In the week following the Orlando terror attack, ABC, NBC and CBS gave segments advancing anti-gun arguments eight times more airtime than segments supporting Second Amendment rights.
The Media Research Center released an analysis Wednesday which “reviewed all 47 gun policy stories (41 full segments, 6 anchor read briefs), plus 10 other stories that mentioned gun policy on the Big Three networks’ evening (ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News) and morning show programs.”
The segments totaled 77 minutes and 24 seconds of airtime, and more than 65 minutes were devoted to the “anti-gun agenda” compared to only eight minutes for the “pro-gun agenda.”
Nets Advance Anti-Gun Agenda By 8 to 1, Media Research Center
Additionally, MRC found that network guests were far more likely to propose stricter gun-control than defend the Second Amendment.
While anti-gun guests made 57 appearances, pro-gun guests only graced screens 19 times, while 27 remained neutral.
“Military Weapons” (Shutterstock)
Furthermore, Second Amendment defenders faced aggressive lines of questioning with “loaded language.”
MRC pointed to Donald Trump’s June 13 exchange with Savannah Guthrie on “Today.”
“Here’s the argument: They’re a weapon of war. They’re not a hunting rifle. They appear to be the weapon of choice for terrorists as well as the shooter of kindergartners, first graders in Newtown, as well as movie theatergoers in Aurora,” she posed to Trump. “Can you think of an instance when somebody on the good side used an assault weapon?”