Senator Bob Menendez arrives to face trial for federal corruption charges with his children Alicia Menendez and Robert Melendez, Jr. at United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey, September 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney
After 62 days, the evening news shows of ABC, CBS and NBC have not given any coverage to the trial of sitting U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.
The jury could return a verdict Wednesday on whether or not Menendez is guilty of corruption and bribery in a case that alleged he accepted lavish gifts in exchange for lobbying for his friend’s political interests. The Democrat from New Jersey has already missed a number of Senate votes while he has been on trial, and if convicted, could be removed from the Senate entirely.
But according to the Media Research Center, “ABC World News Tonight,” “CBS Evening News,” and “NBC Nightly News” haven’t found the story important enough to cover. NBC’s “Today” has also skipped the entirety of the trial.
The evening news shows clock 23 million viewers on average each night.
Meanwhile, CNN has only been able to dedicate 36 minutes of their 24/7 broadcast to the trial, even though they have had 62 days to cover it. More than two-fifths of the coverage–just short of fifteen minutes–was done by anchor Jake Tapper.
