Over the past week, there have been three police officers attacked and killed in the line of duty in separate incidents -- all of which were covered by Fox and Friends. But CNN's flagship morning show, New Day, only spent 11 seconds total on just one of the killings.
By contrast, on Saturday morning, the weekend edition of the show managed to devote more time to an embarrassing incident in which a distracted police officer in Missouri recklessly drove into a bicyclist while using his phone.
Additionally, on Saturday afternoon, CNN Newsroom took the time to highlight two police officers in Georgia who were fired after they flipped a coin while trying to decide whether to arrest a woman for speeding.
Between Saturday, July 21, and Friday, July 27, Fox and Friends covered all three killings that occurred in Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Arizona, putting in six briefs, one full report, and a panel discussion on the fact that police shootings in 2018 have spiked since last year. There was also a brief on a nonfatal police shooting in Florida.
The FNC morning show spent a total of more than 10 minutes on attacks on police officers. By contrast, according to a Nexis search, the only time CNN covered any of the shootings at all was on Thursday morning shortly before 8:00 a.m. Eastern when New Day gave the Arizona attack a mere 11 seconds.
Additionally, on Thursday, the Arizona attack received 24 seconds on CBS This Morning and 23 seconds on the CBS Evening News, which noted the increase in police killings since last year. ABC's World News Tonight just gave the Arizona attack a 10-second brief.
But on Saturday morning, New Day Saturday spent more than a minute cracking on a Missouri police officer who was caught on video driving his vehicle into a bicyclist. In a plug at 6:13 a.m., co-host Christi Paul mocked the officer as she teased: "Don't text and drive. Isn't that what all police tell us? Well, look what happened when an officer in Missouri didn't follow his own rules."
In a second plug at 6:43 a.m., Paul recalled: "And look at this video. A car crashed into a bicyclist because the driver was texting. Notice anything about this case, though? The driver was a police officer."
Including the plugs, the show managed to give the embarrassing incident reflecting poorly on one police officer a total of 73 seconds -- which manages to be significantly more than the 11 seconds devoted to the death of a police officer.
A few hours later, on CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield, the show took the time to update viewers on a couple of police officers in Georgia who were caught on video flipping a coin while discussing whether to arrest a woman they had pulled over for speeding.
