Morning, Evening Nets Spend Over 101 Minutes on Smollett Claims Before They Fell Apart
By Curtis Houck | February 17, 2019 12:49 AM EST
Starting late Thursday night, reports began trickling out that Empire star Jussie Smollett’s harrowing story of being beaten, blasted with bleach, endured homophobic slurs, and taunted about being in “MAGA country†while a rope was tied around his neck was losing credibility. By Saturday, multiple outlets reported that, citing law enforcement sources, Smollett paid two men to stage the incident with him.
In the lead-up to this stunning conclusion, the flagship morning and evening broadcast network newscasts spent 101 minutes and 22 seconds helping to spin Smollett’s original claims from the first newscasts on the night of January 29 after the story broke through the February 14 evening newscasts (excluding teases).
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https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2019/02/17/morning-evening-nets-spend-over-101-minutes-smollett-claims-they