Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The financial crisis facing news organizations is so grave that it is now overshadowing concerns about the quality of news coverage, the flagging credibility of the news media, and other problems that have been very much on the minds of journalists over the past decade.
When it came to coverage, John McCain was a forgotten man compared with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But perhaps no news was good news for the GOP in a week during which the press highlighted some of the uglier divisions among Democrats.
With wins in Ohio and Texas, Hillary Clinton was the top campaign newsmaker last week. The media’s first verdict was that her aggressive attacks succeeded in stopping Barack Obama’s momentum. Their next question was whether Obama was capable of responding in kind.
Barack Obama generated more campaign coverage than Hillary Clinton in a week in which Democrats completely dominated the media narrative. But Clinton’s complaints about a journalistic tilt toward her opponent seemed to strike a responsive chord.
Obama’s big win in Wisconsin shaped the Democrats’ media narrative last week and had some pundits wondering whether Clinton was contemplating her own defeat. And why a New York Times expose about the presumptive GOP nominee may prove to be manna for McCain.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton dominated coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign last week, but in very different ways. While Obama got a big bounce from primary wins, the Clinton campaign was besieged by bad news. Meanwhile, John McCain inched closer to inevitability.
The three candidates with the best shot at next occupying the White House all got extensive coverage in the biggest week yet for campaign news. But none of them generated the headlines he or she really wanted. And, once again, Huckabee proved that the reports of his political demise were premature.
By generating more coverage than any other candidate last week, and easily outdistancing his GOP rivals, Senator John McCain rode a media narrative of near inevitability last week. Plus, Senator Ted Kennedy becomes a major newsmaker.
With the South Carolina primary as backdrop, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton finished in a near tie in the media derby. But in a nasty week former President Bill Clinton was a bigger newsmaker than any Republican candidate.
The two leading Democrats once again attracted more coverage than any of their GOP rivals in the race for media exposure last week. But the GOP overall tipped the scales in what became a big boost for Mitt Romney, both in Michigan and in the media.