REPORT: Fox News Spent One Minute Covering Marriage Equality In Three States

Special Programs LGBTQ

Written by Carlos Maza

Published

Fox News spent one minute covering the historic legalization of same-sex marriage in Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota over the past several weeks. According to an Equality Matters analysis, the network completely ignored the passage of marriage equality legislation in Delaware and made only passing mentions of Rhode Island and Minnesota's new marriage laws.

Analysis: Fox News Underreported The Passage Of Marriage Equality In Three States

Fox News Made Just Three Mentions Of The Passage Of Marriage Equality In Rhode Island, Delaware, And Minnesota. According to an Equality Matters analysis, Fox News mentioned the marriage equality victories in Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota a total of three times. CNN and MSNBC made 13 and 35 mentions of the stories, respectively:

Fox News Mentioned Rhode Island's Marriage Equality Law Only Once. Fox News dedicated just sixteen seconds to covering Rhode Island's marriage equality legislation during the May 1 edition of Fox Report with Shepard Smith. CNN and MSNBC spent about one minute and 10 minutes covering the story, respectively:

Fox News Ignored The Passage Of Marriage Equality In Delaware. No Fox News program mentioned the passage of marriage equality legislation in Delaware. Both CNN and MSNBC covered the story:

Fox News Mentioned Minnesota's Marriage Equality Law Twice. Fox News  devoted 44 [seconds to covering Minnesota's marriage equality legislation during two mentions on the May 14 editions of Special Report with Bret Baier and Fox Report with Shepard Smith. CNN and MSNBC spent about two and 37 minutes covering the story, respectively:

  • The Bulk Of MSNBC's Minnesota Coverage Came From Multiple Segments During The May 12 Edition Of Up with Steve Kornacki, Which Devoted More Than 20 Minutes To The Story.

Methodology

Equality Matters searched news transcripts provided by TV Eyes and internal TV databases for any mention of the passage of marriage equality legislation in Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota.

For Rhode Island, which approved marriage equality on May 2, we searched for the terms “Rhode,” “island,” and “marriage” between May 1 and May 3.

For Delaware, which approved marriage equality on May 7, we searched for the terms “Delaware” and “marriage” between May 6 and May 8.

For Minnesota, which passed its marriage equality measure through the House on May 9 and signed the measure into law on May 14, we searched for the terms “Minnesota” and “marriage” between May 8 and 12:00 p.m. on May 15.

Reruns and teases for upcoming segments were excluded.