CONTAINING LINKS TO 58103 STORIES FROM THE NETWORKS' NIGHTLY NEWSCASTS
TYNDALL YEAR IN REVIEW
TOP TWENTY STORIES OF 2018

minsTotalABCCBSNBC
Justice Kavanaugh nomination426166128132
Russian election meddling probe33214383106
Wildfires in California2428010160
Winter weather2341036764
North Korea-US summitry212787460
Hurricane Florence in Carolinas203687461
Migrant children in detention189705762
Parkland HS shooting in Florida189667350
School safety, violence prevention184636755
Trump's lawyer Cohen prosecuted164814736
Hurricane Michael in Florida134545129
Syria civil war nears end133355740
Influenza season130424147
FBI accused of partisan bias116573228
Journalist Khashoggi assassinated116354239
Police: civilians killed in error112384035
Federal budget, deficit, shutdown112384035
Pyeongchang Winter Olympics111131881
Facebook faces backlash107233450
Christmas holiday season105323440
Total Top Twenty Stories3549129511551100
Total Midterm Elections2746713276


MIDTERM ELECTIONS

year (mins)TotalHouseOtherABCCBSNBC
19902589416463100104
1994453167286178123151
19981586890565052
20022561001567579100
2006375152224102122152
2010666127539208260235
201413323110216449
2018274482266713276


REPORTERS' USE OF BUREAUS

minsTotalABCCBSNBC
Foreign Dateline1092272446374
Washington DC3308121910031086
Domestic Dateline7585233124532801
Non-Reporter Stories2369783993593
Hard Breaking News9337348930092839
Features, Interviews, Soft News5018111618862015
Total Annual Coverage14354460548954854
Kavanaugh & The Caravan. Those were President Donald Trump’s rallying cries during the midterm elections and the networks concurred with his agenda, even if they disagreed with his angle.
The contentious Supreme Court nomination was indeed the top story of 2018 and Race-&-Immigration had its second busiest year in our 31-year database. Yet its focus was on the scandal of children detained at the border, not Trump’s push for his Wall.
Even though the elections changed control in the House of Representatives, only CBS equaled the intensity of such previous waves as 1994 and 2006; no network matched that of 2010. Instead the political focus was on Trump’s troubles — the Robert Mueller investigation, lawyer Michael Cohen and lobbyist Paul Manafort — with ABC leading the way in each case.
As for public policy, the students at Parkland HS succeeded in elevating gun control and school safety. Healthcare and the environment were scanted, even as symptoms of climate change were inescapable. Wildfires killed scores in California and hurricanes drenched the Carolinas and battered Florida.
Foreign bureaus have never been so little used. Never has there been less reporting on Wars around the globe. Sorry Yemen. The biggest international story was the cave rescue in Thailand. NBC’s major foreign push was to cross-promote NBC Sports’ Olympics.This is not journalistic decision making to be proud of.
The Most Newsworthy Man of the Year was Justice Brett Kavanaugh; the Woman was Christine Blasey Ford, whose disputed tale of his drunken teenage misbehavior held us riveted.


TOP 20 MOST USED REPORTERS (Anchors excl)

netnameassignmentmins
ABCJonathan KarlWhite House387
NBCMiguel AlmaguerDomestic326
NBCKristen WelkerWhite House256
NBCPeter AlexanderDC Bureau252
NBCHallie JacksonWhite House251
NBCTom CostelloDC Bureau230
ABCCecilia VegaWhite House226
ABCPierre ThomasJustice220
NBCGabe GutierrezDomestic219
CBSMajor GarrettWhite House193
CBSNancy CordesCapitol Hill186
CBSPaula ReidDC Bureau164
ABCLinsey DavisJustice160
ABCMary BruceCapitol Hill154
NBCStephanie GoskDomestic152
ABCMatt GutmanDomestic148
NBCJo Ling KentConsumer Technology148
ABCTerry MoranDC Bureau142
CBSSteve HartmanHuman Interest141
CBSJericka DuncanDomestic140