The 2024 presidential campaign has wrapped up, leaving a historic mark on media bias. This year, the broadcast evening news coverage for each candidate was the most lopsided ever, heavily favoring Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris over former Republican President Donald Trump.
In a groundbreaking shift, Trump’s 2024 victory highlights how 𝕏 (formerly Twitter) became a vital tool for bypassing traditional media bias. As mainstream outlets continued to favor his opponent, Trump leveraged 𝕏 to connect directly with voters, delivering unfiltered messages and counter-narratives. Podcasts and independent voices on the platform played a pivotal role, amplifying his campaign and challenging legacy media’s dominance. This election underscores a new era, where social media has the power to reshape political outcomes.
According to the latest Media Research Center (MRC) study, the major networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—aired 78% positive coverage for Harris, compared to just 22% negative. For Trump, the numbers were flipped: only 15% positive and 85% negative coverage. This creates a 63-point advantage for Harris, the biggest media bias seen in modern history.
In fact, the previous record wasn’t far behind, during the 2020 election, when then-candidate Joe Biden enjoyed 66% positive network coverage while President Trump saw only 8% positive. That year also broke records for the most negative press aimed at any candidate.
Studies from the Center for Media and Public Affairs back to 1988 show similar trends, with networks leaning in favor of Democratic candidates, like the 35-point advantage for Barack Obama over John McCain in 2008.
Even MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough acknowledged, “The media has been really, really biased this campaign.”
