NEWS AND OPINION:

The major networks’ late-night shows still lean liberal, according to Newsbusters.org, a conservative media watchdog affiliated with the Media Research Center (MRC).

“2024 was a busy year for the late night comedians. During the last year, the men of late night told a total of 13,676 political jokes, of which 11,226, or 82%, were directed at someone or something on the right side of the political aisle, an MRC study has found,” news analyst Alex Christy wrote.

“Of the remaining jokes, 2,295 targeted the left and 155 were directed at people, groups, or institutions not associated with either side. Additionally, 679 unique targets were joked about, 402 of which were on the right, 237 of which were on the left, and 40 of which were non-partisan,” Mr. Christy wrote.

He said the survey period ran from Jan. 8, 2024, through Dec. 19 and included Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” and CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

The bias also affected the persons joked about, Mr. Christy noted, with the 10 most targeted featuring only one Democrat and one Democrat-turned-Trump supporter.

“Those ten were: Donald Trump (5,980 jokes), Joe Biden (1,117), J.D. Vance (368), Republicans (255), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (238), MAGA/Trump supporters (222), Rudy Giuliani (221), Melania Trump (181), Kristi Noem (168) and Matt Gaetz (164),” he said.

Find more results at Newsbusters.org.

HERE COME THE ’CLEARIES’

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has opened the submission period for the ninth annual Clearinghouse Awards, also known as “The Clearies.”

These awards recognize “exceptional and innovative work” of election offices in the U.S. during the 2024 election cycle, according to a mission statement.

“The hard work and ingenuity of election officials is never more evident than in a presidential election cycle. The high voter turnout and increased attention to the security and efficiency of elections put officials under the microscope last year, and they rose to the occasion,” said EAC Chairman Ben Hovland, Vice Chairman Donald Palmer, and Commissioners Thomas Hicks and Christy McCormick in a joint statement.

“The 2024 elections ran smoothly and that was partly due to the impressive preparation of election officials and their staffs handling everything. With that in mind, the EAC has added an ’Exemplary Contingency Planning and Emergency Response Efforts’ award category,” they said.

Interested? Entries must be submitted online by Feb. 14. Visit eac.gov/clearies for the submission guidelines.

ON THE RADAR

The Center for Immigration Studies will host a discussion on Jan. 14 at the National Press Club in the nation’s capital with clear topics in mind. The importance of immigration numbers and their impact on wages, the labor market, and the future of the American workforce are on the agenda.

“This timely panel — ’Beyond the Border: Why Legal Immigration Numbers Matter’ — builds on the social media debate sparked by Elon Musk’s recent comment highlighting the need for more legal immigration and seeks to heighten awareness of the impact of legal immigration – both high-skilled and low-skilled,” the center says.

Participants include Rep. Chip Roy, Texas Republican; Steven Camarota, research director for the host organization; Michael Lind, professor at Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin; and Hal Salzman, professor of planning and public policy at Rutgers University.

The Center’s executive director Mark Krikoorian will moderate the event.

The event will be live-streamed on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook; find information at cis.org.

93 ROCKETS

“Space Launch Delta 45 continued to ‘set the pace for space’ as the world’s busiest spaceport in 2024. The SLD 45 team, composed of military and civilian Guardians and Airmen at Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, enabled 93 launches from the Eastern Range in 2024,” Space Force said in a statement released Tuesday.


“Collectively, the team surged to send 93 rockets into space, delivering 1,389 orbital assets into a critical warfighting domain. Their dedicated efforts on the Eastern Range enabled the U.S. to break the world record for annual space launches for the second year in a row, with a total of 93 successful launches. Previously, the U.S. set the world record for space launches in 2023 with 108 successful launches, breaking a record held by the Soviet Union since 1982,” Space Force noted.

FOXIFIED

During the week of Dec. 30 to Jan. 5, Fox News Channel drew an average daily audience of 1.7 million primetime viewers while 1.3 million tuned in during the daytime according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox News also aired 99 of the top 100 cable news telecasts for the week.

“The Five” continues to be the biggest audience draw, averaging 2.9 million viewers per day during the week, followed by “Special Report with Bret Baier” and “Gutfeld!” which both weighed in with audiences of 2.2 million. “Jesse Watters Primetime” followed with 2.1 million viewers, along with “The Ingraham Angle” and “Hannity,” which each enjoyed an average audience of 1.9 million.

On the daytime side, “The Faulkner Focus” was the choice of 1.8 million viewers per day — outpacing NBC’s “Today with Hoda and Jenna” (1.5 million viewers), ABC’s “GMA3” (1.4 million) and “NBC News Daily” (1.3 million).

Maria Bartiromo’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” which airs at 10 a.m. every Sunday, also had a standout week, featuring Rep. Mike Johnson’s first interview after his re-election as House speaker. The Louisiana Republican was a big draw, earning an impressive audience of 1.8 million viewers.

POLL DU JOUR

• 68% of small business owners in the U.S. believe small businesses will be a driving force in economic growth.

• 67% of small business owners predict higher profits for their company in 2025.

• 66% predict higher sales, 64% plan to invest more in their company.

• 60% have confidence in the local economy.

• 55% have confidence in the national economy.

• 48% plan to add artificial intelligence applications to their business.

• 40% say labor shortages and recruitment are significant challenges.

• 35% plan to add more products; 34% plan to fund more advertising.

• 31% plan to increase social media campaigns.

SOURCE: A JPMorganChase’s Business Leaders Outlook survey of 1,003 small business owners conducted online Nov. 11-15 and released Tuesday.

• Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com.

• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.