By one measure, the 2016 presidential campaign has made more news at this early stage than any of the six previous contests.
ABC, CBS and NBC have devoted 504 minutes to campaign news on their evening newscasts through last Friday, according to an analysis by the Tyndall Report, which studies the content of these programs. The previous high of 462 minutes at this point came in 2007, another year when no incumbent was running. Tyndall made no such measurements prior to the 1992 campaign.
Republicans have accounted for two-thirds of the coverage, partly because of the two debates and partly due to Donald Trump. The GOP front-runner accounted for 29 percent of the campaign coverage himself, Tyndall said. The two GOP debates have attracted record-setting audiences for Fox News Channel and CNN.
The three programs have also spent virtually the same amount of time on the controversy involving Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails as it has on her campaign, the report said.
NBC's "Nightly News" has spent 215 minutes on the campaign, the "CBS Evening News" 161 minutes and ABC's "World News Tonight" 128 minutes, Tyndall said.
Measurement of the presidential campaign began at the start of the 2015 calendar year.
Canada orders TikTok’s Canadian business to be dissolved but won’t block app
Canada announced Wednesday it won't block access to the popular video-sharing app TikTok but is ordering the dissolution of its Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind it.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said it is meant to address risks related to ByteDance Ltd.'s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
"The government is not blocking Canadians' access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content. The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice," Champagne said.
Champagne said it is important for Canadians to adopt good cybersecurity practices, including protecting their personal information.
He said the dissolution order was made in accordance with the Investment Canada Act, which allows for the review of foreign investments that may harm Canada's national security. He said the decision was based on information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada's security and intelligence community and other government partners.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of local jobs.
"We will challenge this order in court," the spokesperson said. "The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive."
TikTok is wildly popular with young people, but its Chinese ownership has raised fears that Beijing could use it to collect data on Western users or push pro-China narratives and misinformation. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.
TikTok faces intensifying scrutiny... Read More