Even as the frail former pontiff exits the world stage, the “big three” broadcast networks have gone overboard with tacky coverage and liberal agenda, at Pope Benedict XVI’s expense. And someone has counted the incidents, one by one.
Since the Pope’s resignation announcement on Feb. 11, ABC, NBC and CBS have characterized the Catholic Church as “troubled” 122 times and used the word “scandal” 87 times says a new study from the Media Research Center
Coverage has also pushed for the church to be more liberal, calling for the church to ‘modernize’ 32 times, change its stance on women seven times and on gays 13 times, the study found.
Then there was the funny stuff.
“The resignation of the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics is the time for making jokes. The networks ran jokes from late night shows about the Pope seven times and even brought on comedian George Lopez to give his sacrilegious perspective on Catholicism,” the study said.
NBC late night host Jimmy Fallon’s parodies plus remarks by CBS’ David Letterman and comic Conan O’Brien were also included in network coverage.
“The networks reminded people of faith that so-called journalists will use any chance to undermine conservative beliefs in family, marriage and life,” observes Dan Gainor, vice president of media and culture for the research group.
See the study here: mrc.org/culture
