This One Image Sums Up How Cable News Covered Ferguson Last Night

Andrew KirellAug 18th, 2014, 10:14 am
 

The situation in Ferguson, Mo., took a turn for the violent late Sunday evening, as police fired teargas and rubber bullets into the crowd, more looting reportedly occurred, gunshots were reported, and reporters once again tangled with cops.

Our own managing editor Jon Nicosia noticed something interesting about cable news coverage of that incredibly tense situation:


That split-screen is from 11:53 p.m. ET. Add to that pile where MSNBC was at, and we’ve got a fuller picture:

So while MSNBC and CNN went live with coverage of the intense clashes, Fox was busy airing Mike Huckabee slapping the bass with country singer Jace Everett.

While it may seem unfair to pick out one moment in time, just look at the rest of the evening. It’s not much better: Again, while MSNBC and CNN were largely focused on live Ferguson coverage, Fox News aired an episode of FBN’s Stossel at 10 p.m., Huckabee at 11, and at midnight a repeat of Megyn Kelly‘s infamous interview with Weather Underground co-founder Bill Ayers. At approximately 2:01 a.m., anchor Kelly Wright broke into a Fox News Sunday repeat to cover a late-night police presser. That ended at 2:25 a.m., with Fox returning to its reruns thereafter. Wright was also used for a two-minute news break during the 11 p.m. hour.

Meanwhile:

MSNBC broke into an episode of prison documentary series Lockup at 10:18 p.m. to cover the scene, shortly after the police fired teargas into the crowd. They carried Ferguson coverage live until 2:30 a.m. ET, following the police presser.

CNN terminated its airing of The Hunt with John Walsh to go live from Ferguson at 10:35 p.m. They stayed live there until roughly 3:15 a.m. ET.

So with this striking difference in coverage between Fox and its two main rivals, this leads us to several important questions: Where was the breaking news team? Where was the Fox News Deck? Why didn’t Fox think last night’s clashes important enough to go live?

UPDATE — 4:50 p.m. ET: Fox’s Monday evening coverage will look substantially different than Sunday’s:

Tonight, FOX News Channel (FNC) will present a live hour with Shepard Smith anchoring at the FOX News Deck beginning at 11PM/ET to cover the breaking news in Ferguson, Missouri. Leading up to the Deck, all primetime hours including On the Record, The O’Reilly Factor, The Kelly File and Hannity will be live. Also contributing to the coverage will be FNC’s Mike Tobin who is on the ground in Missouri.

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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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