According to the Media Research Center, the evening broadcasts on ABC, CBS and NBC spent the two weeks proceding the government shutdown "almost universally pinning the blame on congressional Republicans, especially conservative/Tea Party House Republicans." Once the shutdown actually took place, their audience was primed and ready to place the blame on the GOP.

During the weeks of Septemeber 17-30, there were 30 stories about a potential shutdown. Of these stories, MRC analysts found 21 framed the situation as Republican generated, while four blamed both sides and zero placing the blame on the Democrats.

Nancy Cordes reported on the Septemeber 18 CBS Evening News, “Speaker Boehner was forced into the risky strategy by his right flank...[a strategy] one Senate Republican described to us today as suicide.”

Days later, Brian Williams on NBC said “the wheels were set in motion” toward a potential shutdown after “Republicans in the House passed a bill that would keep the government going while killing ObamaCare.”

On September 27, David Gregory of NBC's Nightly News described “a relatively small group of legislators, you have Tea Party conservatives in the House who don’t want to give up on this ObamaCare defunding fight.”

One story did blame both sides, ABC's Jonathan Karl described: Republicans’ “laundry list of demands” with a White House that “has decided not to try” to strike a deal. “Instead of negotiating, they are name calling,” Karl reported. “Today, one of the President’s top aides said of Republicans, quote, ‘What we’re not for is negotiating with people with a bomb strapped to their chest.’”