Winning by one measure: Media coverage

A few candidates who will likely be going home disappointed tonight won on at least one measure this election cycle: media attention.

A survey by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, which tracks how news organizations cover stories, found that the media showered coverage this year on several candidates who trail by double digits in recent public polls, including N.Y. gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino and Florida Senate candidate Charlie Crist.

And second only to the president in the number of election stories primarily addressing a single newsmaker: Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell. O'Donnell was the subject of about 160 stories in the survey.

Paladino was featured in 52 stories; Arkansas Senate candidate Blanche Lincoln (who faced a contested primary but now trails her Republican opponent badly) also clocks in at 52; and Republican Meg Whitman, who has spent over $140 million of her own money on her gubernatorial bid in California, was the main subject of 90 stories.

Both Nevada Senate candidates and Kentucky Senate contender Rand Paul were also among the top newsmakers, according to the study.

The project has tracked 52 different news outlets -- including television, cable, online, radio, and newspapers -- since January of this year. A story would be coded as a specific "newsmaker" story only if the figure was the "dominant force" of the story, explains Project Associate Director Mark Jurkowitz.

About 10 percent of all news stories over that period of time focused on the 2010 elections, Jurkowitz said.

Discuss this post

160 articles about O'Donnell...pretty pathetic...same with following around Waldo Palin....I hope after tomorrow Palin will fade back into the mountains and streams of Alaska...

  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 5:35 PM EDT

Just remember one thing;

When you hear all the complaining about the 'liberal media', you hear it on.....

the 'liberal media'!

  • 3 votes
#1.1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 5:45 PM EDT

Hell the three bears never appeared on any other news outlet,except the Hooter's Fox Network.Too scared to being asked the tough questions.So the left had to attack the idiots.

  • 2 votes
#1.2 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:04 PM EDT

Please. please, don't make Palin come back to alaska! Not many people here really like her very much, she doesn't have hardly ANY support or influence...won't someone else take her, please??

  • 2 votes
#1.3 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:04 PM EDT

The news media this election cycle has been woefully ignorant of the sentiments of average Americans. Up until about two weeks ago, you would have thought Republicans and the Tea Party didn't have a shot at winning if you watched cable and network news.

Is it not odd that virtually all the double-digit underdogs the mainstream media focused on where Republicans (or former Republicans)? There are about 40 Democrats down in the polls that low but they were rarely mentioned with the exception of Lincoln.

And look at how the media has attacked O'Donnell and Angle. I'm not fans of either of them but as a woman, I've been absolutely shocked and saddened by the vitriol towards these women. I would like to see a study breaking down the positive vs. negative stories of these candidates, especially compared to their opponents. It's been absolutely disgraceful.

Yet you hardly hear about Alan Grayson, who makes both of them look like wordsmiths compared to his unhinged rants and behavior.

MSNBC just this morning had a video from the Today show that bashed Sarah Palin. They attacked her for choosing Miller over Murkowski (isn't she allowed to support who she wants?), attacked her for going after the media for the outrageous bias a local Anchorage news channel showed against Miller and his supporters (yet NBC didn't mention the actual story of why Palin was upset), and that if Miller loses in Alaska today, it's a referendum on Sarah Palin and her political clout.

Oh but MSNBC and NBC has echoed over and over again this week that the impending Democrat losses is not a referendum on President Obama or his policies but rather the public's unhappiness with the economy.

Sure, whatever MSNBC.

  • 2 votes
#1.4 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:20 PM EDT
Reply

And second only to the president in the number of election stories primarily addressing a single newsmaker: Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell. O'Donnell was the subject of about 160 stories in the survey.

And a staggering number of that 160 came from this site!...:)

  • 6 votes
Reply#2 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 5:43 PM EDT

Gee, it is just about news space? It does not matter if, say, all of the stories are negative?

Who'd thunk?

I'm not taking up the cause of any one candidate, but today's media would present George Washington in such a poor light, it would take a miracle to get him elected.

  • 5 votes
#2.1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:15 PM EDT
Reply

NO Bill, NOOOOooooo.

WE all hope after tomorrow, she will start her run for 2012-2014 1/2!

  • 1 vote
Reply#3 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 5:46 PM EDT

And just think...after all the liberal media BS...the republican's are still going to win!!!!

