MediaWatch: December 1993

TV Gun Control Coverage Tilts Its Tone, Talking Heads and Labels to Liberal Side

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

The networks hailed passage of the Brady Bill by Congress on November 24 as a triumph in the national battle against crime. Three days later, NBC Nightly News honored the gun control measure, mandating a five-day waiting period and background check for handgun purchasers, as the "Moment of the Week."

To examine if NBC's tone accurately reflected how the networks covered the gun control debate, MediaWatch analysts reviewed every gun control policy story on ABC's World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and CNN's World News for a two-year period from December 1, 1991 to November 30, 1993. (Stories exclusively on assault weapons were excluded.)

In the 107 stories analyzed, a clear pattern emerged, emphasizing the agendas, spokesmen, labels, and academic research of gun control supporters. Overall, 62 percent of the stories devoted substantially more time to pro- than anti-gun control arguments; talking heads who endorsed gun control outnumbered opponents by nearly 2 to 1; and in stories concerning the Brady Bill, the bias against gun control opponents was even greater, a ratio of 3 to 1.

Story Angle. Analysts timed the length of pro- and anti-gun control statements in each story. Pieces with a disparity of greater than 1.5 to 1 were categorized as either for or against gun control. Stories closer than the ratio were considered neutral. Among statements recorded as pro-gun control: claims that gun control would reduce crime; that violent crime occurs because of guns, not criminals; and claims that gun control opponents are partisan or obstructionist. Categorized as arguments against gun control: gun control would not reduce crime; that criminals, not guns are the problem; and that Americans have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

In the 78 non-Brady Bill gun control policy stories, 46 (or 59 percent) contained an aggressively pro-gun control agenda , 29 (37 percent) remained neutral , while only 3 stories (4 percent) in two years were devoted to gun rights.

Talking Heads. The networks provided far more opportunities for gun control supporters than opponents to present their case. Of 272 talking heads in non-Brady Bill pieces, 146 were pro-gun control (54 percent), 26 were neutral (10 percent), and 100 sources argued against gun control (36 percent).

Brady Bill. Of 29 stories covering the Brady Bill, 20 were dominated by the pro-gun control agenda (69 percent) while the remaining 9 were neutral. None leaned to the anti-gun control point of view. Soundbites were just as uneven, as those favoring gun control during the Brady debate outnumbered anti-gun control soundbites by 75 to 24, a vast 3-to-1 disparity. Brady Bill supporters amounted to 69 percent of all the sources quoted, compared to 22 percent opposed and 8 percent who were neutral.

Among the networks, NBC gave only six opportunities for gun rights supporters to state their case, while those who supported the Brady Bill were given 34, a 5-to-1 advantage. Similarly, CNN aired 16 talking heads advocating gun control, while only 4 disagreed. CBS granted the Bradys and their supporters twice as much coverage, 13 soundbites to 6, as they did to the National Rifle Association and their supporters.

On story angles, ABC remained closest to neutral during the Brady Bill debate. All five ABC stories gave both sides about equal time, although talking heads favoring gun control held a margin of 12 to 8. CNN ran 6 neutral stories, and just one heavily pro- gun control story. Both CBS and NBC skewed their coverage and sources in favor of gun control. Five of six CBS stories favored the Brady Bill. But NBC was the most egregious offender: Pro-gun control themes dominated in 10 of 11 stories (91 percent).

None of the Brady Bill stories mentioned that the homicide rate in California, with a strict 15 day waiting period for all guns since 1975, surpassed the national average by 37 percent, according to the FBI.

In two stories, NBC White House correspondent Andrea Mitchell posited that if the bill had been in effect, "John Hinckley might have flunked that test." But attorney and author David B. Kopel wrote in the Winter 1993 Policy Review: "Hinckley...had no felony record, and no record of mental illness. The simple police and mental health records check proposed by the Brady Bill would not have turned up anything on him."

Labels. As with abortion, where "anti-abortion" versus "abortion rights advocates" define the debate in the media, the networks' labels on gun policy lean to the liberal side. Of 16 labels for gun control supporters, "gun control advocates" appeared 14 times while reporters used "gun advocate" and "gun rights advocate" once each. Apparently only the NRA engages in lobbying for its position, to judge from network reporters who mentioned the "gun lobby" 17 times, but only cited the "gun control lobby" twice. (The networks are not known to have used the term "the abortion lobby.") On April 3, 1992, CBS reporter James Hattori called doctors seeking to ban guns as having a "clinical, apolitical view."

Two other labels which often appeared together were "fear" and "NRA." NBC anchor Tom Brokaw hit a double when he alluded to the "feared NRA gun lobby" on the June 5, 1992 Nightly News. ABC's Bill Greenwood declared on the May 8, 1992 World News Tonight: "There is evidence that fear does sell. Since the National Rifle Association began its recent campaign promoting self-defense against criminals, a thousand new members have been signing up every day."

Candy Crowley of CNN exemplified network attitudes when she declared on the November 20 World News: "Nobody really knows how much impact a waiting period will have on crime, but the Brady Bill has become so symbolic that its actual impact is no longer the point. It is at once a reminder of how dangerous a place the world is, but how, with enough work and enough dedication, the human spirit can triumph." In other words, don't let the facts interfere with the emotion for gun control.

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