Is the GOP campaign coverage in 2023 turning out a lot like 2015? Is Trump dominating the Republican race in the media? A new MRC evening-news study by Rich Noyes found that Trump’s share of Republican media coverage is twice as big a share of the overall percentage as the last time the primary was open eight years ago.
Donald Trump swamps the field with 664 minutes. At this point in 2015, Trump had amassed 116 minutes of coverage. In other words, the media are nearly six times more obsessed with him now than 8 years ago. Trump was given 37 percent of the coverage in first seven months of 2015, and 74 percent in the same period in 2023.
Trump’s coverage was 90 percent negative, and Ron DeSantis stories were 78 percent negative. Coverage of the Republicans was dominated by Trump’s four indictments and the E. Jean Carroll charge of department-store rape. Issues barely surfaced. Rich contends that covering issues would mean the networks would have to air soundbites of Republicans attacking Biden policies. They have no interest in those soundbites.
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