Saturday night’s liberal network newscasts offered gushing propaganda coverage of the so-called “No Kings” protests against President Trump on CBS, NBC, PBS, and NPR. They all led with the story, and the four networks aired 17 minutes and 51 seconds of coverage, touting what “organizers say” about how huge it was. ABC did not air a newscast.
By comparison, the annual March for Life against abortion in January drew just 50 seconds on these four networks.
As usual, the networks deployed visuals and correspondents to underline protests happened across the country, but never used ideological words to describe it — no “liberal,” “leftist,” “progressive,” or “socialist,” and certainly no notion of extremism — even as Trump was falsely described as a dictator or a monarch. You could see signs like “Impeach Trump Again,” but that wasn’t painted as anti-democracy.
CBS Weekend News anchor Jericka Duncan turned to correspondents in multiple cities for two minutes and 59 seconds. Duncan began:
DUNCAN: Today, organizers say at least seven million Americans took to the streets protesting what many called an abuse of power by President Trump. House Speaker Mike Johnson called it, quote, the “hate America rally.” Here in New York City, police say 100,000 people turned out at multiple marches. They report no arrests. There were more than 2,600 events from coast coast. They are all part of the “No Kings” movement, which accuses the president of behaving more like a monarch than an elected official.
On January 24, CBS Evening News only aired on the West Coast due to golf coverage. Host Nancy Cordes only gave the rally 21 seconds, with a label: “Thousands of anti-abortion rights activists converged on the nation’s capital today for the annual March for Life.”
NBC Nightly News began with anchor Jose Diaz-Balart touting “massive” protests, adding up to 3:51. In January, NBC gave the March for Life zero coverage on Nightly News or Today. The anchor began in front of a screen that read “MASSIVE NATIONWIDE PROTESTS.”
DIAZ-BALART: Massive groups of protesters gathered in cities and towns across the country today. Part of a day of so-called “No Kings” demonstrations protesting the Trump administration. Organizers behind the No Kings movement say it’s about democracy verses dictatorship.
Reporter Adrianne Broaddus in Chicago played up theme of racially profiling Latinos:
BROADDUS: Do you feel you have been profiled?
PROTESTER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Because how I look. I’m — Mexican American, third generation. But I served in the military.
PROTESTER: ICE is in our neighborhood, literally snatching people off the streets.
PBS News Weekend awarded 6:46 to the protests, compared to 29 throwaway seconds to the March for Life in January. Weekend anchor Ali Rogin tossed softballs at Robert Weissman of the leftist group Public Citizen (founded by Ralph Nader).
NPR‘s All Things Considered led its newscast with four minutes and 15 seconds of coverage. In January, so-called All Things Considered offered no story on the March for Life. They offered no leftist labels, but at least they addressed that the Republican charge that this was a Democrat event:
ANDREW LIMBONG, host: Well, what’s the sense that you and other reporters who have been following these events are getting? Is this more of a pro-democracy event or a more pro-Democratic party event?
MARTIN KASTE: Well, the Democrats at these events are certainly insisting this is not a partisan thing, that they’re not running this. These are independent groups organizing these events.
