White House Watch: Obama's First Year · 2020-07-22 · White House Watch: Obama's First Year Major...

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White House Watch: Obama's First Year Major Media Coverage of the 44th President Volume XXIV Number 1: 1st Quarter 2010 MAJOR FINDINGS: He’s the One — President Obama generated over 1800 mainstream media stories Page 2 All in the Family – The president’s daughters each got more coverage than 10 cabinet secretaries, the directors of the CIA, FBI, OMB, and EPA. Page 2 In the Balance — The tone of the president’s mainstream media coverage was almost perfectly balanced (52% positive). Page 3 Compared to What? – His press was more positive than the first-year coverage Bush, Clinton, and Reagan received. Page 7 Goodbye Honeymoon — But President Obama’s evaluations were 62 percent negative the second half of the year. Page 4 Taking Issue — Coverage of his policies was 61 percent negative. Page 5 He’s the One, They’re Not – Coverage of the rest of his administration was 60 percent negative. Page 5 The FOX Difference – On FOX coverage of the president was 79 percent negative and coverage of his policies was 85 percent negative. Page 8 How have the major media covered the first year of the Obama Administration? How does coverage of the current administration compare to its predecessors? This report examines media coverage from Inauguration Day 2009 through January 20th, 2010 on the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news shows, the front page of the New York Times, Newsweek and Time. In addition, we examined the coverage on the Fox News Channel's "Special Report with Bret Baier." Finally, based on previous CMPA studies, we compare the Obama Administration to those of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

Transcript of White House Watch: Obama's First Year · 2020-07-22 · White House Watch: Obama's First Year Major...

Page 1: White House Watch: Obama's First Year · 2020-07-22 · White House Watch: Obama's First Year Major Media Coverage of the 44th President Volume XXIV Number 1: 1st Quarter 2010 MAJOR

White House Watch: Obama's First YearMajor Media Coverage of the 44th President

Volume XXIV Number 1: 1st Quarter 2010

MAJOR FINDINGS:

����� He’s the One — President Obama generated over 1800 mainstream media stories Page 2

����� All in the Family – The president’s daughters each got more coverage than 10 cabinet secretaries, the directors of the CIA, FBI, OMB, and EPA. Page 2

����� In the Balance — The tone of the president’s mainstream media coverage was almost perfectly balanced (52% positive). Page 3

����� Compared to What? – His press was more positive than the first-year coverageBush, Clinton, and Reagan received. Page 7

����� Goodbye Honeymoon — But President Obama’s evaluations were 62 percent negative the second half of the year. Page 4

����� Taking Issue — Coverage of his policies was 61 percent negative. Page 5

����� He’s the One, They’re Not – Coverage of the rest of his administration was 60percent negative. Page 5

����� The FOX Difference – On FOX coverage of the president was 79 percent negative and coverage of his policies was 85 percent negative. Page 8

How have the major media covered the first year of the Obama Administration? How does coverageof the current administration compare to its predecessors? This report examines media coverage fromInauguration Day 2009 through January 20th, 2010 on the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news shows,the front page of the New York Times, Newsweek and Time. In addition, we examined the coverageon the Fox News Channel's "Special Report with Bret Baier." Finally, based on previous CMPAstudies, we compare the Obama Administration to those of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and RonaldReagan.

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Amount of Coverage

Barack Obama’s presidency has been a majornews story throughout the year garnering over3,000 network television stories. Among thenetworks, NBC led with 1,027 stories followedby ABC (1,023) and CBS (964). The first halfof FOX “Special Report with Bret Baier”yielded 1,789 stories. (We examine the first 30minutes of “Special Report,” since it mostclosely resembles the network newscasts). Thefront page of the New York Times ran 660stories about the Obama Administration duringits first year.

There were 144 administration stories inNewsweek, while Time magazine ran 200stories. The lower number of news stories inNewsweek is a reflection of the increasingnumber of opinion columns that the magazine hasrun since its 2009 redesign.

