Media coverage isn’t just about who writes the news – it’s also about who delivers the news.
Since last week, social media gurus have pumped out tweets about Cecil, the famed African lion shot by an American dentist. But the story of aborted baby parts sorted and dissected in the name of “research” by Planned Parenthood didn’t make the cut on Twitter. The broadcast networks tweeted updates about Cecil at least twice as much as they did about the abortion giant. Newspapers and online outlets followed suit.
Methodology: MRC Culture looked for “Cecil OR Lion” and “Abortion OR Planned Parenthood” while searching the Twitter feeds of news outlets. We included stories that journalists connected to Cecil or the Planned Parenthood videos (for example, pieces on Cecil’s lion-friend, Jericho, or articles on Planned Parenthood hackers).
The Big Three
As with their news shows, the three broadcast networks, ABC, NBC and CBS focused their efforts on Cecil instead of the videos uncovering Planned Parenthood. @ABC tweeted out updates on Cecil twice as much as it did the videos, while @NBCNews tweeted about the African lion six times more. Also on Twitter, @CBSNews covered Cecil nearly three times more.
ABC
Cecil the Lion: 10 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 5 tweets
NBC
Cecil the Lion: 19 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 3 tweets
CBS
Cecil the Lion: 17 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 6 tweets
Other News Outlets
Among newspapers and online news outlets, the discrepancy continued. @AP tweeted out Cecil nearly three times more than the abortion videos, while @Guardian committed 15 times more to the lion.
The Associated Press
Cecil the Lion: 29 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 10 tweets
The Guardian
Cecil the Lion: 30 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 2 tweets
The New York Times
Cecil the Lion: 15 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 4 tweets
Reuters
Cecil the Lion: 16 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 4 tweets
The Wall Street Journal
Cecil the Lion: 5 tweets
Planned Parenthood Videos: 1 tweet
Others findings were less shocking, like that of The Washington Post (20 tweets on Planned Parenthood, 22 on Cecil) and CNN (one tweet on PP, two on Cecil).
Although, can we really call any of this shocking after the news shows themselves have so heavily censored the story of babies picked apart by tweezers?
