A study by the Media Research Center (MRC), a media watchdog group, illustrates that mainstream broadcast networks ABC, CBS, and NBC showed a clear bias in their coverage of the southern border crisis between October 2022 and July 2023.
The findings reveal the networks’ overwhelming focus on the plight of illegal immigrants, with less than 15 percent of the coverage addressing the surge of illegal immigration during the Biden administration, and a mere 2% dedicated to the escalating drug trafficking problem.
MRC scrutinized over 254 minutes of evening news coverage and found that more than half of this time was spent discussing the termination of the Trump-era Title 42 policy. This policy, which was ended under the Biden administration, allowed the United States to send illegal immigrants back to Mexico. The networks predominantly portrayed the policy’s termination as a positive change, despite ongoing concerns about increased illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
The study further uncovered that these networks devoted a significant portion of their coverage to the hardships faced by migrants trying to enter the United States. “Nearly every full-length report included sound bites from migrants desperate to enter the United States”, said the MRC. Terms such as “illegal immigration,” “illegal immigrant,” or “illegal alien” were never used, and not a single crime committed by an illegal alien during this period was reported.
In addition to this biased representation, the MRC’s study shows that that political disagreements over border policies were heavily covered, with networks often portraying “Republicans as ruthless border hawks with no capacity for empathy.” After the end of Title 42, these broadcasters supported the Biden administration’s claims that illegal border crossings had “dropped dramatically.”
Addressing these findings, MRC founder and president Brent Bozell expressed his concern to Fox News Digital, “There’s no telling how many thieves, murderers, rapists, and child molesters have entered illegally because of [President] Biden’s new policies. But the ‘news’ media couldn’t care less — they like them.”
