Media Study: ABC, CBS, NBC provide negative coverage of Trump 92% of the time, ignoring economy, jobs news
Newsbusters published details from the MRC analysis of 1,007 evening news stories (1,960 minutes of airtime) of the major networks, ABC, CBS and NBC from June 1 to September 30. The results are shocking: coverage of President Trump was 92 percent negative, vs. just eight percent positive.
Moreover, the coverage nearly ignores the U.S. economy successes, historic jobs numbers and unemployment drops.
They note that “nearly two-thirds of evening news coverage of the Trump presidency has been focused on just five main topics: the Russia investigation; immigration policy; the Kavanaugh nomination; North Korea diplomacy; and U.S. relations with Russia. The networks’ coverage of all of these topics has been highly negative, while bright spots for the administration such as the booming economy received extremely little coverage (less than one percent of the four-month total).”
Check out the full coverage HERE
Some highlights:
- The ongoing Russia investigation received more evening news coverage (342 minutes) than any other individual topic.
- The networks’ coverage of Trump’s immigration churned out 308 minutes of mostly (94%) negative coverage the administration’s immigration policies from June to September.
- From July 10 through September 6, the three evening newscasts together spent a mere 32 minutes on the Kavanaugh confirmation battle.
- When the first anonymous allegations against Kavanaugh were revealed until the end of September, the networks produced an additional 249 minutes of coverage centered on accusations of sexual misconduct, or roughly eight times more than was devoted to the earlier debate about Kavanaugh’s judicial record and philosophy.
- The evening newscasts spent 179 minutes on the administration’s diplomacy with North Korea, much of it focused on the June 12 summit between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
- The networks spent 151 minutes on the Trump administration’s approach to Russia, virtually all of it (99%) negative.
- The networks spent almost no airtime — a mere 14 minutes, or 0.7 percent — on the administration’s economic achievements, including the positive effects of the tax cuts and deregulation, plus historic job growth.
photo/ donkeyhotey
