The three mainstream media networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — chose to dedicate less than five minutes covering questionable donations to The Clinton Foundation, focusing instead on decades-old scandals surrounding presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.
“A review of the Big Three (ABC, CBS, NBC) evening and morning programs from January 1 through May 20 shows only a total of 4 minutes and 24 seconds was devoted to the ‘charity fraud,” the Media Research Center reports. “In contrast, a decades-old controversy of Donald Trump pretending to be his own publicist garnered eight times more coverage (38 minutes and 2 seconds) in just four days (May 13-16).”
Following a Wall Street Journal report about the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), which set up “a financial commitment that benefitted a for-profit company part-owned by people with ties to the Clintons,” and a whistle-blower who called The Clinton Foundation a “charity fraud,” the Media Research Center tallied how many minutes ABC, CBS and NBC spent covering this development.
ABC chose to ignore the story. ABC is also home to George Stephanopoulos, a Clinton Foundation donor.
CBS devoted one minute and 11 seconds to coverage focusing on The Clinton Foundation. NBC reportedly spent the most time, three minutes and thirty seconds, according to the Media Research Center.
A day after the Wall Street Journal report, the Washington Post published a story about Trump promoting himself to the media using an alias decades ago.
NBC spent 19 minutes and 27 seconds covering Trump’s decades-old publicity stunt, and ABC spent 11 minutes and 54 seconds, according to the Media Research Center study. CBS spent six minutes and 41 seconds on the story.
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