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News Content Analysis

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    Winning the Media Campaign

    With fewer than two weeks left before election day, how has the press covered the race for president? How has the tone of McCain’s coverage compared with Obama’s, or Palin’s. A new PEJ study from the conventions through the last debate offers answers.

  • report

    Every Now and Again–A Study on News Coverage of Immigration

    How do the news media cover the issue of immigration? A new PEJ study, produced in collaboration with the Brookings Institution and The University of Southern California Norman Lear Center, reveals the uneven, and episodic nature of the media’s approach, based on a close look at the year 2007.

  • report

    How the Media Have Handled Palin’s Faith

    Who is Sarah Palin? The question has dominated campaign coverage in the weeks since her nomination as John McCain’s running mate. In the mainstream media at least, the answer has focused almost as much on her family life as on her public record. But despite that focus, and the debate over her beliefs, coverage of […]

  • report

    How the Media Have Handled Palin’s Religious Faith

    Since being named to the GOP ticket by John McCain, Sarah Palin has generated extensive coverage of many aspects of her background, her record in public office and her family life. But what are voters learning from the media about the Alaska Governor’s religious faith and beliefs?

  • report

    Tracking the Economic Slowdown

    The story of the troubled U.S. economy has proven a hard one for journalists to tell. How have the media covered the slump? How timely was the reporting? Did the media influence public attitudes?

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    Running on Faith

    In the 2008 election season, religion has been a significant factor for candidates in both parties. But even with the Jeremiah Wright controversy, evangelical voter angst, and a Mormon candidate, the media largely avoided dealing directly with the explosive issue of faith.

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    Two campaign speeches, one JFK moment?

    Through the 2008 primary election season, two candidates—Democratic Senator Barack Obama and Republican former governor Mitt Romney—received more media attention about their faith than any of the other candidates combined.

    For both, the attention raised concerns about their relig …

  • short reads

    Follow-Up Failure in Texas

    That’s how much more coverage the Texas raid of a polygamist ranch received compared to the ruling later reversing it.

  • short reads

    Media Pass on NY Times Pentagon Piece

    A single pair of follow-up stories to The New York Times military analyst expose have appeared in the mainstream press, according to a PEJ analysis.

  • report

    New Hampshire Teaches National News Media a Lesson

    It wasn’t quite “Dewey Defeats Truman,” but after the Jan. 8 Granite State primary confounded many of the pollsters and pundits, one of the key story lines that emerged in coverage of the McCain and Clinton victories was the media’s proclivity to predict and pre-analyze the results.

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