Aug 13, 2008 10:51 pm US/Central
Reality Check: Political Ads Vs. Media Coverage
(WCCO)
For the ninth consecutive week, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dominated Republican candidate John McCain where it counts: In the competition for news exposure.
Obama is mentioned in far more stories about the election, and voters say they are detecting a bias.
If this were Olympic basketball, Obama would be crushing John McCain -– 79 percent to 54 percent in media coverage. That's the lopsided percentage of news coverage Obama gets compared to McCain.
It's TRUE...
The Pew Research Center tracks campaign coverage on 48 national media outlets. It found that again last week Obama was a "significant or dominant factor" in most stories. Even if many were not necessarily "favorable" stories.
IN FACT....
Obama-news mania is one reason the Rasmussen Poll says most voters detect a bias in the media. Fifty-five percent say media bias is the biggest problem in the presidential race.
Poll respondents say it's a bigger problem than the flood of campaign cash, which is the top issue for only 36 percent of voters.
But that's NOT THE WHOLE STORY.
Big campaign money buys political commercials, many of them negative, attack ads. However, only 22 percent would ban the ads and rely only on news media for campaign information.
Most of people polled -- 66 percent -- say they'd rather sit through the campaign ads, and depending on what we watch may determine how we vote.
Here's what you NEED TO KNOW.
Of Fox News viewers 87 percent say they'll vote for McCain.
Of CNN viewers, 65 percent pick Obama, which is nearly the same at MSNBC with 63 percent of viewers choose Obama.
That's Reality Check.
To check the resources for this Reality Check click on the links below.
Journalism.org: McCain Vs. Obama In Campaign Coverage
Rasmussen Report: 55% Say Media Bias Bigger Problem Than Campaign Cash
Rasmussen Report: News You Watch Says A Lot About How You'll Vote
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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