NBC Finally Discovers Menendez After Mistrial, CBS Boasts Outcome

Nicholas Fondacaro | November 16, 2017
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***To read the full blog, please check out the complete post on NewsBusters***

The Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) could finally breathe a sigh of relief on Thursday after the corruption trial against Democratic Senator Bob Menendez ended (at least for now) with a mistrial. Since the trial began 71-days-ago, the network evening newscasts did everything in their power not to report it, effectively hiding it from their viewers with a similar attitude during their morning newscasts. But Thursday evening saw all three of them find time to highlight Menendez’s good fortune.

Since the Menendez trial began on September 9, NBC News had not dedicated a single second of airtime between their morning and evening newscasts. For them, the story barely existed. Yet on Thursday, they did manage to cover the story but the airtime was fleeting. Anchor Lester Holt gave the mistrial a mere 23 seconds. In contrast, that same evening they spent one minute and 51 seconds pushing negative speculation about the Museum of The Bible.

Following more than a week of deliberations a judge today declared a mistrial in Senator Bob Menendez's bribery trial after the jury reported it was deadlocked,” Holt announced with no explanation of why it was the first time their viewers were hearing it from them. “Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, was accused of accepting expensive gifts in exchange for political favors.

NBC was so out of practice they got the jury deliberation time dead wrong. Holt claimed they were talking for over a week but in reality, it was nearly two weeks before the mistrial was declared. The deliberations started on October 30.

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