News Habits & Media

With fewer than two weeks left before election day, how has the press covered the race for president? How has the tone of McCain’s coverage compared with Obama’s, or Palin’s. A new PEJ study from the conventions through the last debate offers answers.

The final presidential debate was the top campaign storyline last week. And both candidates rolled out major economic packages. But perhaps the most memorable event was the media descending on an unlikely new voice of the working class.

Summary of Findings With less than three weeks to go before the election, there is a growing sense among the public that the tone of the presidential campaign has changed. A majority of Americans (55%) now say that the campaign is too negative. This is up significantly from 43% a month ago and represents a […]

The stock market tanked, and the candidates took citizen questions during a presidential debate. But with Election Day looming in less than a month, the media spotlight last week was trained on the hostile rhetoric heard on the campaign trail.

From Jefferson to Palin, politicians of the left and right have blamed the media for public discontent with their policies, politics or personal behavior.

Summary of Findings Strong majorities of the public say the press has been fair to John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. But fewer than four-in-ten (38%) say the press has been fair to Sarah Palin. Many more believe the press has been too tough on Palin (38%) than say it has been too easy […]

While strong majorities feel the press has been fair to John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, as many people say the press has been too tough on the governor of Alaska (38%) as say it has been fair (38%). Republicans overwhelmingly believe the press has been too hard on Palin (63%).

Coverage of the nation’s financial crisis reached new heights last week as Congress struggled to produce a bailout package. But when it came to the presidential campaign narrative, the match-up in Missouri proved more interesting to the media.

Summary of Findings Interest in news about the U.S. economy skyrocketed last week, with 70% of Americans following economic developments very closely, up from 56% the previous week. Interest in economic news is broadly bipartisan with equal proportions of Republicans, Democrats and independents following news about current economic conditions very closely. The public also paid […]

Political pundits, seeing no knockout punch, scored a tie. But viewers awarded the win to Obama.