Who Made News

Mainstream media coverage of the ObamaAdministration has focused heavily on the presi-dent. Mr. Obama was discussed in 1,824stories during his first year in office. (A discus-sion is defined as more than 20 seconds in a TVstory and more than one paragraph in a printstory.) Secretary of State Clinton had thesecond highest profile with 144 stories. The FirstLady placed third with 110 stories. TreasurySecretary Geithner (89 stories) and AttorneyGeneral Holder (50 stories) round out the topfive.

Defense Secretary Gates (49) and Vice Presi-dent Biden (48) were almost as visible as theAttorney General. Federal Reserve ChairmanBernanke placed ninth with 35 stories. Firstdaughters Sasha (37) and Malia (35) alsoplaced in the top ten figures in the news. Infact, Sasha and Malia had a higher media profilethan 10 cabinet secretaries, the White HouseChief of Staff and the Directors of the CIA,FBI, Office of Management and Budget andEPA.

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Among the agencies and departments in thenews, the Defense Department was the mostprominent (300 stories). Defense was followedby unnamed or general references to the WhiteHouse (224). US troops and commanders inthe field garnered 176 discussions. The CDC(73) and the Treasury Department (70) roundout the top five administration departments in thenews.

Rating the President

During the first full year of his administration,President Obama’s mainstream media coveragewas almost perfectly balanced – 48 percentpositive vs. 52 percent negative evaluations bynon-partisan sources* and reporters. Forexample, Fred Krupp of the Environmental

Defense Fund praised Obama’s actions onglobal warming, “I think it’s terrific that thePresident is going to Copenhagen; it signals tothe world that he is serious and the US isserious . . .” (NBC 11/25/09). On the otherhand, Tom Parker of Amnesty Internationalcriticized the president’s stand on Guantanamo,“I don’t think this really changes much, what heis doing is changing the venue but not reallychanging any policies.” (NBC 12/15/09)

* Note: We report evaluations by nonpartisansources, excluding comments by the administration andrival parties about each other, because research showsthat non-partisan sources have the most influence onpublic opinion, and they are also more subject to thediscretion of reporters.

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The president fared best on the front page of theNew York Times (52% positive), followed bythe news magazines (46% positive), and worston the three broadcast networks (45% positive).Among the networks, CBS was the most nega-tive (39% positive) while ABC was the onlynetwork with a majority of positive evaluations(51% positive). NBC fell in between at 45percent positive. Non-partisan evaluations ofthe president in the pages of Time were evenlybalanced (50% positive), while opinions wereslightly more negative in Newsweek (44%positive).

President Obama’s overall balance ingood and bad press masks a sharpdownturn after an early “honeymoon”period. Presidential evaluations fromJanuary through July were 53 percentpositive (vs. 47% negative) among non-partisans, but they dropped to 38 per-cent positive from August through Janu-ary 2010.

The New York Times offered the presi-dent his best press during the early daysof the administration, but the front pageof the Times turned more negative in thesecond half of the year. Good pressdropped from 59 percent positive in theJanuary to July period to 43 percentpositive during the second half of theyear. However, this was not the sharp-est decline found in mainstream media.Coverage on CBS dropped from 51percent positive in the first six months toonly 26 percent positive in the last sixmonths, a 25 percentage drop. Apprais-als on ABC dropped 17 points (from55% to 38% positive) during the same

periods. Coverage on NBC was muchmore consistent, dropping only from 47 percentpositive in the first six months to 41 percent inthe final six months. While coverage in Timemagazine followed the general decline, dropping15 percentage points (57% to 42%), coveragein Newsweek actually improved, rising from 36percent to 50 percent positive.

