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The big three networks have provided extensive coverage of the baby formula crisis in their evening newscasts, but are reluctant to shift the blame to President Biden, according to a new study.
The Conservative Center for Media Research found that of the 54 evening news stories about a lack of formula that panicked parents on World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News between May 9 and this week, only 10 these include “mentions of guilt or guilt for the Biden administration,” a percentage of 19 percent.
ABC (22 stories about the baby formula crisis), CBS (17) and NBC (15) provided what NewsBusters Research director Scott Whitlock considers to be an adequate coverage of the disturbing story, but he told Fox News Digital that his analysis found that the networks treat Biden as a “strange observer.”
Empty shelves show a shortage of baby formula at the CVS store in San Antonio, Texas. (Getty images | Reuters / Kaylee Greenlee Beal)
“They treat him like a bystander. “We looked at gas prices this spring, and most of the stories we found really didn’t suggest any guilt about Joe Biden,” he said. “It was almost all of Russia. And obviously Russia was a factor, but gas prices have been rising for some time. That’s why we wanted to see how they cover this crisis. ”
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As an example, Whitlock pointed out the sharply negative media coverage of detained child migrants under the Trump administration, at one point illustrating his thesis with photos of young people in cells from the Obama years.
“And we know from Republican presidents, Donald Trump, and going back before him, that every time this kind of thing happens, Republican presidents get a lot of guilt, whether they deserve it or not,” Whitlock added.
Some of Biden’s negative coverage of the segments includes ABC’s David Muir, who asked on June 1 if he “should have known about it sooner,” and ABC’s Mary Bruce added that the White House was “really trying to explain.” formula.
Although the networks scarcely mentioned it, Biden was criticized elsewhere for appearing unperturbed as the Food and Drug Administration came under fire for failing to warn Americans of the impending shortage and devising a plan.
Rows of baby formula at Costco in Tijuana, Mexico. (Fox News Digital / Jon Michael Raasch)
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While the Big Three’s evening news programs no longer dominate television the way they did a generation ago, they still reliably attract 15-20 million viewers a night together, which still makes them of interest to MRC.
“People are still watching them. People are still getting their news from them. So I think it’s still important to focus on them,” Whitlock said. “They still really affect the lives of many people, if you look at the millions of viewers they receive. And that’s why it’s important to hold them accountable and say what you reflect or don’t reflect, and how you reflect that, President, and let him get away with it. “
Supply chain problems from the COVID-19 pandemic created a limited availability of many products, including baby formula. The problem was exacerbated when Abbott Laboratories, a leading provider of baby formula, withdrew some products and closed the plant after an FDA study. Starting earlier this year, millions of tortured parents are struggling to find the formula for their babies, and empty shelves have become another political sore spot for Biden’s White House.
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Mothers use formula for their babies instead of breast milk for a variety of reasons, such as difficulty breastfeeding or breastfeeding, lack of breastfeeding time with busy work schedules, and drug interactions, among others.
CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed Gina Raimondo earlier this month for making President Biden look “flat-footed” on inflation and a shortage of formula. (Photo by Andrew Harnick – Pool / Getty Images)
Biden said earlier this month that he was unaware of the baby formula shortage until April, two months after company executives said they were aware of the “overall impact” in February of the shutdown of the Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan. has on supplies in the US.
As the crisis escalated, Biden took action, invoking the Defense Manufacturing Act, to stimulate more formula production in the internal market, created a decree agreeing with the FDA to reopen the Abbott Nutrition facility, and issued FDA guidelines for importing tens of millions of bottles of formula from abroad. .
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Julia Musto of Fox News, Shiv Sudhakar and Megan Myers contributed to this report.
David Rutz is a senior editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @davidrutz.
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