Media top headlines May 5
The Facebook Advisory Board’s ruling on former President Donald Trump’s account and more round out today’s top media headlines.
The three main broadcast networks appear to be turning a blind eye on the bombshell report that showed a top teachers union influencing the Biden administration's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over reopening schools.
On Saturday, the New York Post revealed communications between the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), The nation’s second-largest teachers union, and the CDC and the White House showing the union suggesting guidance on whether or not to roll back school restrictions.
However, since the story broke, ABC, CBS, and NBC have avoided the controversy and the growing backlash from GOP lawmakers, according to NewsBusters.
TOP TEACHERS UNION LOBBIED CDC ON SCHOOL REOPENING
"The broadcast networks had three days to give airtime to what was uncovered in The Post’s report and they utterly refused to. Once again, they were prioritizing the protection of the Biden administration over telling the truth to their viewers," NewsBusters news analyst Nicholas Fondacaro wrote on Tuesday.
Communication obtained by the New York Post through a Freedom of Information Act request issued by the conservative group, Americans for Public Trust, showed numerous emails between top CDC officials and the union just days before the administration released school reopening guidelines in February.
"Thank you again for Friday’s rich discussion about forthcoming CDC guidance and for your openness to the suggestions made by our president, Randi Weingarten, and the AFT," senior director for health issues with the AFT, Kelly Trautner, said in a Feb. 1 email to the CDC.
"We were able to review a copy of the draft guidance document over the weekend and were able to provide some initial feedback to several staff this morning about possible ways to strengthen the document," Trautner added. "We believe our experiences on the ground can inform and enrich thinking around what is practicable and prudent in future guidance documents."
The lobbying efforts were a reported success as the Post found at least two instances when "suggestions" were used nearly word-for-word within the CDC’s guidelines.
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In a statement to Fox News, AFT acknowledged it has been "in regular touch with the agencies setting policy that affect their work and lives, including the CDC."
"In fact, we contacted the agency more in 2020 during the Trump administration than we have during the Biden administration in 2021 – requesting additional guidance, questioning policy, providing testimony and offering an educator and healthcare worker perspective," said AFT president Randi Weingarten. "And while we have at times been concerned about their conclusions – as we were initially with the change in classroom physical distancing rules – we respect deeply that the CDC career staff has always taken its responsibility seriously. We appreciate that under Dr. Walensky's leadership, the CDC welcomes stakeholder feedback, as opposed to ignoring it."
Fox News' Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
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