Networks Nearly Silent on Tea Party Anniversary

Only NBC’s ‘Today’ mentions 5 year celebration in D.C., gives 10 seconds to topic.

The limited government, anti-bailout Tea Party movement party turned five years old on Feb. 27. They marked the occasion with an event in Washington, D.C. including speakers Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. Sen. Rand Paul, R- Ky., and Sen.Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

But after the five years of the media painting Tea Partiers as “wingnuts” and “racist” time and again, ABC, CBS and NBC went virtually silent on the matter.

Out of the six network morning and evening shows, just only: NBC’s “Today” mentioned the anniversary of the movement. Even so, that headline report was a mere 10 seconds long.

Five years ago, the Tea Party launched itself onto the American political scene – pushing hard against ObamaCare, the $787-billion stimulus and Big Government. On Feb. 27, 2009, Tea Party protests were held in more than 40 cities.

But rather than treat the Tea Party as a standard protest movement, the American media closed ranks with the left and spent much of the last five years attacking them. The Tea Party has been called “racist,” “homophobic,” “terrorists” and “wingnuts.” It has also been accused of causing “economic destruction.” The media tried to link Tea Partiers to the attack on then-Rep. Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords, D-Ariz., and the Aurora theater shooting.

— Julia A. Seymour is Assistant Managing Editor for MRC Business at the Media Research Center. Follow Julia A. Seymour on Twitter.