1. Monitoring the presidential debates: Post-debate panels did not focus on hard issues
- Author:
- Senja Post
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Media Tenor International
- Abstract:
- After the third debate, network and cable news commentators and their expert guests differed in their opinions on who did better, after having been largely in agreement after the first and second debate. Media Tenor's Slant -o- meter analyzed the commentary following the debate on six TV channels. While ABC and NBC were moderate in their ratings of Kerry and Bush, CBS, FOX, CNN and PBS commentators were more vocal about their dislikes for one or the other of the candidates. Fox News presented the most favorable coverage of George W. Bush's performance and the most negative comments on John Kerry. While positive reports on Bush exceeded negative reports by almost 43%, the coverage of Kerry had an overall negative balance of 15%. Similarly, PBS's commentary featured 6.6% more positive than negative statements on Bush, while , on balance, comments on Kerry were 13% more negative.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Welfare, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States