News coverage of primary campaigns more negative than candidates themselves

New analysis of the Democratic primary campaigns by William Benoit, professor of Communication and one of the leading experts on presidential campaigns, shows that not only is the news coverage more negative than the candidates’ actual messages, but the majority of their focus is on the "horse race" and not on the candidates’ policy or character.

"If people believe campaigns are negative, it could well be due to the fact that the news coverage of political campaigns is more negative than the campaigns themselves," Benoit said.

Benoit examined four national television networks (ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC), two national newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post) and two local papers (Union Leader in New Hampshire, Post & Courier in South Carolina). He found that the newspaper stories contained negative and critical comments 50 percent of the time, while the national television coverage was slightly more positive. However, in the primary television spots, only 21 percent of the candidates’ comments and only 36 percent of the comments in the primary debates were negative.

Benoit also found that 66 percent of the statements made in news stories focused on the "horse race," i.e. campaign strategies, polls and campaign events, while only 22 percent focused on the candidates’ character and 12 percent on the candidates’ policy. The national newspapers focused on the horse race the most, while national television focused more on character. Local newspapers focused mostly on policy, but even then only 16 percent of the statements were on policy.

"This neglect of issues contrasts sharply with the candidates’ messages, with 60 percent of the statements in the Democratic primary television spots dealing with policy," Benoit said.

Benoit also found that reporters made 59 percent of the statements themselves and did not attribute the statements. Only 26 percent of the news statements quoted or paraphrased the candidates themselves and 15 percent were attributed to outside sources, such as candidate supporters, voters and experts.

Other information about the 2004 presidential campaign, along with historic contextual information, can be found at Benoit’s Presidential Campaign 2004 Website: http://presidentialcampaign2004.coas.missouri.edu/.

Additional links:

Bill Benoit
Department of Communication
Presidential Campaign 2004

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