In the final weeks of the presidential campaign, major newspapers are giving former President Donald Trump’s federal criminal indictment for alleged crimes related to the January 6 insurrection a fraction of the coverage they gave former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server in 2016, according to a new Media Matters study. Media Matters reviewed print coverage in five newspapers — Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post — for stories mentioning Trump’s indictment in the week following U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s October 2 unsealing of special counsel Jack Smith’s latest filing, which reveals damning new evidence of the former president’s alleged crimes.  We found the papers ran 26 combined articles mentioning Trump’s indictment in the week after the unsealing of Smith’s filing. But those same papers published 100 combined articles — nearly 4 times as many — that mentioned Clinton’s server in the week after then-FBI Director James Comey’s notorious October 28, 2016, letter on new developments in that probe, as we documented in a 2016 study. The papers ran more than 6 times as many combined front-page stories that mentioned Clinton’s server (46) as they did front-page stories that mentioned Trump’s indictment (7) over those periods. Obsessive news media focus on Clinton’s server in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign helped Trump to victory, even as Comey ultimately reconfirmed that no charges were appropriate in the case. But eight years later, with one presidential candidate facing active prosecution for federal charges related to his attempt to subvert an election, outlets are making different choices.
      • Optional
        0•20 hours ago

        There are no records that any of the executives referred to in the post donated directly to Trump’s presidential campaigns.

        Are there records that all of the executives referred to in the post donated to a PAC or a SuperPAC that funnels millions to trump?

        No. There aren’t any PAC donation records because SCROTUS legalized dark money. Of course we could argue about it, OR just look at the editorial slants and take this obvious fact at face value. Or assume the opposite in the ironic attempt to fight misinformation.

        In 2016 CBS Chairman Les Moonvees, before being removed for sexual harassment, said, “trump may not be good for America, but he’s great for CBS!” - and that was to a crowded room of employees and investors. Did he donate the maximum $2500 to trump as well? I say it’s a moot point.

        • @pjwestin
          1•6 hours ago

          OK, so what you’re saying is that you know there’s no evidence to back up your claims, but you’re assuming they’re true based on your opinion of these outlets editorial decisions, and you’d like your opinion to be treated as a fact. Did I get that right?

          • Optional
            -1•3 hours ago

            No, you did not get that right.

            What I’m saying is, I’ll accept the fact-check that there is no record of them personally donating to the trump campaign directly, and that’s sufficient to remove the image.

            HOWEVER, everyone needs to be very clear there are a myriad of ways the wealthy can “donate” to campaigns because of Citizens United, and that the media outlets in question have a long and verifiable history of not reporting damaging news or editorial slants against trump which in many ways is more valuable than $2500 in cash.

            SUCH THAT the idea that these CEO’s are not “donating” to trump because they didn’t give the legally required name for a direct campaign donation is laughable. HA!

            • @pjwestin
              1•3 hours ago

              There aren’t any PAC donation records because SCROTUS legalized dark money. Of course we could argue about it, OR just look at the editorial slants and take this obvious fact at face value.

              Maybe you should clarify what the, “obvious fact,” was that we should take at face value. Because based on the context, it really sounds like you wanted us to accept your debunked infographic as fact.

    • @[email protected]OP
      8•1 day ago

      I actually did lookups for the CEOs of a couple of these on opensecrets.org and couldn’t find any monetary donations for the current NYT CEO or CNN CEO. Doesn’t mean they’re not trying to get Trump elected, but it’s not by donating to his campaign.