ALEXANDRIA,
VA – According to an analysis by the Media
Research Center [1], the three broadcast networks are using the resignation of
Pope Benedict XVI to advance their left-wing social agenda and attack the Catholic
Church’s centuries-old doctrine on the priesthood, abortion, and gay marriage.
While NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News predictably dwelled on
scandals and the Pope’s “conservatism,” their anti-Catholic coverage paled in
comparison to the disgraceful onslaught on ABC
World News.
During last night’s ABC World News broadcast:
- In an interview with New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Diane Sawyer asked if the, “burden of what the Church has been through with the scandals” caused the Pope’s resignation – with absolutely no basis in fact.
- During the same interview, “reporter” Sawyer brazenly editorialized saying, “There has to be fundamental change” to the Church’s positions on social issues.
- Posing as a papal historian, Jeffrey Kofman declared that the Pope’s, “papacy will be remembered for its scandals.” This supposed authority on the Catholic Church then said that Benedict had, “tried to hold back the forces of modernity.”
- ABC correspondent Cecilia Vega, according to Sawyer, “spent the day gathering American reaction from all over,” but then delivered reaction only from liberal Catholics who pushed ABC’s liberal narrative that the Church must “modernize.”
- ABC didn’t name a single accomplishment of Benedict XVI.
Media
Research Center President Brent Bozell reacts:
“The liberal media’s snarling,
bigoted anti-Catholicism is on full display, and ABC World News has won the race to the bottom. Instead of reporting the
historic news of Pope Benedict’s resignation, Diane Sawyer – who calls herself
a Catholic – and Disney-owned ABC News used the opportunity to bludgeon the
Catholic Church and Pope Benedict with every left-wing grievance imaginable. It
was a disgusting and deeply offensive assault on the Church.
“It is indefensible that on the same
day this major story broke, ABC World
News refused to mention a single accomplishment during Pope Benedict’s
tenure, even on lefty-approved environmental issues. It demonstrates the
contempt that ABC News and Sawyer have for the Pope and for the Church. Sawyer’s
stunning editorializing that, “There has to be fundamental change,” is
disgraceful and unprofessional. Who is Diane Sawyer to demand changes to thousands
of years of Catholic doctrine? She and The Walt Disney Company owe 1.2 billion
Catholics an apology. And she should go to Confession.”
To schedule an interview with MRC President Brent Bozell or another MRC spokesperson, please contact Jeremy Little - jlittle@crcpublicrelations.com [2] (703)-683-5004