The media gave the Women’s March on Washington three times more air time than the March for Life, a new study shows, despite spending dramatically more time covering the annual pro-life rally than in previous years.
The Media Research Center study shows that the major broadcast networks spent 21 minutes, 52 seconds covering the March for Life, which drew hundreds of thousands to the nation’s capital on Friday to protest the 44th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision creating a constitutional right to an abortion.
The Women’s March, which attracted comparable numbers in Washington, D.C., and millions in major cities worldwide, received 1 hour, 15 minutes, 18 seconds of coverage in its protest the day after President Trump’s inauguration.
In total, ABC, CBS and NBC gave the pro-choice march 3.4 times more coverage than the pro-life one.
The major networks also gave the run-up to the Women’s March 23 minutes of air time, the study shows, which outpaced the roughly 22 minutes they devoted to covering the actual March for Life.
This year’s coverage of the March for Life represents a significant uptick from last year’s pro-life rally, which received only 35 seconds of air time from the major broadcast networks — 22 seconds of which recounted the story of high schoolers who were trapped in a blizzard on their way home.
This year’s march received 37 times that amount.
The authors of the Media Research Center study attribute the dramatic increase in coverage to the influence of Mr. Trump, who promoted the March for Life extensively in the days leading up to the event.
The march may have also been bolstered by the attendance of two of the highest-ranking members of the Trump administration, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway and Vice President Mike Pence.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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