The three mainstream U.S. television networks have heaped attention on the new little British prince while silencing the heartbreaking story of little Alfie Evans who is fighting for his life against attempts by the British state to euthanize him.

On April 23, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, gave birth to her third child with Prince William, an event that electrified American news channels. The three major networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—devoted a combined total of more than 28 minutes to the royal news, while completely omitting mention of another baby who languished in a UK hospital after officials removed his life support against his parents’ wishes.

The attentive folks at Media Research Center pored over the evening news shows April 23 and the morning news shows April 24, tallying the number of minutes dedicated to each story.

Between the evening of April 23 and the morning of April 24, CBS Evening News anchor Jeff Glor paid homage to the “special delivery,” while Today co-host Savannah Guthrie on NBC gushed over the “new little prince.” For her part, Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts wondered aloud “what the new royal baby’s name will be” on ABC.

The story surrounding Alfie Evans is one of the biggest bioethical scandals of our day, a textbook case of the overreach of a superpowered administrative state into the lives of private citizens, and yet the mainstream American media have willfully chosen to ignore it.

Even public figures such as Pope Francis and the president of the European Parliament have weighed in on behalf of Alfie and his parents, and yet the UK authorities have simply grown more entrenched in their position.

As Breitbart News has reported, the police of Merseyside, England, have gone so far as to try to curb free speech on the issue by threatening users of social media who support Alfie Evans and his parents.

In a Facebook post, the police force warned Alfie supporters that they “are being monitored” and that any offences including “malicious communications” will be investigated and where necessary “acted upon.”

Protests have been mounting against Alder Hey hospital where Alfie is being held hostage and the UK court system that is siding with the establishment against the rights of Alfie and his parents to seek treatment elsewhere. The hospital has made it clear they have no intention of returning Alfie to the custody of his parents until he is dead.

In an era where the terms “fake news” and “hate speech” are freely tossed about, media users could well wonder whether silencing important world events is not its own form of “fake news.”

After all, covering up an important story by pretending it does not exist seems a breach of trust with consumers who rely on the media to bring them the facts that matter.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome