Cable news covered the Baltimore school walkout for less than a minute

On March 6, Baltimore high school students staged a walkout for gun safety weeks after the Parkland, FL, school shooting left 17 dead. Cable media outlets all but ignored the walkout, spending less than a minute in total on the story on March 6.

Hundreds of students from both public and private schools across Baltimore came together on March 6 and marched to City Hall to protest gun violence. (There have been 18 shootings at schools this year alone.) The students had a list of gun safety demands, including “more frequent active shooter drills and comprehensive follow-up investigations into allegations of school police misconduct.” They also demanded social work and counseling services in schools “to prevent the culture of gun violence.” The walkout is the latest in several calls for more gun safety regulations.

On the day of the walkout, CNN and Fox News ignored the story completely, while MSNBC gave it less than a minute of coverage during its 1 p.m. hour:

CRAIG MELVIN (ANCHOR): Right now in Baltimore, Maryland, I believe we have a live look there in Baltimore, there it is. Students marching to City Hall in a walkout. They're bringing attention to school safety there in Baltimore. They're calling it the “guns down, grades up” walkout. They are demanding better school security measures. The mayor of Baltimore joined the students as they marched. We’re keeping a very close eye on the situation there in Baltimore We’ll keep you updated throughout the hour.

Methodology:

Media Matters searched SnapStream for mentions of “student" and “Baltimore” within the same 20-second clip that also mentioned “school,” “gun,” “shooting,” “violence,” “safety,” “walk out,” “protest,” or “march,” on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News on March 6 between 6 a.m. and midnight.