Former President Donald Trump was arraigned for the third time on Thursday and the cable networks of MSNBC and CNN once again obsessed over the matter to the detriment of coverage of any other topic.
A study of the two networks from 5:00 a.m. Eastern to midnight Eastern on MSNBC and from 6:00 a.m. Eastern to midnight on CNN found that 91.32 percent of their news-related coverage focused on Trump’s alignment, other legal problems, or reaction and analysis. The networks combined for 26 hours, 48 minutes, and 23 seconds of news coverage on Thursday, 24 hours, 28 minutes, and 50 seconds of which was devoted to all things Trump. This marks yet another instance of CNN and MSNBC spending over 90 percent of their day on a Trump arraignment.
Joe and Hunter Biden’s scandals received only 13 minutes and 59 seconds. Put another way, Trump’s problems got 105 more times the coverage than the Bidens’ or 1 percent of the total time.
MSNBC spent 13 hours, 45 minutes, and 26 seconds discussing news on Thursday, 12 hours, 48 minutes, and 25 seconds of which was about Trump or 93.09 percent. Hunter Biden-related coverage was MSNBC’s second most popular topic for the day at 11 minutes and 56 seconds or 1.5 percent. All told, Trump got 64 times the coverage of the Biden scandals. However, that coverage was mostly negative toward Republicans (such as here).
Meanwhile, CNN spent 13 hours, two minutes, and 57 seconds discussing the news, including 11 hours, 40 minutes, and 25 seconds on Trump or 89.45 percent. Joe and Hunter Biden represented the ninth most discussed item on CNN at two minutes and seconds or 0.3 percent of the total time or 342 fewer times the coverage of Trump. Topics that got more coverage than the Bidens on CNN included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire’s separation (4 minutes and 35 seconds) and a lawsuit against Lizzo (9 minutes, 53 seconds).
A combined breakdown of the two network’s time is below:
1. Trump Coverage: 24 hours, 28 minutes, 50 seconds
2. Biden Polling Data: 28 minutes, 33 seconds
3. Fitch Downgrades U.S. credit rating: 15 minutes, 7 seconds
4. Joe and Hunter Biden: 13 minutes, 59 seconds
5. War in Ukraine: 10 minutes, 33 seconds
6. Lizzo Lawsuit: 9 minutes, 53 seconds
7. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes Interview: 9 minutes
8. Tree of Life Synagogue Shooter Sentenced To Death: 7 minutes, 44 seconds
9. Border Stories: 6 minutes, 17 seconds
10. Report on Wife of Gilgo Beach Serial Killer: 5 minutes, 43 seconds
11. Obama-Biden Meeting: 3 minutes, 36 seconds
12. Woman Escapes Cinder Block Dungeon in Oregon, FBI Looking For Victims: 5 minutes, 12 seconds
13. Trudeau-Gregoire Separation: 4 minutes, 35 seconds
14. Bill On Online Safety: 4 minutes, 27 seconds
15. Stock Market: 3 minutes, 36 seconds
16. Travis King Report 2 minutes, 19 seconds
17. MLB News: 2 minutes, 1 second
18. Somalia Sprinter Scandal: 1 minute, 33 seconds
19. Weather: 1 minute, 16 seconds
20. Actors and Writers Strikes: 55 seconds
21. SCOTUS-Ethics Issues: 43 Seconds
22. “In God We Trust” In Louisiana Schools: 25 seconds
23. American Woman Arrested In The Bahamas For Conspiring To Kill Husband: 19 seconds
Notes and Methodology: Study did not include CNN’s Early Start in the 5:00 a.m. Eastern hour due to a name change due to Christine Romans's departure that was not accounted for in NewsBusters’ recording systems.
Coverage of Trump was defined as anything related to the case itself, legal procedures, reactions and interviews from politicians, speculation on the case’s impact on the 2024 Primary, or Trump’s other legal predicaments.
Coverage of Joe and Hunter Biden was defined as anything segment where the purpose was to discuss the controversies surrounding the duo. Discussions on Biden’s poll numbers and recent meeting with former President Barack Obama are counted separately.
