A Texas Senate filibuster of a controversial anti-abortion law riveted hundreds of thousands across the country late Tuesday night as Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth) successfully stopped the legislation, but the audience was comprised of mostly online viewers. Networks like CNN and FOX failed to cover the historical moment for women's rights, a lapse in news judgement lamented across the Internet Wednesday.
Starting at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday, Texas Sen. Davis began a marathon 13-hour long filibuster to block a stringent anti-abortion bill from passing in her home state. The event was streamed live on YouTube and HyperVocal reports that at its peak approximately 180,000 people were tuned in to watch the drama unfold.
Now major cable news networks are under intense fire for their failure to cover what was arguably the hottest news Tuesday night. While political observers were glued to YouTube and going insane on Twitter, the news networks were apparently oblivious to the story.
During the time when viewership of the filibuster was at its highest, Fox was airing an interview about Iraq; MSNBC was focused on a climate debate; and CNN showed a segment featuring Piers Morgan discussing the calories in a blueberry muffin with Dr. Drew Pinsky, Time Entertainment reports.
Citizens across the country slammed the networks' editorial choices Wednesday on Twitter.
"You are a disgrace @CNN u cannot call yourself a news channel," actress Mia Farrow tweeted.
"Does anyone at CNN, MSNBC or Fox follow Twitter? Yet another major fail by cable news nets right now," read a tweet by Keith Olbermann.
"Not even @msnbc -- and not even @cspan -- is carrying the #SB5 filibuster live. What happened to breaking news, cable networks?" Jamal Thalji tweeted.
"Why isn't any of the Wendy Davis filibuster covered on any of the cable news networks? Thank science for the internet!" Kathleen Brown tweeted.
"There's 400 CSPAN channels. Not to mention numerous cable news networks and yet we are all streaming the Texas Senate filibuster online," Stefanie Gordon tweeted.
Here's what those news networks chose to ignore Tuesday night: In a bid to block a strict anti-abortion law dubbed "SB5," Davis used a 13-hour filibuster to stand up to Republicans who had passed the bill in the House early Monday.
Donning comfortable pink sneakers, the Texas senator began speaking at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday and continued until midnight, when the deadline for passing the bill expired. Davis was not allowed to stop speaking the entire time, nor take breaks for meals or to use the bathroom—she was not even permitted to lean against anything for support. But in the eyes of the Texas Senate and women's reproductive rights advocates, Davis garnered a major victory by sticking it through to the end; even if Republican legislators attempted to illegally pass the bill anyway minutes after voting was officially closed.
According to International Business Times, if SB5 had passed, the anti-abortion legislation would have banned all abortion after 20 weeks and shut down all but five of Texas' abortion clinics. The law would have further required that clinics be classified as ambulatory surgical centers—an upgrade most can't afford. Doctors would also have been required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles, difficult if not impossible in some rural areas of Texas.