This study analyzes the news coverage of the first 60 days of the Biden administration. For historical context, the current report often makes comparisons to the Center’s 2017 study about news coverage of the beginning of the Trump administration, which reported findings on the first 100 days of that administration. Since the current study is looking at the first 60 days and the 2017 study looked at the first 100 days, researchers assessed how similar or different the 2017 results would have been if the analysis were of the first 60 days. The findings overall show minimal differences that do not change the overall conclusions of the findings in any substantial way. Across the measures for assessment of the Trump administration, top topics covered and frame, the numbers do not differ by more than 5 percentage points. For example, 74% of the stories of the full 100 days of the beginning of the Trump administration were framed around Trump and the administration’s leadership and character, compared with 70% of the stories for the first 60 days.
