ABC News Distorts Own Poll Showing Culture as Most Culpable in Virginia Tech Massacre
ALEXANDRIA, VA ABC News conducted a poll
that showed 40 percent think the culture is responsible for
gun-violence, like that which occurred at Virginia Tech, and another
35 percent blame poor parenting. Yet ABC did not mention the
critical culture finding on ABCs World News on April 23.
Instead, the network focused on the polls findings on gun control.
This is a clear example of cherry-picking the facts to fit a liberal
bias. In response to ABCs selective reporting, Media Research
Center President Brent Bozell issued the following statement:
They didnt get the result they were looking for, which was why the
surveys most interesting finding
was spiked on ABCs TV news shows.
If they had found that most Americans blamed availability of guns,
they would have screamed that headline. But the survey didnt
support their agenda so they buried it.
Robert Knight, director of the MRCs
Culture and Media Institute
added: This is another reason that the Internet is outpacing
network news as a source of information. More and more people want
the straight stuff, unfiltered by the liberal biases of network
journalists.
The poll seemed to be more about trying to prove that more gun
laws are needed than to assess what Americans think are the primary
causes for gun violence. Buried in the findings was the startling
statistic that between 2000 and 2007, the number of Americans
blaming the popular culture for gun violence soared by 53%,
exceeding even the blame that Americans placed on bad parenting,
which increased by 10%.
These findings confirm what the Culture and Media Institutes
National Cultural Values Survey revealed last month: More and more
Americans are viewing the Popular Culture as a prime culprit in Americas moral decline. In fact, the CMI poll showed that 73
percent of Americans say the entertainment media have a negative
impact on moral values. ABCs poll, tied directly to gun violence,
comports with the CMI surveys findings.
To schedule an interview with MRC President Bozell or an MRC spokesperson, please contact Tim Scheiderer (x. 126) or Colleen OBoyle (x. 122) at 703.683.5004.
