NBC, ABC, CBS PROMOTE ‘DA VINCI CODE’ BUT TRASHED ‘THE PASSION’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 23, 2006

CONTACT: TIM SCHEIDERER OR COLLEEN O’BOYLE AT 703.683.5004

Alexandria, VA—The Media Research Center will release this afternoon a new study, The Trashing of the Christ, which documents the contrasting coverage the networks – ABC, CBS, and NBC – have provided The Da Vinci Code movie and that given to The Passion of the Christ movie. The contrast is stark: hostility to The Passion and gleeful promotion of The Da Vinci Code. Some of the study’s findings include:

The networks gave The Da Vinci Code more of a publicity push than The Passion and any other recently released movie.
The Passion was treated as a social problem – the biggest TV anti-Semitism story of that year – while The Da Vinci Code was presented often as an “intriguing” theory rather than threatening or offensive to Christians.
In their push to promote The Da Vinci Code, the networks routinely failed to address how the book most offended Christian sensitivities: that Christianity itself is a lie.
While Mel Gibson was attacked for his religious beliefs, Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown and filmmakers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer were never personally examined or challenged about their personal religious beliefs, their willingness to milk controversy, play fast and loose with facts, and offend Christians for personal gain.

“The networks did nearly everything they could to trash The Passion and its traditional portrayal of Christ and the crucifixion,” said MRC President Brent Bozell. “The same networks, however, have bent over backwards to promote and applaud the viciously anti-Christian bigotry presented in the Da Vinci Code book and movie. When it comes to trashing Christ and Christians, the networks are all for it.”

See full report | PDF Version

To schedule an interview with MRC President Bozell or an MRC spokesperson, please contact Tim Scheiderer (x. 126) or Colleen O’Boyle (x. 122) at 703.683.5004.