Big three broadcast news programs largely failed to cover Trump’s boasts during a town hall about getting Roe v. Wade overturned. During a January 10 Iowa town hall hosted by Fox News, Donald Trump bragged about his role in ending federal protections for legal abortion care, proclaiming, “For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated, and I did it. And I'm proud to have done it.” Trump’s comment garnered just a single mention among the flagship morning and evening news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC. [Media Matters, 1/12/24]

Corporate broadcast evening news spent only 2 minutes covering the Senate GOP blocking nationwide access to contraception. On June 5, Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have protected nationwide access to contraception. From June 5 through June 7, corporate broadcast nightly news and morning shows almost completely ignored the vote, with NBC Nightly News being the sole program to cover it. [Media Matters, 6/7/24]

Broadcast news failed to cover the infant mortality spike that followed Texas’ anti-abortion law. The flagship morning, evening, and Sunday news programs from the major broadcast networks failed to report on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association linking “increases in infant and neonatal mortality” to the enactment of Texas' Heartbeat Act in late 2022. From when JAMA Pediatrics published its study on June 24 through June 30, 2024, ABC’s Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and This Week; CBS’ Mornings, Evening News, and Face the Nation; and NBC’s Today, Nightly News, and Meet the Press each failed to mention the study or its findings. [Media Matters, 7/3/24]

Broadcast networks ignored ProPublica's reporting on the fatal consequences of Georgia's abortion ban. From September 16 through September 19, flagship morning and evening news programs from the major corporate broadcast news networks failed to cover breaking news first reported by ProPublica that at least two Georgia women had died due, in part, to restrictive laws stemming from the state's six-week abortion ban. [Media Matters, 9/19/24]

Broadcast evening news economic programming overwhelmingly focused on inflation and stock market updates to the detriment of nearly every other economic indicator. Media Matters analyses of six months of economic news coverage from corporate broadcast evening news revealed a lack of in-depth coverage across an array of economic policy areas from January through June 2024. The only macroeconomic trend to draw any consistent focus was inflation, which stabilized over the first half of 2024 after experiencing a temporary spike that peaked in mid-2022. Viewers of corporate broadcast news programs often went several days without a single substantive discussion of the economy, while viewers of the PBS News Hour were consistently offered a more detailed perspective. [Media Matters, 4/25/24, 10/3/24]

Broadcast news failed to report that some Trump advisers were planning to intentionally devalue the U.S. dollar and accelerate inflation if Trump is re-elected. Broadcast television news failed to mention news from Politico that some Trump economic advisers were planning to intentionally devalue the U.S. dollar if he is re-elected. The plan, intended to reduce America's trade deficit, would worsen inflation by making imports more expensive. ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS’ Evening News and Weekend News, NBC’s Nightly News, and PBS’ News Hour all failed to report on Trump’s dollar devaluation plan between April 15, when Politico first reported the story, and April 29. The lack of attention to this inflationary policy proposal was striking given the amount of attention inflation received from the same news outlets, which frequently framed inflation as a major political liability for the Biden administration and a potential strength for Trump's re-election efforts. [Media Matters, 4/30/24]

Broadcast networks largely neglected to mention data showing that 2023 was the hottest year on record. From January 9, 2024, when the Copernicus Climate Change Service announced 2023 as the hottest year on record, through January 10, 2024, ABC was the only corporate broadcast network to cover the news that 2023 had been designated the hottest year on record during its flagship morning or evening news programs, airing approximately 30 seconds across 1 segment. Neither CBS nor NBC covered the finding. [Media Matters, 1/11/24]

Corporate broadcast news mostly failed to mention climate change in coverage of record flooding in Texas and the South. Media Matters found that corporate broadcast news networks largely failed to connect flooding events in Texas and the South to climate change. From January 24, 2024, when a state of emergency was declared in southeast Texas, through January 25, 2024, corporate broadcast outlets aired 26 minutes of combined coverage across 21 segments about the destructive flooding impacting millions of Americans. Only 3 of those segments connected the extreme weather to climate change. On NBC’s Today, 2 weather segments made the connection, while 1 segment that aired on CBS’ Evening News did. None of ABC’s coverage linked the flooding to climate change. [Media Matters, 1/26/24]

Broadcast news failed to link climate change to historic flooding events in California. Corporate broadcast news networks largely failed to connect a series of storms that wreaked havoc in California and other parts of the western U.S. to climate change. From February 5, when a second atmospheric river hit California, through February 6, the flagship morning and evening corporate broadcast news programs aired a combined 30 segments on the California storms but only one segment mentioned climate change. [Media Matters, 2/8/24]

