The media exuded panic surrounding the vote for the U.K. to leave the European Union, commonly called Brexit. Reports after the vote panicked over how much markets had fallen, worried about a potential recession for the UK and otherwise attacked the outcome.
U.S. markets quickly reversed course, but the networks barely covered that rebound.
Just after Brexit caused what CBS described as a “tailspin on the stock market,” U.S. stocks rebounded, beginning an ascent to record highs. By July 12, CNN Money reported that the Dow index and S&P 500 had “never been higher.” Reuters also reported the “record highs” on July 13.
On July 12, CBS and ABC briefly covered the markets’ success, but NBC did not. The networks mostly failed, however, to tie the story to Brexit, and neglected mentioning the market’s rebound which began shortly after Britain’s June 23 vote.
A Reuters June 29, headline told the truth, “Wall Street rebounds from Brexit with second day of big gains.” Those gains, “marked the biggest two-day run for the S&P 500 in four months.” CNBC also reported on June 28 that stocks rebounded after Brexit.
Jeff Weniger, a banker at BMO Private Bank in Chicago, told Reuters that Brexit was not the “end of the world” and that such claims were “ridiculous.”
But anyone who had only watched broadcast network news immediately after Brexit might have thought the decision was a market disaster and that recovery would take far longer.
ABC and NBC evening news programming failed to cover the rebound between June 24 and July 13. CBS Evening News acknowledged on June 28, that “stocks made a comeback,” after Brexit, but was the only network to do so.
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1. ABC Warns of Brexit “Economic Earthquake,” Describes U.S. Market “Aftershocks.”
On June 27, Chief Political Correspondent George Stephanopoulos filled in as anchor on World News Tonight, and described the vote as an “economic earthquake.”
“And now to that political and economic earthquake in the UK, their vote to break with the European Union. The aftershocks are rippling here again today,” Stephanopoulos said.
He then reported on how market losses hit Americans’ 401(k)s, while a graphic highlighted how much the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted. ABC reporter Rebecca Jarvis described that night as “the biggest two-day sell-off since last summer.”
2. Nightly News Interviews Woman Who Cried After Brexit Vote
NBC anchor Lester Holt opened a June 24, Nightly News story, highlighting “a tidal wave of economic worries swamping the markets.”
After reporter Bill Neely said Brexit precipitated a global decline in stocks, Nightly News interviewed a woman who said, “It’s been all tears this morning when I woke up.”
Neely also interviewed someone who regretted their vote to leave the European Union, and suggested that more people regretted Brexit because of its economic impact.
“This result puts thousands of jobs at risk,” Neely said.
3. CBS’s Mark Phillips Argues with Nigel Farage about Economic Fallout
Evening News reporter Mark Phillips’ report on June 28, showed overt bias as he turned his story into an attack on British politician Nigel Farage, who he said was “once considered a wacky British isolationist on the right-wing fringe.”
Phillips described Farage as “unrepentant,” as if the Brexit vote was something he should repent for. He then asked Farage, “Are you telling people you would rather they were poor and out of the EU than in the EU and richer?”
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Farage pushed back, saying “scare stories about financial markets are complete and utter rubbish.” Phillips replied that the scare stories appeared to be coming true. After Farage said once again that it wasn’t happening, CBS included Phillips declaring, “It is.”
4. ABC Brands the Financial Impact a “MARKET MELTDOWN”
ABC was absolutely apoplectic about the market reactions to the Brexit vote. The vote to leave was unexpected and the markets had not built in expectations that Britain would decide to exit the EU.
With “THE MARKET MELTDOWN” on-screen, World News Tonight anchor David Muir opened his June 24, segment, “$830 billion lost in the US markets today alone.”
Reporter Rebecca Jarvis took the report in which she said that “panic turned to deep losses” in the market. “Stocks slammed around the world, the Dow plunging more than 600 points,” Jarvis said.
After Jarvis reported that the value of the pound dropped significantly, ABC played a clip of British Prime Minister David Cameron claiming, “This could be the first time in history, a recession brought on ourselves.”
5. CBS’s Phillips Sees Shame in Brexit, Asks “Has Britain voted for a recession?”
Phillips also injected his opinion into a June 27, report in which he proclaimed, "The warnings of an economic downturn are becoming fact.”
Similar to how he treated Farage, Phillips used part of his segment to shame another pro-Brexit politician: former London mayor Boris Johnson.
“The leaders of the winning leave the EU campaign, like Boris Johnson, had dismissed those warnings. He was now dismissing the reality,” Phillips said.
After reporting that several British businesses were halting investment, Phillips asked,” Has Britain voted for a recession?”
Phillips concluded with a humiliation of a different kind, mentioning England got “knocked out of the European soccer championships tonight by tiny Iceland.”
“The ignominy is complete,” Phillips declared.
