Alexandria, VA – The
three television broadcast networks completely ignored tens of thousands
of Americans who participated in more than 160 coordinated noontime
rallies in support of
religious freedom across the United States this past Friday, according
to a
new Media Research Center analysis [1].
The networks didn’t commit a single second of coverage on either their
morning or evening broadcasts to the widespread dissent against the
anti-religious
freedom Health and Human Services mandate.
By comparison, CBS News dedicated
four separate on-air segments between May 30 and June 1 to the
supporters of a group of left-leaning Catholic nuns. CBS correspondent
Wyatt Andrews boasted
that, "hundreds of Catholics have rallied behind the sisters," and that
"protests in support of the nuns have been held in almost 50 cities,” a
fraction of the size and scope of the rallies held in opposition to the
Obamacare mandate created to restrict religious
liberty.
MRC President Brent Bozell reacts:
"The bias beat goes on, and it's getting more obvious as outrage against Obama and his mandate spreads to every corner of America. To ignore these coordinated protests across the country is bad enough. But then to hype what a few über liberal nuns and their hundreds of supporters - hundreds! - are doing to dissent against the Vatican's supposed 'inquisition' [2] is unbearable.
"This disgraceful decision by the networks to deliberately ignore this national demonstration in support of religious freedom comes only weeks after these same networks deliberately and shamefully ignored the largest legal action ever taken against the government by the Catholic Church in the history of this Republic. CBS committed only 19 seconds of a single nightly newscast to those lawsuits while NBC and ABC gave the story ZERO coverage. This is a pointed and deliberate message from the liberal media directed at the millions of Americans who believe in our constitutionally protected freedom of religion.
"Let there be no mistake. These so-called 'news' networks only cover stories that are helpful to Barack Obama and will not broadcast anything that hurts his chances of re-election this November. The networks have shown their hand, and they are not on the side of freedom."
To schedule an interview with MRC President Brent Bozell or another MRC spokesperson, please contact Colleen Sullivan - csullivan@crcpublicrelations.com [3] or Jeremy Little - jlittle@crcpublicrelations.com