Broadcast news failed to draw the connection between climate change and historic Texas wildfires. From February 27, when a state of emergency was declared for 60 counties in the Texas Panhandle, through March 4, flagship morning and evening corporate broadcast news programs aired a combined 49 segments on the wildfires. None of them mentioned climate change. [Media Matters, 3/6/24]

Broadcast news barely covered Trump's scandalous quid pro quo with top oil industry executives. On May 9, The Washington Post published an exclusive story about former President Donald Trump promising to reverse President Joe Biden's actions on climate change as he asked oil executives to raise $1 billion for his presidential campaign, assuring them that they'd be getting a “deal” due to the “taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him.” The story enjoyed a glut of print coverage and significant discussion from MSNBC, but went unmentioned on the flagship morning, evening, and Sunday news programs from the major broadcast networks in the first days after the story broke. Over the next month, corporate broadcast morning, evening, and Sunday news programs aired a mere 4 minutes of combined coverage — CBS aired 3 minutes, while ABC aired the remaining 1 minute. NBC failed to cover the story at all during the study period. [Media Matters, 5/14/24, 6/10/24]

Broadcast news failed to link extreme storms and record heat waves to climate change. A series of devastating extreme weather events were witnessed across the country over Memorial Day weekend. In a review of coverage of these concurrent extreme weather events from May 23, when national news began reporting on the upcoming weekend weather, through May 30, Media Matters found corporate broadcast networks aired a combined 93 minutes across 66 segments about extreme weather events with no significant mentions of climate change. As the heat wave stretched on into June, the same news programs largely ignored the climate connection in their coverage of the extreme weather. From June 4 to June 6, the networks aired a combined 54 minutes across 43 segments about the extreme heat event. Climate change was mentioned in 7 segments. [Media Matters, 6/4/24, 6/12/24]

Broadcast news failed to adequately connect rapid intensification of Hurricane Beryl to climate change. The first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Beryl, rapidly intensified to a deadly Category 5 storm before making landfall in the Caribbean on July 2, then intensified again over the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in Texas on July 8. The storm's exceptional development and destructive path received extensive media coverage, but national TV news largely failed to connect the storm to climate change. Morning and evening corporate broadcast news programs aired a combined 181 minutes across 109 segments about Hurricane Beryl, with just 6 mentioning climate change. [Media Matters, 7/11/24]

Extensive summer wildfires in the Western United States and Canada were rarely connected to climate change. As dozens of wildfires ravaged the Western United States and parts of Canada this July, a Media Matters review found that while national TV news extensively covered the wildfires, corporate broadcast and cable news shows rarely connected them to climate change. From July 24 through July 28, only a single segment on the fires referenced climate change, airing during the July 27 episode of CBS Saturday Morning. [Media Matters, 7/31/24]

The historic devastation from Hurricane Helene was rarely linked to climate change. One of the most destructive storms in American history, Hurricane Helene cut a swath through the southeastern United States, bringing damaging winds and torrential rains deep inland after making landfall on September 26. Despite the storm's unusual strength and climate links, national TV news coverage largely failed to connect Helene to climate change. This coverage gap exemplified how TV news continually sidelines climate change reporting, even as extreme weather events harm increasing numbers of American lives. From September 25 to September 27, morning and evening corporate broadcast news programs aired a combined 2 hours and 16 minutes across 73 segments about the storm. ABC and NBC had 2 climate mentions apiece. CBS did not mention climate change in connection with the storm. [Media Matters, 10/1/24]

Hurricane Milton spurred broadcast news programs to cover climate change, but with much room for improvement. A Media Matters review of national TV news coverage of Hurricane Milton from October 7 through October 11 found that corporate broadcast networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — aired a combined 5 hours and 56 minutes across 147 segments about the storm, with 7 distinct mentions of the relationship between climate change and increasingly powerful hurricanes. There was a notable improvement in how some networks connected Hurricane Milton to broader climate science, though the overall proportion of climate mentions remained low. Climate advocates have long emphasized the need for news media to draw these connections explicitly. [Media Matters, 10/16/24]

Broadcast news ignored JD Vance’s promise to gut Affordable Care Act protections for millions with preexisting conditions. On September 15, vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) unveiled the Trump-Vance campaign’s plan to gut the Affordable Care Act’s protections for Americans with preexisting medical conditions. From September 16, the day after Vance made the comments, to September 30, the day before the vice presidential debate on CBS, Media Matters found that morning news, evening news, and weekend political news programming on ABC, CBS, and NBC failed to cover his proposal or what such a shake up would mean for millions of Americans. [Media Matters, 10/1/24]

