The news media, particularly more liberal news outlets, have repeatedly criticized the Administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. They repeatedly insinuated that the president failed to take the crisis seriously until it was too late. However, a recent study has found that these same media outlets failed to report on the COVID-19 pandemic during the time that they claim the president should have acted.
Last week, CNN’s Jim Acosta questioned President Trump and intimated that he had incorrectly downplayed the virus. “What do you say to Americans who are upset with you over the way you downplayed this crisis?” Acosta asked the President in a Rose Garden press briefing. “You said, ‘It’s going to disappear. One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear.’ What do you say to Americans who believe that you got this wrong?”
According to new analysis from the Media Research Center (MRC), however, CNN barely mentioned the coronavirus itself during its coverage between January 17, when COVID-19 was first mentioned in a media network story, and February 5, when President Trump was acquitted in the Senate of impeachment charges against him.
“Our analysts found that CNN’s January coronavirus airtime averaged 12 minutes per day, or about 40 seconds per hour. That works out to a meager 1.6 percent of their total coverage,” MRC reported.
Additionally, MRC noted that CNN made the coronavirus its lead story in just four of its 360 hours of programming, which works out to slightly over 1% of all lead stories.
“It’s obvious CNN was too obsessed with impeachment to waste time on the outbreak in its early stages,” MRC concluded.
It seems many Americans have seen through the media’s facade. According to a poll recently released by Gallup, the news media is the least trusted of all major institutions in its response to the coronavirus. Eight of the nine institutions the poll asked about received a positive rating, except for the media.
The poll found that 44% of Americans approve of the media’s response to COVID-19 and 55% disapprove. This compares to 60% who approve of President Trump’s response to the virus and 88% who approve of how U.S. hospitals are handling the crisis.
Additionally, what’s often forgotten is that President Trump mentioned his response to the coronavirus during his State of the Union address on February 4. “Protecting Americans’ health also means fighting infectious diseases. We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat,” the President stated.
It’s unfortunate that most Americans don’t trust the news media to present then with objective, fact-based reporting.
Let’s continue to pray for our government officials to make wise and smart decisions as they continue to guide our nation during this pandemic.
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