Hillary Clinton’s e-mail controversy dropped by broadcasters, coverage down 93 percent

Some still wonder what happened to coverage of Hillary Clinton’s private email system during her tenure as Secretary of State. The story has virtually disappeared on the broadcast networks according to a new analysis which finds that the “e-mail scandal” garnered just under four minutes on ABC, CBS, NBC — about 30 seconds a day — during the week Mrs. Clinton announced her presidential intentions.

This contrasts to coverage when the news of the emails first broke in early March; the Big Three networks offered 125 minutes of airtime during the first two weeks of revelations, says Geoffrey Dickens, a Media Research Center analyst who did all the counting.

“Over the past five weeks, all three broadcast networks have essentially walked away,” he says, noting that the coverage has dropped by 93 percent. “Clinton’s official announcement caused some reporters to bring up the e-mail imbroglio but even then the bump was minor as it garnered just 5 minutes and 1 second of coverage.”

Questions linger, though. Mr. Dickens still wonders if the private server was “wiped clean,” whether a foreign nation hacked the contents and if the emails reflected incriminating evidence about the Benghazi investigation or Clinton Foundation donations.

“The networks have essentially discarded the story,” he says.