Shocking news broke Thursday that the handoff of the $400 million cash payment to Iran was a highly coordinated endeavor and did not occur until the American hostages were safe. These new details lend farther evidence to the argument that the cash was a ransom payment. But when it came to reporting this development the “Big Three” networks barely gave it anytime at all. Combined they gave the story two minutes, one second on their evening news programs. In stark contrast, the networks gave a whopping 13 minutes, 33 seconds to the lies told by the members of the U.S. Olympic swim team.
New details also broke Thursday in the story of Ryan Lochte’s tale of being robbed at gun point by men disguised as Brazilian police. It came out that Lochte had lied, and in reality him and some other swimmers had gotten drunk, vandalized a gas station bathroom, and were questioned by an officer. Now he and the swimmers he was with are facing possible prosecution in Brazil for lying to authorities.
Out of all of the networks, ABC dedicated the most time to the drunken swimmers with five minutes, 56 seconds. They also gave the cash handoff the least amount of time with a mere 25 seconds. “For the first time today, calling the cash, quote, “leverage,” in the prisoner exchange,” reported anchor David Muir in a brief on World News Tonight, “The cash came from Iranian money frozen by U.S. authorities after the Iranian revolution, but the administration still denies that that cash was ransom.”
The broadcaster of the Olympics, NBC, was almost on par with ABC with five minutes, 20 seconds spent on the lies told by Lochte and 28 seconds on the Iran handoff revelations. Anchor Lester Holt seemed on defense during his brief on NBC Nightly News, “But officials insist the United States returning that Iranian money, from a decades-old account, was conducted separately from the negotiations over the detainees and the U.S. did not pay a ransom.”
CBS Evening News actually spent the least amount of time on the swimmers and the most time on the handoff, two minutes, 17 seconds and one minute, eight seconds respectively. “What we know is that a plane loaded with Swiss francs and euros took off from a Geneva airport January 17 at the same time that a plane carrying the prisoners departed Tehran,” reported Margaret Brennan. Anchor Scott Pelley seemed to write off all of the commotion saying, “And all of this was a side deal to the nuclear agreement as well.”
