NBC, CBS accused of censoring Alex Trebek's ‘prayers’ statement
CBS and NBC edited out or ignored comments “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek made about prayers helping his recovery, according to a conservative media watchdog group.
When Trebek, who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, spoke to People Magazine, he credited prayer with playing a factor in the success of his chemo treatments.
“I told the doctors, this has to be more than just chemo. I've had a couple million people out there who expressed their good thoughts, their positive energy and their prayers. The doctors said it could very well be an important part of this,” said Trebek to People.
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NewsBusters reported that the quote was either edited or ignored by “CBS Evening News” and “NBC Nightly News,” respectively.
NBC News correspondent Joe Fryer skipped over the prayer reference when quoting Trebek: "He tells People, 'I’ve got a couple million people out there who have expressed good thoughts … I told the doctors this has to be more than just the chemo.'"
NewsBusters also called out CBS, noting that "fill-in anchor and Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan only had a news brief on the story in which the only quote from the magazine was that Trebek thought the turnaround was ‘mindboggling.’”
ABC News, meanwhile, included the full quote.
The Christian Post reached out to NBC and CBS on Tuesday. Neither station returned comment by press time.
In March, the longtime “Jeopardy!” host revealed in an online video that he was battling stage-4 pancreatic cancer, which had a low rate of survival.
"Just like 50,000 people in the United States each year, this week I was diagnosed with stage-4 pancreatic cancer. Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging but I'm going to fight this. And I'm going to keep working," said Trebek in the video.
"And with the love and support of family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease."
Trebek concluded in the video that he had to beat the cancer because his contract stipulates he must host "Jeopardy!" for another three years, calling on supporters to “keep the faith and we’ll win.”
Mainstream American media outlets have often been accused of censoring the religious content of interviews and other entities in their programming.
In 2012, for example, many claimed that ABC News’ live blog of high wire walker Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk across Niagara Falls omitted his many religious remarks during the stunt.
