TYNDALL YEAR IN REVIEW
TOP TWENTY STORIES OF 2017
REPORTERS' USE OF BUREAUS
mins | Total | ABC | CBS | NBC |
---|---|---|---|---|
Russian election meddling probe | 677 | 245 | 266 | 166 |
Obamacare repeal-replace debate | 444 | 155 | 129 | 160 |
North Korea nuclear program | 300 | 85 | 93 | 122 |
Hurricane Harvey hits Texas | 272 | 91 | 94 | 87 |
FBI Director James Comey fired | 241 | 90 | 80 | 72 |
Hurricane Irma hits USVI, Fla | 216 | 79 | 63 | 74 |
Las Vegas concert massacre | 210 | 73 | 76 | 60 |
Wildfires in California | 199 | 75 | 54 | 70 |
Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico | 191 | 58 | 64 | 70 |
NSC's Michael Flynn ousted | 186 | 67 | 59 | 60 |
Tax cut legislation passes | 177 | 66 | 49 | 62 |
Travel ban: visa restrictions | 169 | 54 | 71 | 44 |
Winter weather | 162 | 77 | 35 | 51 |
Syria civil war | 160 | 49 | 78 | 33 |
2017 Senate race: Alabama | 144 | 56 | 45 | 44 |
Illegal immigration crackdown | 134 | 37 | 63 | 34 |
Trump Presidency progress | 131 | 25 | 67 | 39 |
Trump Tower wiretapping claim | 130 | 50 | 46 | 34 |
Russia-US diplomacy, frictions | 123 | 39 | 47 | 37 |
Drugs: heroin, opioids abuse | 119 | 9 | 44 | 66 |
Total Top Twenty Stories | 4383 | 1479 | 1522 | 1384 |
Total US Foreign Policy | 1929 | 584 | 719 | 626 |
Total Federal Domestic | 3651 | 1226 | 1323 | 1103 |
PRESIDENTIAL FIRST YEARS (three-network mins) | ||||||
Federal Foreign & Federal Domestic | ||||||
First Year vs Remainder of Tenure (annual avg) | ||||||
| ||||||
year | President | 1st: USFP | Dom | avg: USFP | Dom | |
1989 | GHW Bush | 2081 | 2895 | 2888 | 1935 | |
1993 | Bill Clinton | 1811 | 3631 | 1516 | 2631 | |
2001 | GW Bush | 2092 | 3260 | 2428 | 2119 | |
2009 | Barack Obama | 1680 | 3533 | 1097 | 1767 | |
2017 | Donald Trump | 1929 | 3651 | ??? | ??? |
REPORTERS' USE OF BUREAUS
mins | Total | ABC | CBS | NBC |
Foreign Dateline | 1124 | 247 | 481 | 396 |
Washington DC | 4205 | 1326 | 1479 | 1400 |
Domestic Dateline | 7031 | 2265 | 2251 | 2515 |
Non-Reporter Stories | 1960 | 770 | 658 | 532 |
Hard Breaking News | 9329 | 3609 | 2811 | 2910 |
Features, Interviews, Soft News | 4991 | 998 | 2059 | 1933 |
Total Annual Coverage | 14320 | 4608 | 4869 | 4843 |
The first year of the norm-defying presidency of Donald Trump received volumes of coverage that turned out to be…well…normal
Domestic politics attracted almost the same attention as the first years of both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama; foreign policy almost the same as the first years of both Bushes, father and son.
The networks' DC Bureaus enjoyed a revival: ABC's had its busiest year since 1995; CBS' since 1990. Eight of the Top Ten correspondents were based in DC while foreign correspondents fell into disuse. ABC saw a record low in our 30-year database.
With little action in Congress -- only the tax cut and healthcare made waves -- the political focus was on the investigation into Trump's ties to the Kremlin, featuring such names as Mueller, Comey and Flynn. The President's nativist policies on visas and borders received special attention from CBS.
ABC, concentrated on breaking news more than ever. So trend-oriented beats -- the economy, the environment, race-&-immigration -- were given short shrift in favor of the kinetic -- crime, transportation, weather. ABC paid almost no attention to the opioid crisis, where NBC led the way.
As gender relations generated buzz -- Harvey Weinstein became a household word but Roy Moore received more airtime -- the Top Ten reporters achieved parity: five women, five men.
Most Newsworthy Man of the Year was special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Of the three big hurricanes, Maria was most devastating yet least covered: Woman of the Year was Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz of San Juan anyway, for her tenacity.
TOP 20 MOST USED REPORTERS (Anchors excl)
net | name | assignment | mins |
ABC | Jonathan Karl | White House | 374 |
ABC | Mary Bruce | Capitol Hill | 363 |
ABC | Cecilia Vega | White House | 352 |
CBS | Nancy Cordes | Capitol Hill | 318 |
NBC | Hallie Jackson | White House | 306 |
NBC | Kristen Welker | White House | 303 |
NBC | Miguel Almaguer | Domestic | 293 |
NBC | Tom Costello | DC Bureau | 278 |
CBS | Jeff Pegues | Justice | 255 |
NBC | Gabe Gutierrez | Domestic | 255 |
CBS | Major Garrett | White House | 253 |
ABC | Matt Gutman | Domestic | 203 |
NBC | Pete Williams | Justice | 201 |
CBS | Margaret Brennan | State Department | 200 |
NBC | Peter Alexander | DC Bureau | 187 |
ABC | Brian Ross | Investigative Unit | 182 |
ABC | Pierre Thomas | Justice | 164 |
CBS | Chip Reid | DC Bureau | 163 |
NBC | Kristen Dahlgren | Domestic | 163 |
NBC | Andrea Mitchell | State Department | 160 |
TRENDS IN COVERAGE SINCE 1988