The brutal rape of a 14-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Rockville, Maryland, school has been a non-story for most networks — and even the New York Times has noticed.
The Times noted that Fox News is virtually the only network covering the story and that criticism directed at CNN and MSNBC for their lack of coverage was accurate.
Liberal television networks have left their viewers largely uninformed about the rape–a fact the Times conceded on Saturday.
Times writers John Koblin and Nick Corasanti noted that Fox News’ coverage Friday gave “considerable time” to the Rockville rape–which they referred to as “a rape case in Maryland.”
Koblin and Corasanti noted that “viewers would not have heard about [the rape] if they had turned to CNN or MSNBC,” adding that the rape “went virtually uncovered on most networks.”
An in-story “fact-check” from the Times also conceded that Fox News has been accurate in its criticisms of other major networks for ignoring the story.
The alleged rape generated national outrage despite being ignored by most networks.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer pointed to the rape last week as an example of the human costs of a broken immigration system.
“Part of the reason the President has cracked-down on illegal immigration, and made it such a big deal is because of tragedies like this,” Spicer said. “Immigration pays its toll on our people if it’s not done legally.”
CNN and MSNBC might point out that the rape case occurred during a very busy period for major news stories, including the healthcare debate in Congress and the continuing saga of the Trump-Russia-Trump blowup.
While this is true, it is also unquestionably accurate to say that the Rockville rape story does not fit the illegal-alien narrative advanced by those networks. In their universe, illegals are hard-working, law-abiding, and family-oriented people who are almost just like Americans. There is no room to report on illegals who rape 14-year-old girls — even if it’s a story most of the rest of America is talking about.
More to the point, many Americans are drawing the same conclusions drawn by the White House — that the rape story is illustrative of the problems with our immigration-enforcement system.
And that’s another reason for those networks not to cover the story. They like the lack of border security and weak immigration enforcement. Our system is just fine and anyone who wants to tighten our borders or deny access to anyone who wants to come is a racist.
Despite the media blackout, only the most determinedly ignorant Americans could claim to be unaware of the Rockville rape and the issues it has raised. So the blackout is useless. It’s not going to kill the story or prevent people from finding out about it.
In that sense, it becomes an overt political act not to cover it.
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