Media attempting a coup d'etat?

PEW RESEARCH CENTER: Survey Report

Half of voters (50%) say most newspaper and TV reporters would prefer to see John Kerry win the election, compared with just 22% who think that most journalists are pulling for George Bush. . . .

In addition, a majority of voters (58%) continue to think that members of the news media often let their own political preferences influence their reporting.

The latest Pew Research Center survey of 1,307 registered voters, conducted Oct. 15-19, shows that there also is a pervasive belief that news organizations wield too much influence on the election's outcome.

Nearly six-in-ten (62%) say news organizations have too much influence in determining the election's outcome . . .

. . . . the perception that the press has not been fair to Bush has increased across the board, particularly among independents. Fully 40% of independent voters view coverage of Bush's campaign as unfair, about twice the number who expressed that view in October 2000 (19%).

Kerry has a modest advantage among voters who mostly rely on network news and newspapers.

PROJECT FOR EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM study results at Editor & Publisher

NEW YORK - A new study for the non-partisan Project for Excellence in Journalism suggests that in the first two weeks of October, during the period of the presidential debates, President Bush received much more unfavorable coverage from some media than Sen. John Kerry.

In the limited sample (which included four newspapers, two cable news programs, and seven shows on broadcast networks), more than half of all Bush stories were negative in tone during this period. One-quarter of all Kerry stories were negative, according to the study. . . .

In all, from all outlets, 817 stories were coded and decoded. In the final accounting, 59% of stories that were mainly about Bush told a mainly negative story, while 25% of Kerry stories played out that way. One in three stories about Kerry were positive, one in seven for Bush. . . .

The study also notes "some differences in tone between different media," finding that newspapers "were the most negative medium by a sizable margin." Some 46% of all newspaper stories carried a negative cast, compared with 28% for the networks and 30% for the two cable shows. Newspapers were also harsher in tone about Bush than the other media. Network news was least negative.

Then there's this: Newspapers Tolerate Stronger Antiwar Cartoons From Abroad

Comments

[David]

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