This Trial Could Remove a Senator: You’ll Believe What CNN Did Next

The ongoing trial of Sen. Bob Menendez involves a multi-million dollar bribery and corruption scandal and sordid details aplenty. The trial’s outcome could fundamentally alter the political makeup of the U.S. Senate. In a deeply divided congress where every vote counts—Republicans are frantically trying to persuade their colleague from Alaska to support the latest version of a healthcare reform bill—one would think this trial would matter to members of the media.

Think again.

To his credit, CNN’s Jake Tapper has been doing most of the heavy lifting on the Menendez trial: two-thirds of the network’s coverage occurred during his show. In addition, the network’s website has run numerous articlescovering the trial at length. But why isn’t this coverage making it onto TV?

Mike Ciandella of NewsBusters noted earlier this week that morning and evening news coverage on the three big news networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) has been even sparser than cable news counterparts:

Broadcast network morning and evening news coverage of the trial has been even sparser than CNN’s. NBC’s Today, and all three broadcast evening news shows (ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News) have yet to even mention the trial. So far, ABC’s Good Morning America has run just a single story on September 13 (1 minute, 48 seconds), while CBS This Morning has only provided a news brief on September 6 (22 seconds).

An updated study from MRC revealed the numbers have not changed.

If Sen. Menendez is found guilty and vacates his Senate seat, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could pick a Republican successor, which would alter the political makeup of the U.S. Senate to 53 Republicans, 46 Democrats, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is an Independent, but caucuses with the Democrats.

You can listen to an in-depth discussion of the Menendez trial here.

Source: The Federalist