not think they have gotten straight answers." CBS' Anthony Mason called it an "all-day grilling." And CNBC's David Faber observed in a paraphrase to NBC anchor Brian Williams that the Wall Street bankers generally seemed unwilling to admit: "Well, yes, we were part of something that ultimately went off the tracks."

There was not much balance in the reporting in favor of Goldman Sachs. NBC's Myers conceded that the witnesses had been "heavily prepped by their lawyers," which accounted for some cautious answers. CBS' Mason made note of Goldman's insisting that its $500m profits in 2007 from trading in mortgage-backed securities resulted from a smaller than "massive" bet against the housing market.

"While Goldman was taking a beating today, experts note that Congress also played an important role in the financial meltdown," NBC's Myers concluded, without identifying the "experts" she had consulted. Congress "repealed financial safeguards enacted after the Great Depression and it neglected to regulate some of the highly leveraged deals that brought the economy to the brink of collapse." The post-hearing analysis by ABC's Karl was that financial regulation is now more likely to pass. CBS' Mason pointed out that while Goldman Sachs insists it "did not cross a line here…the larger point still may be that that line needs to be moved."

As for that financial legislation, CBS' Nancy Cordes reported that opposition to its consumer protection provisions is being heard from counterintuitive sources like beer distributors, candymakers, clothing manufacturers, automobile dealerships and dentists--"any business that allows customers to pay in installments could come in for more regulation."

Andrew Tyndall 4/29/10 3:05:05 pm

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