News Habits & Media

by Andrew Kohut for Columbia Journalism Review

A review of the early press coverage of George W. Bush's administration reveals some unexpected and troubling features of contemporary political journalism: even the most serious newspapers in the country have pulled back dramatically on covering the presidency.

Did George W. Bush really get an easier ride from the media in his first months in office?

Senator Lieberman Gave First Major Speech on Religion and Politics Since Campaign at Forum Launch “The challenge ahead of us now, if we hope to respond to the public’s yearning for a better balance between faith and freedom, is as much political as it is legal. Those of us who are seeking a suitable space […]

Coming from press critics, the following may strike some as out of character: We believe journalism should be praised for its work in the wild epilogue of election 2000. One reason the American people seemed calm but fascinated during the spectacle--even as they witnessed sometimes disgraceful ta ...

Rising Price of Gas Draws Most Public Interest in 2000 While the long and contentious election aftermath drew massive media coverage, the rising price of gasoline attracted the most public interest of any news story of 2000. In June, more than six-in-ten Americans (61%) said they paid very close attention to this story, which far […]

As the audience for online campaign news has expanded—increasing fourfold over the past four years—it has gone more mainstream in its preferences and pursuits.

Introduction and Summary Campaign 2000 firmly established the Internet as a major source of election news and information. But as the audience for online campaign news has expanded — increasing fourfold over the past four years — it has gone more mainstream in its preferences and pursuits. A majority now cites convenience, not a desire […]

As we watch the Overtime Campaign of the 2000 election, the headache of reporting it continues. Election night, when the networks made erroneous projections about who had won, was probably the worst moment in the 50-year history of television coverage of politics. Newspapers that prematurely misc ...

Introduction and Summary Even with an uncertain conclusion, Campaign 2000 gets better grades from the public than most recent presidential contests. Fully 83% of voters say they learned enough from the campaign to make an informed choice — a larger percentage than expressed that view in surveys conducted in the days following the three previous […]