A new report shows that the major news networks have overwhelmingly opted to cover the US Olympic swim team scandal instead of breaking news about the $400 million Iran ransom.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that US officials refused to release the $400 million payment to Iran — which the White House has repeatedly claimed was not a ransom — until American prisoners were released by Iran. (RELATED: Report Pretty Much Confirms $400 Million Iran Payment Was A Ransom)
Barack Obama delivers a speech following a US-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh (Getty Images)
Yet that story received little to no media coverage.
According to the Media Research Center, ABC allotted 25 seconds to the Iran news — and CBS and NBC added one minute and eight seconds and 28 seconds respectively — for a total of two minutes and one second across Thursday’s broadcasts.
On the other hand, the three networks devoted 13 minutes and 33 seconds to the revelation that US Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte had lied about being robbed at a gas station in Rio. (RELATED: Ryan Lochte Indicted In Brazil)
Ryan Lochte (Getty Images)
ABC gave Lochte-gate 5 minutes and 56 seconds of air-time.
CBS ran two minutes and 17 seconds of Loch Ness Monster coverage.
And NBC devoted 5 minutes and 20 seconds to the story.