EVENING NEWS SETS RECORDS FOR OBAMA COVERAGE

Wed, Apr 29, 2009
EURweb

http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur52784.cfm

EVENING NEWS SETS RECORDS FOR OBAMA COVERAGE: Research shows newscasts have covered him more than Bush and Clinton combined.

(April 29, 2009)

*Evening newscasts have spent more time covering our current president than the past two previous presidents combined, according to new findings from the nonpartisan research group Center for Media and Public Affairs.

The group, along with California's Chapman University, released a study that found the nightly newscasts devoted 27 hours, 44 minutes to Pres. Obama's presidency in his first 50 days. That compares to 7 hours, 42 minutes for Pres. George W. Bush and 15 hours, 2 minutes for Pres. Bill Clinton during the first 50 days of their first terms, reports Media Bistro.

Not only has Obama gotten more coverage, but that coverage has been more positive than his predecessors.

On the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts, 58% of all evaluations of the president and his policies have been favorable, while 42% were unfavorable. That compares with 33% positive in the comparable period of Bush's tenure and 44% positive for Pres. Clinton.

CBS led the coverage with 365 stories and 10 hours 46 minutes of airtime, followed by NBC with 327 stories and 9 hours 38 minutes, and ABC with 329 stories and 7 hours 20 minutes.

The first half hour of Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier," which the study says most closely resembles the network evening newscasts, devoted 10 hours 24 minutes to the Obama administration, nearly as much airtime as CBS gave him. But Fox News stands apart from its competitors here - only 13% of comments were considered favorable. On ABC, 57% of the comments were favorable, compared to 58% for CBS and 61% for NBC.

Information Researched By: Sister Anonymous