Pew Study Shows Negative Campaign Coverage for Both Candidates

(Photo: REUTERS/Joe Skipper)
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) speaks as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (L) listens during the final U.S. presidential debate in Boca Raton, Florida October 22, 2012.

By Myles Collier , Christian Post Contributor

November 2, 2012|4:58 pm

A recently released study concerning the coverage of the presidential election showed that for both candidates the mainstream media reported negatively concerning both candidates respective campaigns.

The report, by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, looked at the presidential campaigns from just before the conventions up until the final presidential debate and showed a general portrayal of negatively for both candidates.

From Aug. 27 through Oct. 21, 19 percent of the coverage concerned with President Obama, taken from a full spectrum of media outlets, was regarded as favorable in tone while 30 percent of the coverage was deemed unfavorable, with 51 percent remaining mixed.

For Gov. Mitt Romney, 15 percent of the coverage was favorable and 38 percent was considered unfavorable. That left 47 percent of the coverage being mixed, leaving a difference of 23 points compared with President Obama's difference of only 11 percentage points.

The study did show that there was a clear shift in coverage starting after the first presidential debate on Oct. 4 in Denver, Colo., when President Obama seemed aloof and unprepared for a stern and direct Mitt Romney.

Previous to the first debate 44 percent of the news coverage concerned with Romney was considered negative with only 11 percent showing to be favorable. After the debate those numbers reversed and showed that Romney increased the positive coverage of him to 20 percent while at the same time lowering the negative coverage to 30 percent.

As for Obama, coverage of the president that was deemed positive fell from 22 percent to only 13 percent while the negative coverage increased from 27 percent to 36 percent.

There has long been accusations of bias within the mainstream media from both liberal and conservative news organizations alike, but the presidential election has turned into a feverish rush to claim every inch of the national airwaves. Both candidates are on pace to spend a combined $1 billion on ads.