Major corporate media networks are attempting to interfere more heavily in the 2024 presidential election than in past races. According to data from the Media Research Center (MRC), broadcast news coverage of President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris‘s respect campaigns has been almost entirely favorable for the latter and negative for the former.
“Since July, ABC, CBS, and NBC have treated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris to 78 percent positive coverage, while these same networks have pummeled former Republican President Donald Trump with 85 percent negative coverage,” MRC says regarding their findings. The group notes their analysis is based on “explicitly evaluative statements about each candidate from either reporters, anchors or non-partisan sources such as experts or voters.”
The media watchdog group adds: “The difference in coverage between the two candidates is far greater than in 2016 when both Trump and then-challenger Hillary Clinton received mostly negative coverage (91 percent negative for Trump, vs. 79 percent negative for Clinton). It’s even greater than in 2020, when Joe Biden was treated to 66 percent positive coverage, vs. 92 percent negative for Trump.”
MRC’s analysis shows that since July, news coverage—mainly from ABC, NBC, and CBS—has included 230 minutes of negative stories about Trump and various allegations made against the former Republican president. Conversely, the networks have provided only minimal coverage of any controversies regarding Harris.
In fact, MRC found that 31 percent of network news airtime has been focused on negative stories regarding personal controversies. Meanwhile, just five percent of airtime was dedicated to similar topics regarding Harris.
The two most covered issues regarding Trump were the January 6 Capitol riots and allegations leveled by Harris—and other top Democrats—accusing Trump of being a “fascist” and “a danger to democracy.”