Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
One lesson derived from coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign is that despite being viewed as anachronistic political pageants, some traditional set piece campaign events still have the potential to dramatically reshape a presidential race by changing the mainstream media narrative. In 2012, campaign coverage was significantly affected by several such events. That began with […]
Overview As the president and congressional leaders begin negotiations to avoid the “fiscal cliff” deadline at the end of the year, there is widespread public concern about the possible financial consequences. More say the automatic spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to take effect in January would have a major effect on the U.S. economy […]
Overall, both candidates received more negative stories than positive ones. But for the full eight weeks studied, the gap was about half as big for Obama (11 points) as it was for Romney (23 points). That difference disappears if horse-race coverage-stories focused on tactics, strategy and the question of who was winning-are removed from the […]
Overview Just as the presidential race is deadlocked in the campaign’s final days, the candidates are also running about even when it comes to the ground game. Voters nationally, as well those in the closely contested battleground states, report being contacted at about the same rates by each of the campaigns. And with a fifth […]
The October 3 debate in Denver, which was widely viewed as an overwhelming win for Romney over a listless Obama, dramatically altered the tone of press coverage. (A Gallup survey showed that 72% of Americans thought Romney won the debate compared to only 20% for Obama.) And the campaign narratives were suddenly reversed as the […]
Why the disparity between print and other sectors? One possible explanation is that the relative lack of major events or controversies tied to religion may have dampened interest among cable television and talk radio outlets. Web and network television coverage also tended to be somewhat more event-driven. Many of the newspaper stories, by contrast, tended […]
Contact: Tom Rosenstiel, Amy Mitchell or Mark Jurkowitz of PEJ at 202.419.3650 Both Candidates Received More Negative than Positive Coverage in Mainstream NEws, but Social Media was Even Harsher Fewer Horserace Stories- and Fewer Positive Obama Stories – than in 2008 November 2, 2012 – From the conventions to the eve of the final presidential […]
The election is over. The voters have spoken. But those who thought that a clear-cut verdict in the recent presidential election would finally break the partisan deadlock in Washington may find themselves disappointed.