broadcast networks

Nets Spend More Time on Cecil the Lion in 1 Day Than Abortion Vids in 2 Weeks

mike.ciandella — Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:55:11 +0000

Nets censor third abortion video; give 14 minutes to Cecil the Lion.

Katie Yoder

(Editor’s Note: Sarah Stites contributed to this report)

— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.

‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ Never Happened, But Networks Keep Using It

mike.ciandella — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 12:15:13 +0000

Major Hollywood shows like Scandal, Grammys help fan flames of racial protest.

Kristine Marsh

● Media Helped Spread ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ Theme: Broadcast networks used the phrase, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” 140 times in protest coverage discussing the Ferguson case from Aug. 9, 2014, through March 4, 2015, the date of the Justice Department report.

● Networks Perpetuate False Claim: Despite the DOJ ruling the left’s “fact” a “myth,” the networks have continued to use the meme an additional 16 times since release of the Ferguson report.

— Kristine Marsh is Staff Writer for MRC Culture at the Media Research Center. Follow Kristine Marsh on Twitter.

Economic Growth Slows, Networks’ Morning Shows Ignore

mike.ciandella — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:39:57 +0000

Poor GDP numbers ignored again by nets.

Joseph Rossell

Economic growth has stagnated so far this year, catching the broadcast news networks inexplicably off guard yet again.

The federal government’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced April 29 that gross domestic product (GDP) expansion slowed to only 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015. This meant the goods and services produced the United States economy grew only minimally, lagging far behind growth in the previous two quarters.

Nets Ignore Alleged Rape Inspired by ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

mike.ciandella — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 19:17:00 +0000

Finally, something the nets won’t hype about ‘Fifty Shades.’

Katie Yoder

You can imagine the media outcry if a gunman attributed an attempted shooting to viewing “American Sniper.” What if “Fifty Shades” was cited in a real-world violent incident? That’s right: crickets.

— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.

Court Rules Palestinian Groups Liable for Americans Killed in Terror; Nets Silent

mike.ciandella — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 18:41:53 +0000

Palestinian terrorism victims receiving justice less sexy than peanut allergies.

Kristine Marsh

A story fit for the top fold of the front page of the New York Times Tuesday morning wasn’t important enough, apparently, for the big three networks to cover on Monday and Tuesday’s evening news broadcasts. Though they did find time to talk about a new development in treatment of peanut allergies.

— Kristine Marsh is Staff Writer for MRC Culture at the Media Research Center. Follow Kristine Marsh on Twitter.

Media Anticipated Gas Increases, Not Drop to Nearly $2-a-Gallon

julia.seymour — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 15:45:42 +0000

Just before latest major price drop, networks forecast climbing prices, ‘dire’ $5 gas.

Joseph Rossell

The dramatic collapse of gas prices is one story the news media didn’t see coming. In fact, as recently as June 2014, network news anchors and reporters were still talking about the prospect of $5 gasoline.

It turns out the media aren’t very good fortune tellers, and when it comes to gas prices they were wrong this time, just as many new outlets had gotten it wrong years earlier.

200,000 March for Life – Networks Give them 15 Seconds

mike.ciandella — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 16:28:48 +0000

ABC, CBS and NBS covered sex scandal, prehistoric shark instead.

Katie Yoder

On Jan 22, 200,000 people descended on Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life, commemorating the 57 million babies destroyed since 1973’s Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.

— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.

Nets Cover Mike Brown Death 23X More than the 130 Killed in Chicago

mike.ciandella — Wed, 03 Dec 2014 15:13:55 +0000

Massive violence in the Windy City doesn’t fit liberal narrative.

Matt Philbin

Michael Brown was killed on August 9 in Ferguson, Mo. From that day until Nov. 24, when it was announced the grand jury would not indict Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting, the network evening news programs mentioned the incident 92 times.

On the other hand, between Aug. 9 and Nov. 24, there were 855 reported shootings in Chicago, 130 of them fatal. Total Windy City homicides since Brown’s death are at least 155.

ABC, NBC Ignore Economy as Voters’ Top Concern in Post-Election Analysis

julia.seymour — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 16:23:29 +0000

Exit polls showed economy weighing on voters' minds, but networks ignored it in 84 percent of stories.

Joseph Rossell

The Republican “wave” in the Nov. 4, 2014, midterm elections had many reasons, but at least one was dissatisfaction with the economy. While, the three broadcast networks acknowledged the elections were bad for Democrats, they mostly ignored the economy and its impact on the election.

Instead, now that Republicans hold a majority of seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the networks have chosen to preach bipartisanship.

Terrorists? Not in Gaza! Nets Call Hamas ‘Militants,’ ‘Fighters’ By Factor of 13-to-1

mike.ciandella — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 13:17:49 +0000

U.S. declares Palestinian group ‘terrorists’ for 17 years, but networks largely stop.

Dan Gainor

With the fighting between Israel and Hamas halted – for now – it’s important to look at the role media played aiding Palestinian terrorists. Network news shows embraced a new narrative – moral equivalency. Hamas and Israel were treated as equals. Reporters and anchors almost never called Israel’s enemy Hamas a “terrorist” organization.

Gaza Games

mike.ciandella — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 13:12:55 +0000

Glenn Foden

Publish Date

August 6, 2014 - 9:07am

This Bites: Networks Devote 14 Minutes to Soccer ‘Chomp’; Pass on Sudanese Christian on Death Row

mike.ciandella — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 17:03:02 +0000

Woman’s life hangs in the balance, but ABC, NBC, CBS talk World Cup.

Matt Philbin

The scene: a network newsroom in Manhattan, editorial meeting for the June 24 evening broadcast.

“Hey, what about this story of Meriam Ibrahim? Looks like Sudan released her and then rearrested her.”

“Meh, another African Christian condemned by Muslim fanatics to death for her faith, yada, yada, yada. We need something really important, that cuts right to the fundamental conflicts and contradictions of out time.”

Networks Boost First Lady in ‘Food Fight’ Over School Lunches

julia.seymour — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 13:44:46 +0000

More than 60 percent of outside experts in ABC, CBS and NBC reports argue in favor of school lunch requirements.

Julia A. Seymour

With the help of the news media, First Lady Michelle Obama continued to lambast critics of the school lunch program changes she helped pass in 2010.

“What we need to do is lend a hand to the schools that are struggling, not roll back the standards and say, ‘Oh, well. The kids don’t like it so let them eat cake,” Obama said, according to The Hill.

— Julia A. Seymour is Assistant Managing Editor for MRC Business at the Media Research Center. Follow Julia A. Seymour on Twitter.

ABC, NBC Reluctant to Name Nigerian Kidnappers as Muslim

mike.ciandella — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 14:08:51 +0000

CBS rightly calls Boko Haram Islamist 70 percent of time.

Matt Philbin

Well, ABC and NBC are acting to type, ever reluctant to call evil by its name when doing so is politically incorrect (and possibly dangerous).

3 to 1: Nets quote Lib Over Conservative Justices in Hobby Lobby Reports

mike.ciandella — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:23:14 +0000

The evening broadcast networks fill reports with liberal women justices.

Katie Yoder

In the case of Hobby Lobby’s fight for religious freedom, what you report is just as important as who you report – at least for the broadcast networks.

The evening news programs lavishly quoted the liberal female Supreme Court justices in their Hobby Lobby reports yesterday. Among ABC, CBS and NBC, the nets recognized only one conservative justice’s opinion: Chief Justice John Roberts.

— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.