  • 5 votes
Reply#4 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 5:50 PM EDT

Republicans will win some, and Republicans will lose some - some wins may make even those most Republican of the Republicans ask themselves, "what have we done"? Republicans are not going to win as many races as they believed even a month ago, and less than they won during other mid-term elections in recent history. We Democrats fully expected the Re-pubs to win majority in the House, but if we the voters were all as unhappy and mad at leadership as the Republicans would have us think, then I would expect the Republican wins to be greater than they will be. And before you Republicans celebrate too many victories, take an honest look at what you elected.

  • 1 vote
#4.1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:12 PM EDT

"I would expect the Republican wins to be greater than they will be." Nice statement, no matter the outcome, outside of Republicans winning every race, it will prove that people aren't really unhappy because you would have expected them to win more than they did. Excellent foundation for the spin to come.

  • 3 votes
#4.2 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:20 PM EDT

John, if the outrage against the Obama adiminstration were so far reaching, how could Democrats win any seats? The "spin" on the right suggests the whole country, all Americans, are mad as hell, etc., etc. We aren't. Most of us are in the center, and want able representation. I am a Democrat, but I don't believe a Congress filled with Democrats is necessarily a good thing. I have voted for Republicans in the past, before the push to the far right made voting Republican silly. My vote goes to articulate, clear minded candidates who represent the best ideas for this country going forward, It is not a contest to see who can be the farthest to the right or the farthest to the left.

  • 1 vote
#4.3 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:05 PM EDT

Magnificent - you said "if the outrage against the Obama adiminstration were so far reaching, how could Democrats win any seats?"

Seriously?
The Republicans are predicted to take back more seats in one election than Democrats have in the past 2 decades and more than they have gained since the 1940's.

You can sugar-coat this election any way you want but historically speaking, the Democrats are in for a bloodbath not seen in 3 generations.

My hope is that Republicans don't see this as a rubber-stamp of approval, but rather a chance to actually change the way their party and Washington operates, moving away from special interests and back towards fiscal responsiblity.

  • 1 vote
#4.4 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:33 PM EDT
Reply

BILLCT...that's the mostly liberal media coverage on palin and the rest . they seem to be obsessed , pretty pathetic. maybe they'll go back into the mountains of alaska. another delusional lefty.

  • 1 vote
Reply#5 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 5:52 PM EDT

Len, the Moutains of Alaska are really beautiful and the wilderness is much more civilized than whatever urban areas most think of as "civilized". It would be really great if Palin could be relocated to anywhere else; it would benefit Alaska, that is a fact. You want her? If she were gone from here, we could return to the wonderful isolation we enjoyed without the "lower 48" paying any attention to us. We will be happy to send her to you so she can screw up your state.

    #5.1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:17 PM EDT
    Reply

    Um, there's no "liberal media" only corporate media.

    They all run stories to get viewers and make money.

    • 2 votes
    Reply#6 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:03 PM EDT

    They better take all the sharp objects off the sets on Lib-TV election coverage tonight!

    • 1 vote
    Reply#7 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:06 PM EDT

    And 90% of the coverage of Palin and O'Donnell was negative and given by the liberal media. Most conservatives love your articles about Mama Griz and Christine the Witch. But, not for the reasons you think. We like the news articles because they show how obessed and afraid the liberals are of these two. Just two normal ladies who have the guts and hit back when they are attacked and it sends the liberals running for the hills. It is the reason the liberals always go into personal attacks to debate anything. They (as Nicholson said) Can't handle the truth.

    • 2 votes
    Reply#8 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:12 PM EDT

    Jim, hard to read your post, but Palin and O'Donnell are very far from being "normal ladies". Do you think so little of women that you think those two are "normal"? You don't get out much, do you. Perhaps 'tis you that "can't handle to truth". Define for me "normal". Is normal telling the whole world "I'm not a witch"? Is normal identifying more with wildlife that eats is own young? Yes, I know, the male grizzlies eat cubs, but so do the females if they sense something is wrong with a cub. Palin for all of her faults is a better mother than that. Do "normal" women quit on their obligations when trusted with positions of significance, like governor of a State? No, I don't believe "normal" women are quitters.

      #8.1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:33 PM EDT

      Jim, I know you think of sp and co as stand up "normal women", but like it or not "handle the truth". The reason they got so much media attention, is because their ignorance of the issues is hilarious. And they think they can win. If it makes selling articles easier, they will run with it. Have you not seen or heard them?

