by Spencer Irvine on June 11, 2020 Print:   Share:

NBC News was one of several mainstream media outlets that ignored the news that protesters destroyed 70 coronavirus testing sites in the past several weeks.

The news outlet previously covered the suspension of testing site operations due to the protests, but it did not follow up with news of sites’ destruction during protests. NBC News blamed the suspension of testing sites on “violence and unrest” and that these “temporary closures” were not limited to a particular region of the country.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus coordinator under President Donald Trump, said that at least 70 sites were destroyed. During the conference call, she said that the sites were serving urban populations and that their destruction could set back efforts to contain the coronavirus’s spread in cities. She said that the sites’ destruction “had already resulted in an appreciable drop in testing rates there.”

NBC News did not cover Dr. Birx’s remarks, and neither did the majority of the mainstream media outside of Fox News. The Daily Beast obtained audio of the conference call, but the news spread rapidly among right-leaning news outlets.


Spencer Irvine

Spencer Irvine graduated from Brigham Young University in International Relations and currently works as a staff writer for Accuracy in Media.

This article is republished with permission from our friends at Accuracy In Media