The president continues to receive his bestmarks on the personal front and his worst markson the issues. Evaluations of the president’slikeability and other general sentiments ran 69percent positive among non-partisans. OneNew Jersey voter remembered her excitement

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during the 2008 election and voting for Obama,"It’s all anyone could talk about for weeks. Wewere all so excited. We couldn’t wait to go tothe voting booth.’’ Ratings of the president’sperformance on the job were 54 percent posi-tive. For example, Bryan Walsh wrote in Time,“The President promised change, and on thisscore he has delivered.” (10/5/09) But Mr.Obama’s policy proposals were praised just 39percent of the time. As one CBS analyst put it,“The more he talks about these hard issues theless people are buying it.” (11/23/09) All otherevaluations of the president ran 30 percentpositive.

The president’s decline in media ratings in the

Rating the Administration

While President Obama enjoyed an early periodof good press, the same was not true for therest of his administration. Mainstream mediacoverage of the administration, apart for thepresident, was only 40 percent positive amongnon-partisan sources. The administration faredbest in the newsmagazines (44% positive) andworst on the front page of the New York Times(39% positive). The broadcast networks werealmost as harsh at 40 percent positive.

second half of the year oc-curred across all areas ofevaluation. His personalevaluations dropped from 79percent positive during theJanuary through July period to51 percent in the second halfof the year. Similarly, jobperformance ratings droppedfrom 61 percent positive to 46percent positive over thecourse of the year. Appraisalsof the president’s policiesshifted from 42 percent posi-tive in the opening months of

the new administration to 34 percent positive asthe year drew to a close.

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Only a handful of individuals in the administrationwere evaluated more than 10 times over thecourse of the year. The most frequently evalu-ated figure was Tim Geithner, whose 38 evalua-tions ran 32 percent positive. Michelle Obamaplaced second with 30 evaluations, which were90 percent positive. Federal Reserve ChairmanBen Bernanke was evaluated 28 times, andopinions ran 64 percent positive. One-third(33%) of Hillary Clinton’s 27 evaluations werepositive. Larry Summers was the only otheradministration figure to garner more than 10evaluations (11), and they ran 73 percent posi-tive.

What Made News

While many issues faced the Obama administra-tion during its first year, none received moreattention than the state of the economy. Theeconomy was extensively discussed in 291stories about the administration. Not far behind

While health care reform was a major newsstory throughout the year, much of that coveragerevolved around Congressional action and wasnot part of the administration’s coverage. As aresult, health care reform placed sixth with 199discussions, the same number directed towardthe war in Afghanistan. A collection of gaffes,scandals and unethical behaviors that affectedadministration appointees were discussed in 173stories. The war in Iraq (92) and the budgetbattle (79) round out the top ten extensivelydiscussed issues.

Non-partisan appraisals of the administrationhave been consistent across the first year inoffice. Evaluations from January to July ran 41percent positive before dropping slightly to 39percent positive from August to January 2010.

were concerns about terrorism (270 stories),including the continuing debate over terroristtrials and the Christmastime “underwearbomber.” The controversial bailouts of WallStreet and the auto industry were extensivelydiscussed in 250 stories. Defense issues, apartfrom the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, were thesubject of 226 stories. The President’s economicstimulus plan rounded out the top five issues with225 discussions.

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Past vs. Present

While President Obama’s media image hasgrown tarnished, CMPA studies have found thatother recent presidents fared more poorly in themedia during their first year in office. WhilePresident Obama enjoyed a 45 percent positiverating among non-partisan opinions on thetelevision networks, George W. Bush receivedonly 38 percent positive evaluations from inaugu-ration day through the end of 2001.* BillClinton had 37 percent positive evaluationsduring the same period in 1993; and RonaldReagan had 35 percent positive evaluations in1981.

Similarly, in a CMPA study of front page cover-age in the New York Times, first-year evalua-tions of Bush were 32 percent positive, Clinton’sevaluations were 38 percent positive, andReagan’s were 32 percent positive. Thus,Obama’s balanced coverage in the Times in2009 was 20 points better than Presidents Bushand Reagan and 14 points better than his demo-cratic predecessor.

