Elite Morning News Ignores Migrant Caravan

Elite morning news outlets like NBC and CBS have been ignoring the migrant caravan that is making its way to the US border. The mainstream media narrative was hijacked by President Trump’s tweets about a “caravan” of migrants headed for the United States, but those who tuned into elite morning news programs would not know what he was talking about.

There has been no mention of the migrant caravan on NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Moring America. This is despite the fact that Vice President Mike Pence was interviewed by Martha Raddatz, host of ABC News’ Security Council, where he made a hard push for Trump’s tax reform plan in an interview about the president’s recent visit to the Middle East.

CBS This Morning has also spent no time on the caravan story, despite making sure to report Donald Trump Jr.’s wife getting a speeding ticket and Kellyanne Conway’s supposed gaffes about alternative facts and microwaves.

This is despite the fact that Fox & Friends reported on Vice President Pence’s caravan comments. This is the show that Trump watches most frequently. But Fox News has also been silent about the subject, probably to avoid being called out by their own president.

But there’s more to this story than just media silence surrounding a breaking news event. Partisan news outlet CNN actually sent reporters to Guatemala to report on the migrant caravan, most notably reporter Bill Weir.

Weir’s segment highlighted the positive aspects of the caravan, going as far as to interview a local who said that he was “going north” because of poor economic conditions in Guatemala. The news anchor also interviewed one migrant who plans to work for two years and then return home to his family with a nest egg to help his wife open up a small business.

Weir’s coverage of the migrant caravan featured none of the migrants actually traveling to board trains and make their way through Mexico to the United States’ southern border, hardly any interviews with Mexican officials about how they plan to deal with thousands of people entering their country illegally — and he never mentioned Trump’s name.

CNN’s coverage of the migrant caravan is substantively different than how they covered a similar caravan back in April, as The Daily Caller reported:

For one, CNN invited former illegal immigrant Luis Cruz on to share his perspective as an illegal immigrant who faced deportation and was separated from his daughter for four years. Do you think President Trump is being compassionate to the people of Central America by saying he’ll cut off aid if these countries don’t stop this caravan? CNN’s Bill Weir asked Cruz. No, I don’t think so, Cruz said. I think President Trump has created an opportunity for dialogue about immigration.