The Big Three networks ignored news that the Biden administration denied disaster assistance to Ohio’s pro-Trump Columbiana County following the toxic train derailment in East Palestine.
Fox News reported Feb. 16 that Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) spokesperson Dan Tierney said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied federal aid because it “believed the [train derailment] incident didn't qualify as a traditional disaster, such as a tornado or hurricane, for which it usually provides assistance.” The incident led to a controlled explosion and the spewing of hazardous fumes into the atmosphere, with reports of groundwater damage, dead animals and health issues circulating. Newsweek even reported the turmoil could evolve into a “Full-Blown Ecological Crisis.” The denial of aid calls into question why the U.S. government is willing to commit more than $24.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration but not an American town in turmoil.
Additional context may provide some insight as to why Biden’s FEMA did not pursue providing aid for that particular area, and why the ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows chose to ignore the story between Feb. 16 - Feb. 17.
Biden released details on a new executive order advancing racial equity on Feb. 16, the same day as the Fox News report. Biden claimed his goal was to “advance an ambitious, whole-of-government approach to racial equity and support for underserved communities and to continuously embed [racial] equity into all aspects of Federal decision-making.” Could that include FEMA’s decision-making? According to the latest breakdown, East Palestine is 93.5 percent white, three percent Hispanic, and only 0.36 percent black.
In addition, Columbiana County, where East Palestine is located, 71.7 percent of the vote went overwhelmingly for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
DeWine gave a press conference Feb. 17 reiterating FEMA’s denial for aid due to a supposed lack of eligibility. However, said DeWine, “to make sure that if FEMA is ever needed in the future to help residents in regard to this crash, we're going to preemptively file a document with FEMA to preserve our rights in case we need their assistance in the future.”
This news comes on the heels of a recent MRC study that revealed that the Big Three morning and evening news shows all but dropped coverage of the Ohio disaster once residents were permitted to return home Feb. 8. Between the incident’s genesis on Feb. 3 and the evacuation order for East Palestine being lifted on Feb. 8, all six shows fell just shy of spending a combined 30 minutes on the topic.
The networks largely regurgitated the gaslighting by the Norfolk Southern Corporation, the owner of the railway responsible for the derailed train. But nearly a week after residents were permitted to return home on Feb. 8, the Big Three rediscovered the topic Feb. 14 - Feb. 15 after it became clear that they were the three most prominent networks that had stopped covering it.
But it gets worse. MRC Business revealed that ESG-obsessed investment giants like The Vanguard Group, JPMorgan Investment Management and BlackRock Fund Advisors, are Norfolk Southern’s largest shareholders. The fact that ESG-obsessed companies are tied to the Norfolk Southern disaster made the Big Three prematurely dropping the coverage look despicable.
By ignoring Ohio being denied disaster aid by a partisan, racially-charged Biden administration, now the media look even more asinine.
NewsBusters Media Editor Bill D'Agostino contributed to this report.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact ABC News (818) 460-7477, CBS News (212) 975-3247 and NBC News (212) 664-6192, and hold them to account for ignoring disaster-ridden East Palestine, Ohio being denied aid by the Biden administration.
