For two months prior to the first presidential debate, the networks’ evening news shows ignored news of "very weak" GDP growth in their broadcasts.
The Washington Examiner reported on Sept. 29, that the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a “relatively weak” 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 2016. CNBC noted on the same day that “The current expansion's pace is the weakest of any since 1949.”
That figure was a revision to an earlier estimate of 1.2 percent, which the Wall Street Journal reported as “disappointing” on July 29. On the day of the first release showing 1.2 percent growth, National Association of Realtors Lawrence Yun told the Journal the U.S. economy was “barely above water.” Chief Economist at Prestige Economics Jason Schenker also told the Journal that GDP growth was “very weak.”
Despite the fact that voters continually ranked the economy as their top priority this election cycle, ABC, CBS and NBC stayed silent about that bad economic news. From July 29, to Sept. 28, evening news shows ignored GDP growth estimates, but covered positive economic news and found time to gush over a Harry Potter book release.
The three networks have routinely neglected to report GDP estimates and ignored bad news about the Obama economy this election season. ABC, CBS and NBC ignored an even lower GDP growth rate estimate of 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2016 and for six straight months in 2012, skipped the nation’s declining GDP.
In the same two months leading up to the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the evening shows covered good economic news. Two of the three networks covered on Aug. 5, “good” July jobs numbers, and all three covered a Sept. 13, Census data for 2015 which showed rising median incomes and a drop in poverty rates. But a year earlier, when Census reported a high poverty rate and stagnant incomes (2014 data), the networks said little. Only CBS Evening News reported the news about stagnant incomes.
