Broadcast TV: Nikki Haley Gets More Favorable Coverage

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has received far less negative coverage from evening newscasts on ABC, NBC and CBS than other GOP presidential candidates, according to the Media Research Center. 

Fox News Digital reports MRC senior editor Rich Noyes analyzed "NBC Nightly News," ABC’s "World News Tonight" and "CBS Evening News" for the entirety of 2023. He found that coverage of former President Trump was 91% negative, coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was 73% negative and coverage of Haley was negative about half the time. 

"While a 50% positive/50% negative spin score might seem superior to the much more negative coverage of Trump and DeSantis, it’s hardly the kind of Obama-esque positive publicity that candidates desire at the end of a campaign," Noyes wrote for the conservative media watchdog.

However, the networks spent most of their time covering Trump, who received a whopping 1,192 minutes of evening news airtime across ABC, NBC and CBS in 2023, while DeSantis received 166 minutes of coverage and Haley settled for 35 minutes of airtime. 

The MRC "calculated the spin of the GOP primary candidates by tallying all clearly positive and negative statements from non-partisan or unaffiliated sources — in other words, reporters, anchors, voters as well as Republicans not linked to any of the campaigns" to determine that Haley was covered more favorably than Trump or DeSantis. 

A new poll in Iowa released four days before the state's caucuses suggests that Haley has moved past DeSantis for a distant second place behind Trump, who is hoping for a landslide victory.