The much-awaited Consumer Price Index for November was released today, with good news for the country: inflation came in at 2.7 percent, significantly below the 3.1 percent projected by economists. The legacy nightly news was not too enthusiastic in reporting this story, with ABC outright omitting the story.
Per CNBC:
Consumer prices rose less than expected in November, giving investors hope that inflationary pressures may be cooling enough for U.S. monetary policy to be eased more than Wall Street anticipates.
The consumer price index rose at a 2.7% annualized rate last month, a delayed report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected the CPI to have risen 3.1%.
This is an interesting turn of events just hours after President Donald Trump’s address to the nation dealing with economic matters, and the media’s unhinged reception to that particular speech. And there was a significant difference in how the two were reported.
On the CBS Evening News, departed anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson got away with not saying anything that might cast the CPI figure as a positive development:
SLEIGHT-OF-WORD: By comparing the 2.7% November Consumer Price Index to the Fed target 2% as opposed to the 3.1% forecast, departing anchor Maurice DuBois gets to report it as “still above”, rather than “below expectations.” pic.twitter.com/hE0qKHw68v
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) December 19, 2025
CBS EVENING NEWS
12/18/25
6:40 PM
MAURICE DuBOIS: Now to the economy. Inflation eased some last month. The Consumer Price Index rose an annual rate of 2.7%. That is down from 3% in September but still above the federal reserve target rate of 2%.
JOHN DICKERSON: Dairy products saw some modest price drops in November, while meat and electricity were up. The report was released later than normal due to the government shutdown.
By comparing the CPI against the benchmark 2% as opposed to the Dow’s projected 3.1, DuBois is able to frame the reduced CPI as “high.” This way the story is reported in a manner that is unhelpful to The White House.
On NBC Nightly News, they did the right thing. The CPI story came as an add-on to a report on the renaming of the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center.
NBC Nightly News with the cleanest reporting on the CPI: Gabe Gutierrez uttering it came in “much lower than expected.” pic.twitter.com/pz2mIR0QUq
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) December 19, 2025
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
12/18/25
6:43 PM
TOM LLAMAS: And Gabe, another headline we’re following tonight: the president has been on defense on the economy but he got some good news on the cost of living today?
GABE GUTIERREZ: Yes, Tom. New numbers show inflation has dropped from 3% in September down to 2.7%, much lower than expected. Core inflation hitting its lowest level since 2021, though analysts warn there are gaps in the data because of the government shutdown. Tom.
LLAMAS: All right, Gabe. Thank you.
The most adversarial thing about this piece was probably anchor Tom Llamas’ line about the president being on defense but getting good news. But Gutierrez pressed ahead with his report. He compared the CPI to expectations, and noted core inflation is at its lowest since 2021.
Where does this leave ABC? Holding a big goose egg. There was nothing reported about the CPI coming in lower than expected. However, ABC did find time to report on the koala rescued from oncoming traffic.
Again: if it weren’t for double standards, there’d be none at all.
