Network News Gives Scant Coverage to Frist Stock Scandal

[NVMojo]

Why would ABC be avoiding this story???

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26

Despite having found the time to cover Kate Moss's purported cocaine use and to put one of its correspondents in a wind tunnel to demonstrate the effects of hurricane-force wind, ABC's World News Tonight has yet to mention the brewing scandal over the sale of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's (R-Tenn.) stock in HCA Inc., the hospital chain founded by Frist's father, just two weeks before a bad earnings report caused the stock price to drop sharply. The nightly news broadcasts of CBS and NBC didn't do much more, both giving the story brief mentions on September 23.

Since September 19, when Congressional Quarterly quoted a Frist aide acknowledging that Frist had ordered the trustee of his blind trust to sell all of his, his wife's, and his children's HCA stock, the Associated Press picked up the story September 20, followed by The New York Times (September 21), The Washington Post (September 22), and the Los Angeles Times (September 24).

The AP reported on
September 23 that federal prosecutors had served HCA with a subpoena for documents related to the sale of Frist's stock, and officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had contacted HCA to informally request the same documents. The AP also reported that Frist's office had been contacted by both the SEC and federal prosecutors.

Catching Frist in an apparent lie, The New York Times reported September 24 that in a statement to the National Journal two years ago, Frist had denied knowing whether his blind trust still held HCA stock, although Senate ethics rules require the manager of a blind trust to inform the owner if all of an asset is sold. Moreover, the AP reported September 24 that in a January 2003 television interview, Frist also denied knowing whether he owned HCA stock, although his trustee contacted him at least three times in 2002, informing him of transfers of HCA stock into his trust.

more...

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100007426&docId=l:313703905&start=7

[Massacure]

1. Peter Jennings is probably rolling over in his grave.

[Supersedeas]

5. many an honest man woman and child are

[KoKo]

2. Disney got big favors from Bush...that's all you need to know.

ABC has definitely gone to the dark side. Even under Jennings...it was starting to go downhill because of Disney.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. kick

[AZCat]

4. But wind tunnels are cool...

That stock trading thingy is soooooo boring, it has, like, numbers and stuff.

Next up - an in-depth discussion on the various outfits of those covering the hurricane and how fashion must occasionally bow to function. :sarcasm: