NBC fails to press Republican Senate nominee Dr. Oz on scandals, shifting marijuana positions – By Zachary Pleat (Media Matters) / Oct 14, 2022
Just days before, the network harped on Democratic nominee Fetterman’s health
NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns faced widespread criticism for her sensationalized reporting this week on Democratic Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman’s use of closed captioning systems for interviews following his stroke. Now, in a new interview with Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz, Burns failed to press the candidate about major scandals that have recently dogged his campaign and neglected to mention his shifting position on marijuana reform.
By letting Oz off easy after adopting right-wing framing about his opponent, Burns and NBC have effectively gifted Republicans with favorable headlines as the campaign nears its end.
NBC’s Dasha Burns gave the Oz campaign a gift with her focus on Fetterman’s health
Burns emphasized Fetterman’s reliance on closed captioning when she previewed the interview on the October 11 edition of NBC’s Nightly News, adding, “In small talk before the interview without captioning, it wasn’t clear he was understanding our conversation.” Unscrupulous political reporters and right-wing media alike pounced on that statement, either taking it out of context or using it to wrongly frame Fetterman as unfit for the Senate. Responsible reporting made it clear that Fetterman’s use of closed captioning to process questions properly is “common in stroke recovery,” and disability advocates found the NBC interview centering on Fetterman’s accommodation “deeply upsetting.”
