The broadcast networks' obsession with all things Russia continues: Over the last ten days (July 9 to July 18, including weekends), the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts have devoted nearly two hours (114 minutes) to the ongoing probe of potential 2016 collusion -- far more airtime than they devoted to any other political topic.
Over those same 10 days, the networks spent just 42 minutes talking about the Senate health care bill, even as that legislation collapsed due to a lack of support from a handful of GOP Senators.
On July 14, the stock market reached another record high, the 25th of the year. None of the evening newscasts even bothered to note that positive economic news.
The defeat of ISIS in Mosul, a key victory in the war against terrorism, drew only 13 minutes of coverage over this period. The successful elimination of the ISIS leader in Afghanistan, Abu Sayed, was announced by the Pentagon on July 14, but has yet to be mentioned on any of the three evening newscasts.
On July 10, The Washington Post noted that federal prosecutors and the FBI are "accelerating" their investigation into Jane Sanders, wife of socialist Senator (and media darling) Bernie Sanders, looking into her activities as head of Burlington College in Vermont. There hasn't been a single mention of the investigation into Mrs. Sanders on any of the three network evening newscasts, period.
Other important news was also being crowded out. On July 17, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs took an important step in cleaning up the VA, firing the top two officials from New Hampshire's veterans' hospital. Evening news coverage: None.
