ABC Ignores Own Poll Numbers Showing Obama's Lowest Approval Rating

Tuesday's World News ignored ABC's own poll showing President Obama's lowest approval rating of his presidency. ABC gave a scant 18 seconds to the numbers on Good Morning America [1] earlier in the day.

Voters also preferred a Republican Congress in this year's election. As ABCNews.com reported [2], "Registered voters by 53-39 percent in the national survey say they'd rather see the Republicans in control of Congress as a counterbalance to Obama’s policies than a Democratic-led Congress to help support him."

The report added, "Obama’s job approval rating, after a slight winter rebound, has lost 5 points among all adults since March, to 41 percent, the lowest of his presidency by a single point."

Instead of the poll numbers, however, the World News producers found two minutes for an update on Italy's trial of Amanda Knox, which NBC and CBS didn't think newsworthy. ABC also devoted a 50-second news brief to the announcement of the cast members in new Star Wars movie.

As the MRC reported [3], ABC wasn't so generous to President Bush when he hit an approval low in 2006. After all the networks reported his low 34 percent approval rating in a CBS poll, World News a week later ignored an ABC poll showing his approval seven points higher at 41 percent.