Why has CNN not asked how Barack Obama spent stimulus funds?

Answer 1

First, there is often a tendency for political partisans to say that the mainstream media "never asked about" a certain topic, when in fact, the media did ask about it, but perhaps not as much as the person had hoped. There is also a tendency for political talk show hosts to make accusations similar to the one in this question, that a certain network didn't investigate a topic sufficiently. That said, when the stimulus was passed, it was a very controversial piece of legislation, and contrary to the questioner's assertion, it DID receive a lot of scrutiny, from CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, bloggers from both sides of the political aisle, newspapers, magazines, and of course, Talk Shows (95% of which tend to be conservative/Republican, and as such, were generally opposed to stimulus).

The stimulus was also analyzed by a number of non-partisan organizations, including the Congressional Budget Office. In addition, there were numerous commentaries, both pro-and-con which appeared on the air and on TV news websites. Some are still there, including several on CNN/Money which were critical of the stimulus and several which praised it. Fact-checking organizations also tracked claims about alleged waste and fraud that were made during the 2012 election, and especially addressed assertions about the stimulus made by the Romney campaign. In fact, the subject of how the stimulus was spent was discussed on many occasions, since it was a talking-point for conservatives, who frequently brought it up. Thus, I am not sure where the questioner got the idea that CNN never asked about it nor questioned how the funds were being spent; they did ask or provide information about the stimulus, and they did so on a number of occasions.

Answer 2

CNN, like any other news organization, has the discretion to decide which stories to cover. The network may have chosen not to extensively cover how Obama spent stimulus funds for various reasons, including prioritizing more pressing or current news topics, lack of newsworthy developments, or a judgment that the issue was adequately addressed in past reporting.