Corporate broadcast news dropped the ball in covering Kamala Harris' proposed Medicare expansion. On October 8, evening news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC failed to mention Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris’ announcement of her plan earlier that day to expand Medicare to pay for long term in-home care costs for seniors. Among broadcast news programs, only PBS’ News Hour gave the Medicare expansion proposal coverage. The striking disparity between the quality of PBS' coverage and that of its corporate broadcast competitors reflects trends Media Matters has previously reported in quarterly assessments of economic news coverage. [Media Matters 10/9/24]

Kamala Harris’ proposal to expand Medicare garnered just 35 seconds of coverage over two weeks. The major corporate broadcast news networks — ABC, CBS, NBC — largely ignored Vice President Kamala Harris' proposal to expand Medicare to pay for long-term, in-home care services for seniors in the two weeks after her announcement. ABC, where Harris broke the news on an episode of The View, otherwise made only passing mention of the proposal, as did NBC, while CBS ignored it entirely. All told, this transformative expansion of Medicare — which could affect roughly 15 million seniors –– garnered just 35 seconds of combined airtime across the three broadcast networks in two weeks. [Media Matters, 10/23/24]

Broadcast news shows largely ignored Trump’s extreme policy proposal. Broadcast morning, evening, and Sunday news programs failed to adequately cover Trump’s severe and unpopular mass deportation plans. Though Trump regularly referenced his mass deportation plans, broadcast news shows aired only 2 segments about the plan over a five month period. From September 20, 2023, when Trump laid out his mass deportation plan during a rally in Dubuque, Iowa, through February 25, 2024, broadcast news shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC spent just over 4 minutes covering the plan. The only full report on the plan came from NBC's Today. There was a back and forth about the plan on CBS’ Face the Nation when anchor Margaret Brennan asked a question about the recent bipartisan border policy bill’s effect on the plan to Sen. James Lankford (R-OK). ABC did not air a full segment about Trump's plan, offering only two short mentions in segments on related topics. [Media Matters, 2/26/24]

Broadcast news programs failed to contextualize unconstitutional provisions at the heart of Texas' immigration law. National broadcast coverage of Texas' Senate Bill 4 failed to provide context about unconstitutional racial profiling provisions at the heart of the supposedly immigration-focused law. While each of the evening broadcast programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC discussed the legal battle over implementation of SB4, they largely failed to provide viewers with sufficient information about how the law could embolden unconstitutional racial profiling, empower state officials to engage in mass deportations, and potentially interrupt asylum claims for individuals crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. [Media Matters, 3/21/24]

Broadcast news programs largely ignored Trump's mass deportation plan despite the RNC's immigration focus. During the third night of the 2024 Republican National Convention, speakers celebrated Trump's deportation promise, with “Mass Deportation Now” signs handed out to the crowd, highlighting hardline immigration measures as a critical issue for the GOP platform. Yet broadcast news networks barely covered the deportation plan during and right after the convention. From July 15, when the Republican National Convention began, through July 22, 2024, the broadcast shows ABC's Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and This Week; CBS' Mornings, Evening News, and Face the Nation; and NBC's Today, Nightly News, and Meet the Press each seemingly failed to air any segments focused on the mass deportation plan. [Media Matters, 7/24/24]

Broadcast evening news ignored a report showing Trump’s policies would hasten Social Security insolvency. On October 21, national broadcast evening news shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC all failed to mention a report from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget showing that Trump’s campaign proposals would “dramatically worsen Social Security’s finances” and accelerate depletion of the Social Security Trust Fund. [Media Matters, 10/22/24]

Broadcast news programs neglected the “large, potentially historic, decrease in crime” nationwide. From December 4, 2023, when the FBI released a report highlighting the downward national trend in almost all types of crime, through January 4, 2024, flagship morning, evening, and Sunday news programs on ABC, CBS, and NBC largely neglected to cover the development, spending only 3 minutes in total covering the historic downward national trend in crime. ABC programming completely ignored the national decrease in crime, while CBS shows mentioned it twice for a total of 34 seconds. NBC programming dedicated the most time of any of the broadcast channels, but still had only one 2-minute correspondent report and a couple of mentions of the trend for a total of 2 and a half minutes. [Media Matters, 1/5/24]