Via Newsbusters:
The three major networks have, so far, devoted a staggering 67 minutes and 49 seconds to obsessing over every aspect of whether the New England Patriots cheated in their AFC championship win on Sunday. Yet, only ABC allowed a scant 34 seconds to the Obama administration’s release of five terrorists out of Guantanamo Bay and back to areas connected with extremist violence. The contrast is 120-to-1.
NBC was, by far, the most lopsided in terms of journalistic priorities. From Monday through early Thursday, the network’s morning and evening shows produced 33 minutes and 35 seconds to the so-called “Deflategate.” Last week, however, NBC didn’t offer any coverage to the release of five detainees, just seven days after the slaughter of cartoonists in Paris.
ABC came in second, devoting 19 minutes and four seconds to examining every detail of the deflated footballs used in the Patriots win over the Colts. Even reaction to the State of the Union on Wednesday was secondary. Yet the network managed only 34 seconds for Guantanamo. Last Thursday, Good Morning America’s Amy Robach briefly related, “Well, the U.S. has freed five more detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay. The men were accused of fighting for Al Qaeda.”