The ABC, CBS and NBC evening news shows ignored BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s hypocritical comments on the term “ESG” and his unwavering support for woke investment principles.
According to Axios, Fink claimed that he was “ashamed of being part of this conversation” about environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment strategies. He also ridiculously claimed that his strategy “was never meant to be a political statement.” However, as Axios reported, Fink completely flip-flopped after being asked about this statement. Fink falsely claimed: “I never said I was ashamed.” He also claimed that he is a supporter of “conscientious capitalism,” which is just another way of saying “ESG.” But the Big Three had no interest in covering this woke hypocrisy.
This most recent walkback by Fink is even more ridiculous considering his previous support and staunch defense of ESG principles. According to Fox News, Fink wrote a letter to CEOs in 2022 alleging that ESG “is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not 'woke.’” He asininely claimed that ESG “is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships….”
The Big Three’s failure to cover Fink and his crazy statements on June 26, while unacceptable, is par for the course. Previously, these same shows, ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News, didn’t cover an “explosive congressional hearing” involving Illinois state officials who were extreme in defending ESG on May 10.
To make matters worse for the Big Three networks, ESG-absorbed corporations like BlackRock and Vanguard have financial interests in the networks. Blackrock and Vanguard are in the top three shareholders for all three of the networks’ parent companies, as of June 27. Fink’s BlackRock had a massive stake of $6,664,177,867 in Walt Disney Co., parent company of ABC. BlackRock had a $7,664,585,248 stake in Comcast Corp., which owns NBC. Finally, BlackRock owned a $598,115,333 stake in Paramount Global, the owner of CBS.
These obvious financial interests and their effects, which have become evident before, gave the Big Three networks an opportunity to cover for Fink and his massive corporation. Instead, NBC complained about what would happen if the Supreme Court ended Affirmative Action. Meanwhile, ABC laughably tooted Biden’s horn and gave him credit for standing up to Putin. And CBS pushed an absurd story celebrating LGBTQ people who bought property in Illinois.
NewsBusters Analyst Kevin Tober contributed to this report.
Conservatives are under attack. Contact ABC News at 818-460-7477, CBS at News 212-975-3247 and NBC News at 212-664-6192 and demand they report on Larry Fink’s inconsistent comments on ESG
