Newsbusters By Tim Graham
The 2024 presidential race has been going on for months, but the real kickoff is the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee. For most of these candidates, this will be the highest visibility they have achieved in this campaign. They can blame Donald Trump, and the Trump-obsessed media.
The four-indictment whirlwind around Trump – alongside a courtroom battle over an ancient rape allegation – has dominated the narrative of the Republican campaign. A new study of the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts from January through July from the Media Research Center’s Rich Noyes found these were the top stories:
1. Trump’s classified-document investigation and indictment.
2. Trump’s hush-money-to-Stormy-Daniels investigation and indictment.
3. Trump’s January 6 investigation and indictment.
4. Trump’s rape-and-defamation battle with accuser E. Jean Carroll.
5. Ron DeSantis “woke” controversies in Florida on race and gender.
6. Other Trump legal challenges.
7. Mike Pence’s role on January 6.
8. Mike Pence’s classified-documents investigation.
Under all that, over the last seven months, the three networks offered only 11 minutes on abortion, eight minutes on immigration, six on the Ukraine war, and three on gun control. How can anyone really call this “campaign coverage?” TV news producers make it feel like the entire Republican campaign is occurring in courtrooms and lawyer huddles, not on the campaign trail…
