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After a one-day hiatus, during which the networks were distracted by that bright shiny object -- weather porn -- the news agenda righted itself and returned to the scandal at the Internal Revenue Service. For the fourth time this week the IRS was Story of the Day, as Steven Miller, its soon-to-be-ousted Acting Commissioner, testified before a House committee about the vetting of Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status. CBS, for the fourth time this week, led off with the double team of Nancy Cordes and Wyatt Andrews. CBS (27 min v NBC 20, ABC 13) has covered the IRS most heavily all week. ABC kicked off with White House correspondent Jonathan Karl, but decided not to post his report online as a videostream. NBC made the misjudgment of sticking with the twisters in Texas, cross-promoting the Weather Channel, its sibling cable network, as its lead, before turning to the IRS.

The distinction that Commissioner Miller tried to make as he was being grilled -- that Tea Party applications for 501(c)4 status were grouped together for the sake of consistency and efficiency, not to enable targeting with stricter scrutiny -- was given short shrift. Nancy Cordes at CBS explained Miller's position most open-mindedly. NBC's Lisa Myers continued to use the phrase "targeted for extra scrutiny" even as Miller denied it. ABC's Karl, too, (no link) called it targeting.

In their follow-ups, David Gregory, anchor of NBC's Meet the Press, flat out contradicted Miller's sworn testimony, asserting that "only conservatives were targeted," even as Miller refused to use the t-word and testified that other groups received the same scrutiny that conservatives received. CBS anchor Scott Pelley filed a brief behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inside-the-Beltway techniques of media management, describing how the release of the negative news was orchestrated a week ago.

And CBS' Wyatt Andrews, as he did on Tuesday and Wednesday, kept his eye on the big picture, explaining how the social-welfare definition of the 501(c)4 category has warped out of all recognition. See how the AARP can legally run political ads while enjoying such status.
Andrew Tyndall 5/20/13 7:23:48 pm

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