News Coverage of Candidates Highly Negative

Neither Obama Nor Romney Has An Edge

On the eve of the conventions, the portrayal in the news media of the character and records of the two presidential contenders in 2012 has been as negative as any campaign in recent times, and neither candidate has enjoyed an advantage over the other, according to a new Pew Research study of mainstream media coverage of the race for president.

More of what the public hears about candidates also now comes from the campaigns themselves and less from journalists acting as independent reporters or interpreters of who the candidates are.

An examination of the dominant or master narratives in the press about the character and record of presidential contenders finds that 72% of this coverage has been negative for Barack Obama and 71% has been negative for Mitt Romney. The study, conducted by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, examined the personal portrayal of the candidate in 50 major news outlets over a 10-week period.

 Among the findings of the study:

 In cable television, Fox and MSNBC's coverage of the candidates' character themes are mirror images of each other. Fox has offered a mixed view of Romney, but its assessments of Obama's record and character have run negative by a ratio of six to one. The numbers are almost identical, in reverse, for MSNBC. Meanwhile, CNN has offered less about the campaign in general, but what is has, to a greater degree than its cable rivals, resembles what audiences would find in the rest of the media.

Read More Here.

ALSO READ:  Anti-Obama Documentary Lands In Top Ten In Weekend Box Office (CLICK HERE)