ABC, CBS, NBC All Ignore 2011 'March for Life' In Mon. Evening, Tues. Morning News Coverage
None of the broadcast news programs from Monday evening
and Tuesday
morning covered the 2011 "March for Life" in Washington, DC, a pro-life
rally that reportedly drew at least tens of thousands of attendees.
Neither NBC, ABC, nor CBS gave any coverage Monday to the march on
their respective evening news programs; none of the networks covered the
story Tuesday morning. The New York Times did not cover the story, as
the MRC's blog "Times Watch" documented. The Washington Post, however,
did provide a fair account of the rally in its Metro section.
Although the Post did report "thousands" attended the march, good faith
estimates are easily in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of
thousands. The Post reported that attendees were "encouraged by recent
federal and state GOP wins and hopeful about proposed measures that
would further tighten bans on federal funding for abortions."
The
story went on to describe the march and note the presence of the youth -
over 27,000 attended a pre-march youth rally. The article also reported
the introduction of the "No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act" in the
House, a bill that has 160 sponsors.
It's not as if the March was crowded out by weightier news
developments. Among the stories featured on the broadcast news networks
Monday evening and Tuesday morning included a 13-minute segment on the
upcoming Academy Awards on CBS's "Early Show," over 20 minutes dedicated
to the Oscar nominees on NBC's "Today," and segments on Oprah Winfrey
re-uniting with her long-lost half-sister on national television.
-Matt Hadro is a news analysis intern at the Media Research Center.