      • 1 vote
      #8.2 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 8:43 PM EDT
      Reply

      magnificent50: It's not all about who conservatives are electing. It is who the conservatives are firing. With just a little luck (not much needed) Pelosi and Reid will be gone from the US political scene never to arise again.

      • 1 vote
      Reply#9 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:17 PM EDT

      No, Jim, it is about who conservatives are hiring. Just like hiring a new employee, you really aren't sure what you are getting until the probationary period is up, maybe even later. And SOMETIMES you find yourself going through the process of firing an employee because of poor performance, even employees that have been with you for a while. Bad employees can be fired with greater ease than duly elected representatives who proved to be bad choices. Conservatives are "hiring" some very bad employees.

        #9.1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:48 PM EDT

        Umm last time I checked Pelosi is in no danger of losing her election so she will not be going anywhere. She may lose the Speakership but she will still be in the House.

        Just to inform all of those supposed informed righties out there.

        • 1 vote
        #9.2 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:51 PM EDT

        It is impossible for Nancy to lose with her liberal district. But she will lose her speaker position to the AstroTurf party.

        Wolfman, we aren't all as stupid as you believe.

        Will the last progressive leaving the House please turn out the lights? Your party is over.

          #9.3 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:01 PM EDT
          Reply

          Bummer, guys...

            Reply#10 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:25 PM EDT
              Reply#11 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:47 PM EDT

              This could have FDR rolling over in his grave; If the pollsters are correct, "...This is a day that will live in infamy..."....Hide and watch, it shouldn't take long...

              Can you call the roll in congress by answering "Hell, No!"...?

                Reply#12 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:50 PM EDT

                I wonder how nancy pelosi will feel in the morning after she finds herself AstroTurfed? No more speakership Nancy!

                who will the Dude-in-Chief blame for losing seats in both houses? The Dem voters that he counted on so heavily? Or will he blame Michelle for not getting out the vote?

                Will harry now have to find a real job?

                tomorrow should prove to be interesting. I can't wait to read the vile comments from the progressives.

                • 1 vote
                Reply#13 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 6:59 PM EDT

                The Republicians taking over something could be good for President Obama. Because if they do not get somethings done. The independent that crossed over and voted for the Republicians this time will vote for the Dem. for the President in 2014. A lot of us independent are not aganist the president. We do not like the way things are going in Washington. We want to shake up somethings Therefore, the Republicians are going to have to do a lot to keep independent on there side. So just saying NO and doing nothing is not going to work if they take over the House or Senate.

                I am a independent and I know how we think.

                • 1 vote
                #13.1 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:22 PM EDT

                Ah, yes, Candy. Rainbows. Unicorns. The tooth fairy.

                Good night, sweetie. Keep dreaming.

                  #13.2 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 8:25 PM EDT
                  Reply

                  magnificent50: Maybe it's me but, I certainly don't see why my post would be hard to read. "I'm not a witch". Ok, so she said things in her youth that is a bit out there. That in itself does not make her (O'Donnell) abnormal. Frankly, yes it would make her normal. Obama said in "Dreams of my father" if it came down to it he would stand with the Muslims. Does that make him normal in America where 70% (if not more) of the population consider themselves Christian? Or Michelle who said it was the first time in her life she had ever been proud of her country. (Man you are going to hate this) GW Bush trippling the money for Aids relief to Africa is not something she should be proud of this country for? Palin using Mama Grizzly as a description is abnormal. Do you for the moment think she actually relates more to an animal that eats it's young than she relates to humans? Talk about abnormal your ideas are further out there than theirs. Yes she (Palin) resigned her governorship of Alaska. Her stated reason was the media spot-light on her family. Needless to say being governor of Alaska and actually running for VP of the US entails a whole lot more media attention. Say she actually does want to run for President. To do so she will have to stay in that spot-light and raise a significant amount of money. If she did that then you would be accusing her of not doing her job and using the governors office as a stepping stone. Why are you not critizing Obama for doing nothing but campaigning for president when he was a Senator from Illinois. Your arguements are like lead balloons. They sink pretty fast under the light. I could use my same arguements to support a liberal or a conservative. Frankly you can't use yours to support anything.

                    Reply#14 - Tue Nov 2, 2010 7:06 PM EDT
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