Every president we have studied has seen adrop in media ratings over the course of his firstyear in office. A look at network TV coverageof four presidents shows the pattern only variesin the size of the decline. The only exceptionwas George W. Bush when the 9/11 attacksdramatically changed his media coverage. Priorto 9/11, President Bush was experiencing a dropon par with that seen during Ronald Reagan’sfirst year. President Reagan suffered the biggestdrop – from 41 percent positive in the firstquarter to 24 percent positive in the last. Presi-dent Bush experienced a 12 point drop in themonths leading up to 9/11. President Clintondropped from 40 percent in the first quarter to29 percent in the final quarter. PresidentObama started off more positively than hispredecessors (52% positive) and dropped 13percentage points during the year to 39 percentpositive in the fourth quarter of 2009.

* Our previous study included coverage of presidentsfrom inauguration day through the end of their firstcalendar year. Our ongoing tracking of the Obamaadministration covers his entire first year in office.

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Outside the Mainstream

FOX News “Special Report with Bret Baier”provided a distinctly different view of the Obamaadministration. Overall, only one in five (21%)non-partisan sources on “Special Report” gavethe president a thumbs-up.

As in the mainstream media, the president faredbest in personal evaluations on “Special Report.”These general evaluations of the president werethe only area where opinions were more positivethan negative (56% positive vs. 44% negative).The CEO of US Bancorp summed up a WhiteHouse meeting, “He didn’t call us any names, itwas productive and I would say it was veryserious. . .” (12/14/09). Appraisals of thepresident’s job performance were only 21percent positive. One gay rights activist com-plained, “President Obama missed an opportu-nity to state his position against these discrimina-tory attacks with the clarity and moral imperative

that would have helped in this close fight. Subtlestatements from the White House are notenough.” (11/6/09) Evaluations of thepresident’s policies and issue stances receivedonly 15 percent approval. For example, theProgressive Change Campaign Committeedenounced health care reform, “President

Obama should frankly feel ashamed that hepromised Americans a public option, got peopleto believe real reform was possible and thennever truly fought for it – instead pushing aninsurance mandate that he specifically cam-paigned against” (12/23/09). All other evalua-tions ran 21 percent positive.

While President Obama received overwhelminglynegative coverage on FOX, he did fare slightlybetter than the rest of his administration. Theadministration garnered only 19 percent positiveevaluations among non-partisans on “SpecialReport.”

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FOX on the Issues

While the state of the economy headlined admin-istration news in the mainstream media, terror-ism and operations at Guantanamo (106 discus-sions) led the issue agenda on FOX. The healthcare reform debate (103 discussions) rankedsecond in FOX issue coverage compared tosixth in the mainstream media. Defense issuesplaced third on FOX with 94 discussions. Thegeneral state of the economy (74 discussions)placed fourth in the FOX issue agenda com-pared to first in the mainstream media. Theeconomic stimulus package (63 discussions)placed fifth in both the mainstream media and onFOX.

The Wall Street bailout was the subject of 62discussions, putting it in sixth place versus itsthird place position in the mainstream agenda.The war in Afghanistan, with 46 discussions onFOX, placed seventh in both issue agendas.The assortment of gaffes and scandals that hasaffected one or more administration figuresplaced eighth on both Fox (44 discussions)and the mainstream media. The federalbudget, with 42 discussions, and concernsabout unemployment (35 discussions) roundout the top ten issues.

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White House Watch: Obama's First YearMajor Media Coverage of the 44th President

Media Monitor (Copyright © 2009) is published quarterly by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonpartisanand nonprofit research organization. The Center conducts scientific studies of how the media treat social andpolitical issues. Yearly individual and organizational subscriptions are available.E-mail: [email protected] • On the Web: www.cmpa.com • Phone: 202-223-2942 • Fax: 202-872-4014

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White House Watch:Obama's First Year

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