Critics blasted media after only one network addressed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s would-be assassin — who was apprehended outside his Maryland home — on the Sunday shows.
Steve Guest, special communications advisor for Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), called attention to the network coverage in a tweet.
“How the Sunday shows covered the attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh via TVEyes,” Guest tweeted. “#of mentions of ‘Kavanaugh’: ABC’s This Week: 0 mentions, NBC’s Meet The Press: 0 mentions, CBS’s Face The Nation: 0 mentions, CNN SOTU: 0 mentions. Fox News Sunday covered.”
How the Sunday shows covered the attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh via TVEyes.
# of mentions of "Kavanaugh":
ABC's This Week: 0 mentions
NBC's Meet The Press: 0 mentions
CBS's Face The Nation: 0 mentions
CNN SOTU: 0 mentions
Fox News Sunday covered— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 12, 2022
A number of critics responded to the lack of coverage — and some noted that if the situation were reversed, the media coverage would have been very different.
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted, “Would anyone like to claim that if a MAGA supporter were arrested outside of Sonia Sotomayor or Elena Kagan’s house with a huge arsenal of weaponry, saying he wanted to murder them to stop their votes on Roe and gun control, that this media data would be the same? Anyone?”
Would anyone like to claim that if a MAGA supporter were arrested outside of Sonia Sotomayor or Elena Kagan's house with a huge arsenal of weaponry, saying he wanted to murder them to stop their votes on Roe and gun control, that this media data would be the same? Anyone? https://t.co/qeW8fpyrxw
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 12, 2022
“Tells you everything you need to know about the corporate media today. Shameful,” Megyn Kelly added.
Tells you everything you need to know about the corporate media today. Shameful. https://t.co/81hAkyu7IA
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) June 12, 2022
“Same networks appalled that Fox didn’t show the Jan 6 hearing,” Ricochet’s Jon Gabriel added.
Omri Ceren, National Security advisor to Cruz, added his own perspective and suggested that the blatant omission of anything that did not fit a preordained narrative spoke to a fundamental problem in American media — one that ran much deeper than simple bias.
“This is why it’s not quite right to talk about ‘bias’ in journalism,” he argued. “Bias is when you have a story and you let your own views seep in. This is the granular, institutional grind of uncountable people to make reality into whatever Dems wish it is. Hard to see how it gets fixed.”
This is why it's not quite right to talk about "bias" in journalism. Bias is when you have a story and you let your own views seep in. This is the granular, institutional grind of uncountable people to make reality into whatever Dems wish it is. Hard to see how it gets fixed. https://t.co/Ya3ei1OMSw
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) June 12, 2022
Despite their lack of coverage on the man who was arrested near Kavanaugh’s home, the Sunday shows on the major networks did manage to fill their respective hours.
On ABC, there was a segment dedicated to PRIDE Month and the LGBTQIA+ status of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre.
https://twitter.com/KevinTober94/status/1535985893433135104
On CNN, the coverage focused on the ongoing January 6th Committee hearings.
https://twitter.com/KevinTober94/status/1535991060563992576
According to the Media Research Center’s Kevin Tober, while failing to address Kavanaugh’s would-be assassin at all, the major networks spent a combined total of one hour and 33 minutes on the January 6th hearings — after dedicating prime time coverage to them as they were happening live.
https://twitter.com/KevinTober94/status/1536066033605300226