As actual voting is set to begin in the 2024 presidential election, a new study by the Media Research Center (MRC) finds the three broadcast evening newscasts’ fixation with bashing Donald Trump has meant both his fellow candidates and substantive policy issues have been shunted to the sidelines.
MRC analysts looked at all coverage of the Republican candidates on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts from January 1 through December 31, 2023, including weekends. Among the key findings:
■ In 2023, Trump received 1,192 minutes of evening news airtime, or 79% of all GOP candidate coverage. Top challengers Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley were far behind, with 166 and 35 minutes of airtime last year, respectively.
■ The networks trashed Trump with ferociously hostile coverage: 91% negative, vs. just 9% positive (scroll to read methodology). DeSantis and…
