DC shooting: Evidence of media bias?

Chris Woodward   (OneNewsNow.com) Friday, August 17, 2012

Major media outlets are getting mixed reviews on how they handled the shooting at the Family Research Council headquarters this week.

The shooting Wednesday morning at the pro-family group's headquarters in Washington, DC, left one FRC staffer wounded and many more shaken. The suspect, Floyd Lee Corkins III, has been charged with intent to kill and bringing firearms across state lines. Authorities say he had been volunteering at a community center for LGBT people -- and his parents told the FBI that he has "strong opinions with respect to those he believes do not treat homosexuals in a fair manner."

Media Research Center spokesman Dan Gainor appeared Friday on American Family Radio's "Focal Point" program and spoke about the coverage of the shooting by the mainstream media.

"I will call out ABC, first of all, for what they did right," he said. "ABC covered it in detail, both the first night and the second night. But NBC and CBS both did anchor reads the first night -- 17 and 20 seconds long; and you know, you can't say anything in that time ... and they didn't. And then they didn't follow it since." Gainor says it gets worse, however. "In less than 24 hours, CNN was back calling FRC a hate group, same as Huffington Post." In 2010, Family Research Council -- along with several other prominent pro-family and Christian organizations that have opposed efforts to normalize the "gay" lifestyle -- was labeled as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its opposition to the sin of homosexuality. SPLC was roundly criticized for its characterization of groups that promote traditional family values.