(by Joseph Vazquez, MRC January 13, 2020) – A new study found that the three major network evening newscasts only gave the booming economy and U.S. trade nine minutes of coverage since the House Democrats’ impeachment push began on September 24, 2019.
The analysis found that from September 24, 2019 – January 1, 2020, out of 1,098 total minutes, ABC, CBS and NBC gave:
Specifics from the analysis found:
The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 1 in a piece headlined “The Bull Market is Charging into 2020,” that stocks across the globe “closed out one of their best years over the past decade, defying money managers who began 2019 expecting the bull market to be upended by threats from the U.S.-China trade fight and a slowdown in growth.” The Journal noted that unlike prior runs of this sort, “few see the rally ending soon.”
And CNBC reported Dec. 31, 2019 that “Goldman Sachs is saying the economy is nearly recession-proof.”
The Journal noted:
“Many investment banks forecast solid, if modest, gains for the coming year, citing central banks’ easy-money policies, a resilient U.S. economy and a breakthrough in Washington-Beijing trade talks.”
The MRC analysis made it clear that none of these developments were deemed nearly as newsworthy when matched up against the media-driven impeachment.
Consider other crucial economic developments from late in 2019 that received scant coverage next to impeachment.
The December 6, 2019 jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
It would appear that ABC, CBS and NBC were more concerned with pushing their liberal impeachment agenda than actually reporting news that affects jobs and the American people’s pocketbooks.
Adapted and excerpted from a report by Joseph Vazquez, MRC January 13, 2020. Senior Editor Rich Noyes and research analyst Bill D’Agostino contributed to this report.
1. What type of bias does this post highlight?
2. Why should the networks have spent significant time on the economy?
3. Why do you think producers at the “Big 3” networks chose not to run stories on the record-breaking economy that is a result of President Trump’s policies and agenda?