As threatened sanctions for those who didn鈥檛 cover his address live Thursday night, the nation鈥檚 broadcast and cable news operations wrestled with the thorniest of questions: To air or not to air?
Networks and their news operations, broadcast and cable alike, spent the hours leading up to Trump鈥檚 address debating how to cover it 鈥� and struggling to balance delivering the news with handing over their airwaves to potential falsehoods about the 2020 elections.
In the end, a patchwork quilt of coverage was largely united by one common strategy: real-time fact-checking as much as was possible even while the president was still speaking.
The dilemma took place against between the media and a president working to exert control over it by whatever means he can. Even in his speech itself, Trump excoriated networks that chose not to carry it live, saying that 鈥淣BC and ABC fake news鈥� avoided it because they 鈥渄on’t like the topic.鈥� He also threatened them with consequences, using the presidential pulpit to suggest they should be sanctioned for their editorial decisions.
“They and others in the media are part of a plot,” Trump said, offering no evidence for his assertion. There is also no evidence of fraud in the 2020 elections.
鈥淭hey want to continue this fraud for whatever reason. They want to keep it going,” he said. “Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public multibillion-dollar-in-value airwaves for absolutely no money. They pay nothing. All we want is honesty in our elections and honesty in reporting.鈥�
The tension between Trump and the news media during his second term has taken many forms, from sanctions against members of the White House press corps to regulatory actions through the to outright lawsuits.
There were a variety of approaches to coverage
The media outlets’ decision-making 鈥� seemingly last-minute, for many, with networks divulging their plans minutes beforehand 鈥� produced a variety of coverage scenarios for the 24 minutes of Trump鈥檚 address.
CNN鈥檚 Kaitlan Collins anchored her nightly program. 鈥淲e aren鈥檛 taking it live,鈥� she said of the speech, given the president鈥檚 鈥渨ell-documented history鈥� of falsehoods. Panelists were on hand for analysis and fact-checking. 鈥淪adly, we have no choice to be skeptical when this president talks elections,鈥� said the network鈥檚 veteran correspondent John King.
Fox 91欧美激情 and Fox Broadcasting aired the president鈥檚 speech live. But ABC and NBC did not, sticking with regular programming 鈥� 鈥淧ress Your Luck,鈥� in ABC’s case, and an animal show featuring alligators in NBC’s. But they were ready to cut in as they deemed newsworthy, as well as offering special reports afterwards.
Both ABC and NBC, however, provided live coverage on their streaming channels 鈥� NBC 91欧美激情 NOW and ABC 91欧美激情 Live 鈥� as well as ABC 91欧美激情 Radio. In the still-young era of streaming, that is increasingly a decision that allows network news to play it both ways.
As for CBS, the network did preempt regular programming 鈥� a summer rerun of 鈥淕eorgie & Mandy鈥檚 First Marriage鈥� 鈥� to air a special report anchored by Tony Dokoupil. The report joined the live speech a few minutes in, at 9:06, and left it before the end, at 9:23.
MS NOW started airing the speech, then cut away for analysis and commentary after 17 minutes on host Jen Psaki鈥檚 show. Psaki used the split screen for a bit, with her speaking on the right and a muted Trump appearing on the left.
By the end, of the top networks, the speech was continuing live only on Fox 91欧美激情.
Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University鈥檚 Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, said coverage of the 24- minute address made for 鈥渁 weird evening, where the reporters quote and describe the speech but show little of what they鈥檙e quoting.” Thompson said full coverage was the way to go even 鈥� and perhaps especially 鈥� if the speech was believed to contain falsehoods.
鈥淲hen the president of the United States makes an announcement that there is going to be a major speech with major information, however cynical we are 鈥� I think that is, by definition, important civic news significant to the citizenry,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the president making the speech, and if the president does what everybody鈥檚 worried about him doing, that is a real reason to be covering it, to bear witness on exactly what gets said.”
Networks had been urged beforehand to carry it live
Earlier Thursday, at the White House briefing, press secretary Karoline Leavitt had urged TV networks to carry the speech live. And Fox 91欧美激情 Channel鈥檚 Sean Hannity said on his show that major networks not going live was 鈥減retty unheard of for a primetime address for a president.鈥�
Broadcast networks, though, have previously declined primetime coverage to President Barack Obama for a 2014 speech on immigration, and President Joe Biden for his speech on democracy, 鈥淏attle for the Soul of the Nation,鈥� in 2022.
The backdrop of Thursday鈥檚 speech was an ever-increasing tension between the media and the administration. Broadcast networks have been under close scrutiny by the Trump-appointed chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr, who has launched early reviews of licenses of some ABC-owned stations and threatened to revoke the long-held exemption from equal time rules for the popular talk show 鈥淭he View.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 animosity toward news outlets whose agenda runs counter to his own isn鈥檛 new. But in his second presidential term, he has launched an escalation, often harnessing the levers of the federal government or attempting to do so. The efforts have taken place both in actual courtrooms and in the court of public opinion.
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