Special Report: How the Media Have Dismissed and Disparaged the Tea Party Movement

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So how have the supposedly objective media covered one of the biggest political stories in recent years?

The Media Research Center has a new report out today, reviewing every mention of the Tea Party on the ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening newscasts, Sunday talk shows, and ABC’s Nightline from February 19, 2009 (when CNBC contributor Rick Santelli first suggested throwing a “Tea Party” to protest government takeovers) through March 31, 2010.

Among the major findings:

■ Given its demonstrated influence, network coverage of the Tea Party has been minuscule...

■ Such coverage is piddling compared to that lavished on protests serving liberal objectives...

■ Network reporters were dismissive of the first Tea Party events in 2009: “critics on the Left say this is not a real grassroots phenomenon at all"...

■ After the September 12, 2009 rallies, the networks suggested the Tea Party was an extreme or racist movement...

■ Overall, 44 percent of network stories on the Tea Party (27 out of 61) suggested the movement reflected a fringe or dangerous quality...

■ While network reporters have strained to protect left-wing causes (such as the anti-war movement) with the outrageous acts of individual protesters, they were quick to smear the entire Tea Party based on isolated reports of poor behavior.,,

Given how the networks have provided fawning coverage and helpful publicity to far-less consequential liberal protest movements, their negative treatment of the Tea Party is a glaring example of a media double standard.

Rather than objectively document the rise and impact of this important grassroots movement, the “news” networks instead chose to first ignore, and then deplore, the citizen army mobilizing against the unpopular policies of a liberal President and Congress.

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