Broadcast Networks Use Lopsided Negative Coverage to Suppress Conservative Turnout and Help Democrats
Source: M.D. Kittle. "Corporate Networks Flood Airwaves With Coverage Bashing GOP." October 29, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author says the big three TV networks spent about three times as much airtime on bad news about Republicans as about Democrats in the weeks before the election, while skipping Democratic scandals. He concludes this is a deliberate effort to discourage conservative voters and help Democrats win.
Conclusion
ABC, NBC, and CBS are deliberately running biased campaign coverage, heavy on negative stories about Republicans and light on Democratic scandals, to suppress conservative turnout and help Democrats win the 2026 midterms.
Premises
- A NewsBusters study of the ABC, NBC, and CBS nightly newscasts from Sept. 28 to Oct. 26 found about 56 minutes of negative coverage of Republican campaigns versus under 19 minutes for Democrats, a ratio of roughly three to one.
- The networks have downplayed or ignored scandals and gaffes involving Democratic candidates, such as Abdul El-Sayed's alleged Muslim Brotherhood ties, Peggy Flanagan's connections to fraud cases and grade inflation, and Xavier Becerra's embellished family background.
- Interviewers and reporters treated Democratic and Republican candidates differently. Kristen Welker and ABC News let El-Sayed's denials stand while outlets attacked Mike Rogers' performance, and NBC's post about Lubbock crowds distorted the relative size of the Trump and Talarico rallies.
- CBS News remains left-leaning despite Bari Weiss's leadership, as shown by its 60 Minutes segment on noncitizen voting and its omission of a deported immigrant's alleged fraud in the 'Fake & Gay' story.
- Media analyst Geoffrey Dickens says the pattern of coverage promotes excitement among leftist voters and depression among conservative voters.
Assumptions
- The ratio of negative minutes is a valid measure of bias, which requires that Republican and Democratic candidates generated comparable amounts of legitimately negative newsworthy material.
- NewsBusters, as part of the conservative Media Research Center, classified 'negative' coverage in a neutral and reliable way.
- The disparity in coverage results from partisan intent rather than from newsworthiness, incumbency, or the editorial judgments of individual outlets.
- The selected anecdotes (El-Sayed, Flanagan, Becerra, Lubbock) are representative of overall network behavior.
- Negative coverage actually depresses conservative turnout and boosts Democratic enthusiasm.
- Network nightly newscasts are a major enough source of campaign news to influence election outcomes.