Populist Nation: Fox News Institutes Virtual Blackout Of Todd Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comments

Monday, August 20, 2012

Fox News Institutes Virtual Blackout Of Todd Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comments

By Igor Volsky from ThinkProgress
republished by Paddy Ryan

Fox News is following its well established pattern of underreporting stories that don’t appeal to its conservative base, instituting a virtual blackout of Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) controversial — and widely condemned — comments about “legitimate rape.”

While CNN and MSNBC — the two other main cable news channels — led with the Akin statement, Fox steered clear of the comments completely until 9:19 AM, referencing them in a loaded segment with Karl Rove without playing video of his remarks. The network didn’t air the remarks until 12:10 PM — showing the the clip well after Republicans (including GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney) harshly condemned the GOP Senate candidate from Missouri. Below is a comparison of cable news mentions of “Akin” from Monday at 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM:

Fox News has has a long history of offering slim coverage to stories that could disappoint conservatives including, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and passage of New York’s historic same-sex marriage law.

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