Category: Election Watch

Anatomy of a Failure

Bottom line in the 2016 election: journalists missed the story. From start to finish serious journalists failed to grasp and report Donald Trump’s pull. CNN’s Christiane Amanpour put it this way: We have to accept that we’ve had our lunch handed to us… … The winning...

CBS’s Millennial Voter Q&A Misrepresents Generation

On Nov. 2 CBS aired a four-minute segment on millennial voters. CBS’s Elaine Quijano interviewed a group, aged 18-34, from 12 states, but the resulting package may not have adequately represented the most diverse and progressive generation in the country. The piece opened with a poll...

The Road to the Senate

With less than a week to Election Day, only NBC looked at the Senate power struggle and its effects on the new president’s ability to govern — or not. The network covered the races that could determine which party would control the Senate. The report noted...

NBC Prepares for Election with Cyberattack Story

With only five days left in the 2016 election, NBC aired an exclusive story about potential cyber threats on Election Day–setting it apart from ABC and CBS.     “According to multiple intelligence sources, U.S. officials are deeply concerned about, and preparing for, some sort of cyber-chaos...

ABC: The Network That Cried ‘Bombshell’

In its Oct. 28 broadcast ABC characterized FBI Director James Comey’s original letter to Congress as a game-changing stunner — a “bombshell” that could alter the course of the race with just 11 days to go. Covering the Clinton campaign’s reaction, ABC’s Cecelia Vega said the...