Media Have Recently Scrutinized Trump’s Business Dealings, His Taxes, His Rhetoric About Women, And Women’s Allegations Of Sexual Assault

Media Have Reported Impropriety In Trump’s Finances, Business Dealings, Rhetoric About Women, And Behavior Toward Women. Media outlets in September and October have stepped up their reporting on aspects of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s finances and business interests and on allegations that he sexually assaulted multiple women. The investigative reports have included a Newsweek story on possible conflicts of interest Trump could face with his businesses if elected president, a New York Times report that Trump may not have paid federal income taxes for nearly two decades, multiple reports that Trump may have donated to government officials in order to get favors from them by improperly using his charity, and reports from The Associated Press and Los Angeles Times on Trump’s sexist behavior. The Washington Post also released footage of a 2005 tape showing Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women. Since then, multiple news outlets have reported on allegations from nine women that Trump sexually assaulted them. [Media Matters, 9/23/16, 10/7/16; CNN.com, 10/17/16]

In Response, Trump And His Campaign Claim Media Are “Rigging” The Election

Trump Claims The “Dishonest And Distorted Media” Are “Rigging The Election.” Trump tweeted on October 16 that the “election is being rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the [Democratic presidential nominee Hillary] Clinton campaign” and that the “dishonest and distorted media” are “pushing Crooked Hillary”:

Polls close, but can you believe I lost large numbers of women voters based on made up events THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Media rigging election!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016

Election is being rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened into news!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016

The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary - but also at many polling places - SAD

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016

[Twitter, 10/16/16, 10/16/16, 10/16/16]

Trump Surrogates Push Claim That Media Are Working For Clinton Against Trump. Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, said on NBC’s Meet The Press on October 16 that “the obvious bias in the national media” is “where the sense of a rigged election” comes from and that he and Trump will “work our hearts out against all odds, against most of you in the national media.” Trump ally Newt Gingrich that same day on ABC’s This Week claimed, “This election is being rigged by the national media who are doing everything they can to suppress bad news about Hillary, and everything they can to maximize bad news about Trump.” Another Trump adviser, Rudy Giuliani, claimed on CNN’s State of the Union that when Trump “talks about a rigged election,” “what he's talking about is that 80 to 85 percent of the media is against him.” [Media Matters, 10/16/16]

But Media, Particularly Television News, Initially Gave Trump Immense Positive Media Coverage ...

Report Found Trump Earned Nearly $2 Billion In Free Media Coverage. A March New York Times report found that Trump up to that point had “earned close to $2 billion worth of media attention.” From the March 15 report:

Mr. Trump earned $400 million worth of free media last month, about what John McCain spent on his entire 2008 presidential campaign. Paul Senatori, mediaQuant's chief analytics officer, says that Mr. Trump “has no weakness in any of the media segments” -- in other words, he is strong in every type of earned media, from television to Twitter.



Over the course of the campaign, he has earned close to $2 billion worth of media attention, about twice the all-in price of the most expensive presidential campaigns in history. It is also twice the estimated $746 million that Hillary Clinton, the next best at earning media, took in. Senator Bernie Sanders has earned more media than any of the Republicans except Mr. Trump. [The New York Times, 3/15/16]

Harvard Study: Trump Was Given Obsessive, But Positive, Coverage By Media. A June study by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy found that Trump “was lifted ... by an unprecedented amount of free media.” The study also found that much of Trump’s “coverage was positive in tone,” with the candidate receiving “far more ‘good press’ than ‘bad press,’” which often came “in the form of statements by voters who agreed with his policy positions or liked his personal style.” [Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center On Media, Politics And Public Policy, 6/13/16]

Veteran Political Reporters Criticized Press’ Initial Lack Of Scrutiny On Trump

Veteran Political Reporters Called Lack Of Trump Vetting “Bad Journalism.” In interviews with Media Matters in September, many veteran reporters and editors said the national press had not done enough to question Trump and follow up on major investigative pieces about him. Bill Kovach, former Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, said this failure constituted “bad journalism.” Former Meet the Press host Marvin Kalb said the media must do a better job following up on Trump, saying, “It absolutely should and it must, but it hasn’t and that to me is an illustration of the failure of the mainstream media in the United States, to treat him as they would any other candidate -- they treat him differently.” [Media Matters, 9/15/16]

