Snowstorms, a thinning field of candidates and Donald Trump’s polling lead contributed to a smaller media turnout for the nation’s first caucus.
Margaret Sullivan: Here we are, roughly three months out from Tuesday, Nov. 3. Whatever the lost opportunities of the last cycle, there’s one last chance to get it right — or at least closer to right. Here are some ideas about how the media can use this crucial time to best serve the public good so that election night 2020 doesn’t amount to another epic journalistic failure.
More than 50 debates will have been broadcast and streamed by election day. Web-exclusive election night coverage will stream across Gannett’s digital platforms.
ABC’s World News Tonight hasn’t mentioned the midterm elections in its broadcast since Sept. 1, a study published Wednesday by the conservative-leaning watchdog group Media Research Center found. In the same time period, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News mentioned the midterms 14 and 11 times, respectively, MRC found. It’s a significant drop when compared to the same period during the 2006 midterms, when ABC mentioned the midterms 36 times, CBS mentioned them 58 times and NBC made 65 references.
Stations Ramping Up For Campaign Coverage
Local news operations are busy preparing for an active election season this fall. Station groups say the nature of their political coverage this season will be markedly different, as they heighten their commitment to probing candidates’ claims versus being just an outlet for press conferences and talking points. Plus, there will be increased use of digital and social media. This is the first of a three-part specai report on election coverage. Part 2 on election night coverage will appear tomorrow and part 3 on Thursday will examine the tools stations will deploy to create an edge with their election graphics.
In a coda to the often contentious relationship between Mitt Romney’s staff and the press, news outlets are preparing to file a formal complaint to the Romney campaign contesting some of the seemingly inflated charges that were billed to them from the campaign trail.
Exclusives
Study: Obama, Romney Coverage Is Negative
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 study of mainstream media coverage of the race for president.
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have accepted Univision’s invitation to attend forums focusing on Latino issues, albeit on separate nights.
The new channel will feature political reporting and analysis from such established sources as ABC News, Al Jazeera English, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Univision, together with popular online sources Philip DeFranco and BuzzFeed.
