CNN spent three times more coverage on Jan. 6 than inflation news: study

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Former Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore on the economic issues facing the Biden administration, as inflation hits a 40-year high and poll numbers sink for Democrats.

A revealing new study shows how dedicated CNN is to one particular topic despite all the breaking news going on: Jan. 6.  

The Labor Department announced on Wednesday that inflation went up a whopping 7% from December 2020 and prices on nearly all goods saw sharp increases, indicating economic woes for Americans will continue well into 2022. 

But that news was largely overshadowed on CNN by the latest developments in the House Select Committee's investigation into last year's riot on Capitol Hill, according to NewsBusters. 

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The committee's request for the testimony of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., received 97 minutes of coverage from 3 pm E.T. to midnight, according to the study. Meanwhile, the inflation numbers received just 35 minutes and 34 seconds.

About 11 minutes of CNN's inflation coverage, nearly a third of it, came from one program:  "The Lead with Jake Tapper."

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 1: (L-R) Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, speaks as Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), vice-chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol,  Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)  and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) listen during a committee meeting on Capitol Hill on December 1, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

"The McCarthy request came during 'CNN Newsroom with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell,' but in the six shows that aired afterward, four chose to lead with the McCarthy request instead of something that directly affects all Americans, but especially the poor and isolated," NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck wrote. 

Houck highlighted some of CNN's hyped coverage of the Jan. 6 committee, with one correspondent saying it's "no doubt a significant development in the investigation into the January 6th insurrection" and calling McCarthy "a central player in all of this."

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CNN analyst Carl Bernstein told Jake Tapper that McCarthy's refusal to cooperate with the committee's investigation was part of "a cover-up by the leadership of the Republican Party of a conspiracy to undermine the democratic system."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

For much of the past year, CNN dedicated much of its on-air coverage to the fallout of Jan. 6 after boasting about the network's record-setting viewership on the day, which Vice President Kamala Harris likened to Pearl Harbor or the 9/11 attacks.

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CNN averaged 5.3 million viewers on Jan. 6, 2021, but failed to crack 1.5 million during any hour of the day when the liberal network marked the anniversary of the riot with special programming. CNN averaged only 743,000 viewers on Jan. 6, 2022, for an 86% decline. CNN’s Jan. 6 anniversary coverage also shed 92% of its viewers among the key demo and 87% of primetime viewers.

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.