Akin's "rape" gaffe beats Biden's "chains" gaffe for TV coverage

The three TV networks have given Missouri Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” gaffe four times more coverage than they devoted to Vice President Joe Biden’s charge to a partially black audience that the GOP wants to “put y’all back in chains.”

During the first 72 hours of the controversy, Akin was given nearly 89 minutes of coverage in over 40 stories, according to the conservative Media Research Center. By comparison, ABC, CBS and NBC gave Biden’s flub last week less than 20 minutes of coverage.