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Friday, April 29, 2016

Networks Blackout Hassan Scandal

National news networks have ignored the sex scandal that has dominated headlines in the New Hampshire Senate race, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found.

The Boston Globe’s March revelation that Gov. Maggie Hassan’s husband Tom hushed up a sexual misconduct scandal while working as principal of the Phillips Exeter Academy has stirred controversy in the Granite State.

The story, published by the newspaper’s Spotlight division—the subject of an Academy Award-winning film of the same name—led to several other allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers. One teacher has been forced to resign. The story has come to dominate headlines and broadcasts of local media, but has so far failed to capture any attention from national outlets despite its role in a key Senate race.

The story appears to have all of the necessary ingredients for significant media attention. Campus sexual assault controversies have dominated headlines in recent years. Hassan is running against freshman Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte in a race that could determine the Senate majority in November. Still, national outlets have failed to cover the story.

The words “Phillips Exeter Academy” appeared in national media markets just three times since the Globe story broke, and zero times in the news division of the largest networks, according to IQ Media, a television-monitoring database. CNBC mentioned the private boarding school in a rerun of Undercover Boss on April 23, while Oprah’s OWN network mentioned it during broadcasts of Undercover Boss: Canada and Family Feud.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Phillips Exeter Academy is well protected by some of the richest and most influential old and new money in the nation. It's no wonder that any whisper of impropriety there is hushed up and covered up.