---
title: "Pluralities Say Press is Fair to Romney, Obama"
description: "Overview There is no public consensus when it comes to how the presidential candidates are being covered by the news media. Nearly half (46%) say the coverage of Romney has been fair, while among those who see a bias as many say the press has been too easy on the GOP nominee (20%) as too […]"
date: "2012-09-25"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/09/25/pluralities-say-press-is-fair-to-romney-obama/"
categories:
  - "Election 2012"
  - "Election News"
  - "Election News"
  - "Presidents & Press"
datasets:
  - name: "September 20-23 2012 Weekly Survey"
    url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/dataset/september-20-23-2012-weekly-survey/"
---

# Pluralities Say Press is Fair to Romney, Obama

## Table of Contents
1. [Pluralities Say Press is Fair to Romney, Obama](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/09/25/pluralities-say-press-is-fair-to-romney-obama/markdown)
2. [About the Survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/09/25/about-the-survey-247/markdown)

## Overview

There is no public consensus when it comes to how the presidential candidates are being covered by the news media. Nearly half (46%) say the coverage of Romney has been fair, while among those who see a bias as many say the press has been too easy on the GOP nominee (20%) as too tough on him (21%). The same percentage (46%) says coverage of Obama has also

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2012/09/9-25-12-1.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2012/09/9-25-12-1.png)

been fair. However, nearly twice as many say press coverage of the president has been too easy (28%) than too tough (15%).

Four years ago, there was a larger disparity in impressions of how the press was covering the candidates. In October 2008 more thought the press was being too tough on McCain (23%) than too easy (15%). Nearly a third (31%) said the press was being too easy on Obama, while just 7% said it was being too tough. At that time, just 38% said coverage of Sarah Palin was fair; as many (38%) said coverage was too tough.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2012/09/9-25-12-2.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2012/09/9-25-12-2.png)

[Republicans generally are more critical of the press than are Democrats](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/09/22/press-widely-criticized-but-trusted-more-than-other-institutions/). The new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted September 20 - 23, 2012 among 1005 adults, finds, 45% of Republicans think the press has been too tough on Mitt Romney – almost identical to the 44% who said this about coverage of McCain in October 2008. By comparison, 26% of Democrats think the press is too tough on Obama, though this has increased substantially from only 9% four years ago.

What stands out to Republicans even more is what they see as unfair treatment of Obama. Six-in-ten (60%) Republicans say the news coverage is too easy on Obama. Most Democrats say news organizations have been fair in their coverage of Mitt Romney, with only 29% saying they have been too easy on him.

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**Next:** [About the Survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/09/25/about-the-survey-247.md)