Media Figures Did Not Apply Much Scrutiny Throughout  Much Of Trump’s Campaign

Cable Networks Buried Coverage Of Trump U. Document Release In Favor Of Trump Press Conference On Veterans. A Media Matters review found that cable news networks on May 31 devoted significantly more time to discussing a Trump press conference about millions of dollars in donations he said he raised for veterans groups than to the release of documents from Trump University, Trump’s now-defunct business that had been sued for fraud. The veterans event received more than five hours of coverage, compared to less than an hour for Trump University. [Media Matters, 5/31/16]

Almost Every Morning Show Ignored Reporting On Ties Between Trump’s Then-Campaign Chairman And Ukraine’s Pro-Russian Government. Every morning show on August 19, with the exception of CBS This Morning, ignored reports on work by Trump’s then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort in support of Ukraine’s previous pro-Russian government. Several print and digital outlets had reported that Manafort received potentially illegal payments, that he worked to influence U.S. opinion of the pro-Russian Ukrainian government, and that he helped set up protests against NATO troops including U.S. service members. Manafort resigned from the campaign later that day. [Media Matters, 8/19/16]

Broadcast News Ignored Abuse Accusations Against Trump Campaign CEO. Broadcast network news programs devoted only 39 seconds in late August to allegations that Stephen Bannon, the chairman of Breitbart News who took a leave of absence to serve as Trump's campaign CEO, engaged in domestic violence and workplace sexual harassment. By comparison, the networks devoted more than a half-hour of coverage to lewd behavior by Anthony Weiner, the husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin, and Abedin’s announcement that she was separating from Weiner. [Media Matters, 8/30/16]

Almost All Sunday Shows Ignored Lawbreaking From Trump Foundation. Every Sunday show host on September 4, with the exception of CBS’ John Dickerson, ignored a September 1 Washington Post report that Trump illegally gave a $2,500 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and was fined by the IRS as a result. [Media Matters, 9/4/16]

Broadcast Networks Covered Illegal Trump Donation Three Times Less Than A Flawed AP Clinton Foundation Story. A Media Matters study looking at the broadcast news networks ABC, CBS, and NBC’s morning, evening and Sunday news shows found that they devoted more than three times as much airtime to a flawed Associated Press report on meetings Clinton took with Clinton Foundation donors as secretary of state than to a Washington Post report about an illegal $25,000 Trump Foundation donation to Florida’s attorney general. In the two days after the AP report was published on August 23, the broadcast news networks devoted 19 minutes and 10 seconds to covering the AP report. The same networks devoted merely six minutes of coverage to Trump’s illegal donation. [Media Matters, 9/8/16]

Broadcast Networks Essentially Ignored Trump Foundation Story Until September Despite Reports Earlier That Year. A Media Matters study found that broadcast news almost completely ignored reporting about the illegalities of the Trump Foundation until September, even though The Washington Post originally reported on it back in March. [Media Matters, 9/6/16]

Cable Networks Devoted 13 Times As Much Coverage To Clinton’s Health As Trump Foundation’s Illegalities. Cable news networks spent less than an hour in total on September 12 discussing a Washington Post report that Trump retooled his charitable foundation to “spend other people’s money” and that the foundation had broken the law and IRS rules. In comparison, the cable networks spent more than 13 hours focusing on Clinton’s health following her falling ill at a 9/11 memorial event and receiving a diagnosis of pneumonia. [Media Matters, 9/13/16]

Broadcast Networks Buried Trump’s Alleged Illegalities In Favor Of Trump Going on Dr. Oz. Broadcast networks’ evening news shows on September 14 heavily covered Trump appearing on the Dr. Oz Show to supposedly review a result of his physical, giving it more than seven minutes of coverage. In comparison, reporting from The Washington Post that New York’s attorney general was looking into the Trump Foundation and a Newsweek report on how Trump’s business entanglements have often intersected with unfriendly foreign governments only received about three minutes of coverage combined. By September 15, coverage of Trump’s Oz apparence dwarfed coverage of the two reports. [Media Matters, 9/15/16]

Most Sunday Shows Ignored Foundation And Newsweek Reports. Most of the Sunday shows on September 18 ignored the Post and Newsweek Trump reports, with only NBC Meet The Press host Chuck Todd briefly alluding to the Newsweek report. [Media Matters, 9/18/16]

Most Sunday Shows Ignored News That Intelligence Officials Were Probing Russian Ties Of Trump Adviser. Almost every Sunday show except for CNN’s State of the Union ignored a Yahoo! News report that American intelligence officials were probing Russian government ties to a man named Carter Page, whom Trump had previously identified as a foreign policy adviser. [Media Matters, 9/25/16]