There appears to be some pronounced bias among the three major networks in the 72 hours before Donald Trump faced Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate.
“Going into Sunday night’s debate, ABC, CBS and NBC offered relentless coverage of the just-disclosed audio of Donald Trump in 2005 talking about his attempted sexual conquests, suggesting this could be the revelation that finally ends Trump’s campaign,” wrote Rich Noyes, research director for the media Research Center, a conservative press watchdog.
’But shortly after the Trump story broke, hacked e-mails [sic] gave political reporters a glimpse into the speech excerpts that Hillary Clinton’s campaign refused to disclose during her primary campaign against Bernie Sanders,” the analyst continued in his study of the coverage.
“The excerpts showed Clinton boasting in her speeches to big Wall Street banks that she had to present one set of policy views to the public, while keeping her private views to herself. The networks treated this as an afterthought.”
During the time period leading up to the debate, coverage of Mrs. Clinton’s email revelations was often just a few seconds.
“Add it all up, and from Friday night through Sunday night, the networks produced 103 minutes of coverage of the Trump tape and its potential effect on the race, Vs. just under eight minutes of coverage for Clinton’s scandal,” Mr. Noyes said.
He also drew a historic parallel.
“Those who might suggest that such a sleazy, lewd disclosure about someone who might be president deserves such massive coverage, consider this: In February 1994, former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones sued then-President Clinton for allegedly dropping his pants and instructing her to ’kiss it,’ ” Mr. Noyes added.
“That night, CBS and NBC skipped the news, while ABC gave it just a short 16 second brief.”
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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