Mainstream media’s limited reporting on the murder trial of Philadelphia abortionist Dr. Kermit Gosnell has been obvious. You might think that CNN, the self-styled “Most Trusted Name in News," would pay more attention to a case involving over 250 criminal counts, including ones for first-degree murder.
You’d be wrong. Today, CNN’s Newsroom occupied six hours of air time. The Gosnell trial was mentioned only twice. Anchor Wolf Blitzer reported:
In Philadelphia, the 72-year-old abortion doctor, Kermit Gosnell is awaiting his fate. He's accused of first degree murder for allegedly killing babies born alive during late term abortions. Jurors are now in their fifth day of deliberating after not reaching a verdict Friday.
That was it. Threee sentences. On an earlier segment, anchor Ashleigh Banfield had a short discussion with CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin on how Gosnell’s jury “wanted some more definition to first-degree murder, third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and malice, and infanticide as well.”
BANFIELD: That's a tough case. You said it, a lot of paperwork, just in the jury forms and the number of charges. So five days, nothing, honestly. We should probably hunker down and you should get a hotel room for a long time.
(LAUGHTER)
In contrast, CNN Newsroom today did eight stories on the Jodi Arias trial. For those keeping count, Arias’s name was mentioned 44 times. Gosnell’s twice.
Media bias? What media bias? Surely not at the “Most Trusted Name in News.”
