Pew Research has come out with the latest update on an ongoing study of the debates' effect on media's -- and voters' -- perception of candidates.
During no week in the five months studied was coverage of Mr. Obama more than 10 percent positive. On average, it was judged to be about 57 percent neutral and about 34 percent negative. “These numbers are very stark for Obama,” said Tom Rosenstiel, the director of the project. Even the week in early May that Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed, the positive sentiments were far outnumbered by negative ones. “That was striking,” he said. ...
... This time around, several Republican candidates are criticizing Mr. Obama, “and that has a kind of cumulative effect,” Mr. Rosenstiel said.
As for Republican candidates:
The coverage of Rick Perry, the Texas governor who entered the race relatively late, in August, became more measurably negative around the same time he was perceived to have performed poorly at a Fox News debate on Sept. 22.
Still, the Pew study found that Mr. Perry received the greatest proportion of positive coverage of any candidate May 2 through Oct. 9. The recipient of the greatest proportion of negative coverage was President Obama.
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So, what is happening to our lamestream media? As with most things, it's possible to explain the shift on the recession:
Researchers chalked up some of the disparity between Obama’s coverage and that of his challengers to the fact that the news media cover the president mostly as a president, not a candidate, and so he is the focus of stories about the faltering economy.
Or, as Pew's director of analysis Tim Graham put it, "Reality intervened." However, he added that he believes the press is still rooting for Obama, who is still frequently portrayed as "the sober and the serious one...trying to solve the problems. You are just not seeing the magazine covers of him looking like FDR anymore.” ...DailyIntel
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These are some of the findings of the study, which combines PEJ's ongoing weekly content analysis with computer algorithmic technology developed by Crimson Hexagon. The report introduces a new research tool for the Pew Research Center, which will continue to track the level and tone of coverage of the candidates throughout the campaign.
The study includes sections on each of 10 GOP figures as well as the president. It also contains a separate analysis of blogs. In that sphere, Ron Paul, the least covered candidate in the news, is the most favored contender. ...Politico
