ABC, CBS, and NBC's Friday evening newscasts all barely mentioned former Texas Governor Rick Perry suspending his second bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Altogether, ABC's World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News set aside 54 seconds to Perry's announcement. By contrast, the Big Three news programs devoted 6 minutes and 11 seconds to Vice President Joe Biden's Thursday appearance on CBS's Late Show. NBC's Peter Alexander touted how Biden was still "riding a wave of emotion" after his son Beau's death in May 2015.
Peter Alexander
By Jeffrey Meyer | September 6, 2015 | 8:42 AM EDT
Appearing on Sunday’s Today, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd conceded that President Obama obtaining the 34 Senate votes to sustain a presidential veto on the Iran deal was not a victory but rather “about avoiding defeat. It’s surviving.” NBC’s Peter Alexander surprisingly framed the Iran vote not as a victory for the White House and actually wondered “is this a victory or is it more that he’s just avoiding defeat here?”
By Jeffrey Meyer | September 3, 2015 | 10:43 AM EDT
After Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland became just the 34th supporter in the Senate of the Iran deal, the “Big Three” networks all cheered the impeding vote as a major “victory” for the president while offering up zero soundbites from the majority of Congress and public who oppose the deal.
By Kyle Drennen | August 26, 2015 | 12:28 PM EDT
At the top of Wednesday’s NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer described how Univision anchor Jorge Ramos was “kicked out of a Donald Trump news conference” on Tuesday and wondered: “Can Trump’s confrontational style carry him all the way to the White House or will it wear thin with voters?” Peter Alexander proclaimed: “To be clear, Jorge Ramos is the most powerful newsman in Spanish-language TV. He's often called the Walter Cronkite of Latino America.”
NBC Oozes That Biden Rumors Have ‘Electrified the Political World’; ABC Skips Hillary’s E-Mail Scandal
By Curtis Houck | August 24, 2015 | 9:38 PM EDT NBC Nightly News continued on Monday to sing the accolades of Vice President Joe Biden amid rumors of a possible 2016 presidential run, declaring that he’s “electrified the political world” as he met with “liberal icon Elizabeth Warren,” while ABC’s World News Tonight ignored declared candidate Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal. NBC's Peter Alexander began his report by gushing: “Talk about a full plate. Two not so secret lunches in three days for Joe Biden. First with liberal icon Elizabeth Warren.”
By Kyle Drennen | August 24, 2015 | 11:40 AM EDT
On Monday, all three network morning shows gushed over Vice President Joe Biden meeting with left-wing Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren over the weekend, with hosts and correspondents excited by the prospect of a Biden-Warren ticket in 2016. On NBC’s Today, correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: “This is the story electrifying the political world, especially for Democrats...”
By Curtis Houck | August 6, 2015 | 8:36 PM EDT
On Thursday’s network evening programs, ABC’s World News Tonight was the only newscast to make no mention of the 5:00 p.m. EDT debate between the bottom seven Republican presidential contenders ahead of the 9:00 p.m. EDT event featuring the top ten candidates. In addition, the CBS Evening News skipped Carly Fiorina’s attack on fellow candidate Donald Trump for his phone call with Bill Clinton.
NBC Hypes Hillary ‘Firing Back’ at Jeb Bush Over ‘Women’s Health’ Comments; ‘She’s Got an Issue’ Now
By Curtis Houck | August 4, 2015 | 10:00 PM EDT NBC Nightly News seized Tuesday on Jeb Bush’s comments concerning women’s health that “may have ignited a new flashpoint in the race for president” and instead of focusing on the Planned Parenthood baby parts scandal, the network gushed over Hillary Clinton “firing back” and “blasting” Bush for his word choice after the Democratic candidate had “been so much on the defensive.”
By Curtis Houck | July 27, 2015 | 9:51 PM EDT
The “big three” networks of ABC, CBS and NBC gleefully promoted on Monday evening President Obama’s “scolding” of 2016 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee over his criticism of the Iran deal and his “scathing words” for the GOP field as candidates “are trying to out-trump [Donald] Trump.” Not surprisingly, the networks also sided with then-candidate Obama on May 15, 2008 when the same three networks chided then-President George W. Bush and fellow Republicans for a “two-pronged Republican attack” on Obama.
By Curtis Houck | July 22, 2015 | 9:51 PM EDT
On Wednesday night, major broadcast networks CBS and NBC showed no interest in shedding light on the findings of new Quinnipiac poll that found Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s honest and trustworthy ratings are continuing to fall and she trails three possible GOP opponents in three battleground states. While the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News focused exclusively on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, ABC’s World News Tonight made time to report on both Trump and Clinton.
By Kyle Drennen | July 22, 2015 | 12:06 PM EDT
On Wednesday, all three network morning shows proclaimed that Donald Trump was making it “nearly impossible” for any other 2016 Republican candidates to get any media attention. On NBC’s Today, co-host Matt Lauer declared: “Donald Trump remains the talk of the presidential race with some new antics on the campaign trail. And it's making it hard for any of the fifteen other Republicans to get any attention...”
TV News Priorities: 31 Stories on Trump ‘Rapists’ Remark; Just 4 Stories on '99 Clinton Rape Accusation
By Rich Noyes | July 16, 2015 | 9:29 AM EDT Since Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign exactly one month ago on June 16, ABC, CBS and NBC have aired a combined 31 evening news stories discussing his comment about illegal Mexican immigrants: “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” When then-President Bill Clinton was accused of rape, those same newscasts aired just four stories mentioning those charges during a 12-month period from March 1998 through March 1999.