A First Look at 2008 Presidential Campaign Coverage

A new report from Tom Rosenstiel of the Project on Excellence in Journalism and the Shorenstein Center

Monday, Oct. 29— Nearly 11 months before anyone could cast a vote, the press had already narrowed the presidential horserace to five candidates. And while the coverage provided ample information on political tactics and fundraising, it offered citizens relatively little information on the candidates’ records or where they proposed to take the country, according to a joint study released today by the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) and the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

While Hillary Clinton received the most press exposure (17% of stories), fellow Democratic candidate Barack Obama was the candidate covered the most favorably—followed by Fred Thompson, during the first five months of 2007. In contrast, Republican hopeful John McCain received the most negative coverage. The tone of the stories about Clinton and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani were nearly identical: more negative than positive, according to the study.

The most striking finding is how oriented to tactics and polling the coverage was, even though experts know that a race so early is fluid, and polls are mostly about name recognition. Fully 63% of stories focused on such matters—and by most of these were polls and strategy rather than fundraising or other political matters. Another 17% of stories examined the personal backgrounds of the candidates. A mere 15% of stories focused on candidate policy proposals and ideas, which marks a sharp turn from what the public says it wants from campaign coverage.

And this tactical focus is even more pronounced when one looks at how stories were framed rather than the topic of the story. Just 12% of stories examined were presented in a way that explained how citizens might be affected by the election, while nearly nine-out-of-ten stories (86%) focused on matters that largely impacted only the parties and the candidates.

I Missed this when I was away”

Al-Qaida sympathizers vent against al-Jazeera over bin Laden’s message

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida sympathizers have unleashed a torrent of anger against Al-Jazeera television.

They accuse the pan-Arab TV network of misrepresenting Osama bin Laden’s latest audiotape in the excerpts it aired.

Users of a leading Islamic militant Web forum have posted thousands of insults against al-Jazeera for focusing on excerpts in which bin Laden criticizes mistakes by insurgents in Iraq, including his followers.

The editor-in-chief of the Qatar-based station says the tape has not been misrepresented.

Analysts said the reaction highlighted militants’ surprise at bin Laden’s words.

And they say it shows the militants’ dismay at the deep divisions among al-Qaida and other Iraqi militants - divisions that bin Laden appears to be trying to heal.

“It’s not about Al-Jazeera, it’s about their shock from bin Laden,” said Diaa Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamic militant groups.

WASHINGTION MONTHLY: INSIDE THE WORLD OF LYNDON LAROUCHE

Washington Monthly tells us about a major story in their new issue:

For thirty years, the Lyndon LaRouche movement has been a ubiquitous, if diminishing, presence in the political landscape of America. Earlier this year, LaRouche’s longtime printer, Ken Kronberg, committed suicide by throwing himself off a bridge onto a Virginia highway. In the current issue of the Washington Monthly, Avi Klein brings us a fascinating and mysterious tale of how Kronberg’s death presaged the end of a unique, if strange, era in American politics.

Although LaRouche has been the subject of numerous articles over the years, Klein points out a central truth about his organization: even more than a cult of personality or a political movement, it most resembles a vast and bizarre vanity press. As the movement’s printer, Kronberg was at the center of LaRouche’s attempts to change the world through mass production of pamphlets (which warn of enemies such as the “Conrad Black-backed-McCain-Lieberman-Donna Brazile cabal.”) But the printing press was also what kept the movement afloat financially for most of its existence, raising money from the sales of magazines, books, and special reports offering “intelligence” of dubious veracity. Ink, in other words, was the lifeblood of LaRouche’s organization.

The story of Kronberg’s death, and the demise of his printing company, is the story of the death of the LaRouche movement itself.

Christy at the UN

Veteran journalist Kevin Sanders dropped by to tell me he has been at the UN’s month-long sessions by the Committee on Disarmament discussing the thereats of nuclear proliferation globally and the need for new international restraints. Nobel Prize winners have spoken and leaders from many countries. They hav rated, he says, almost no coverage. But that changed yesterday. Why?

Supermodel Christy Brinkley moderated a session Suddenly shows like Inside Hollywood were inside the UN. Cn you imagine what would have happened had Paris Hilton showed up?

BBC

Bill Bowles writes from London on INI:

The BBC is currently flighting a programme in two parts entitled ‘No Plan, No Peace – the Inside Story of Iraq’s Descent into Chaos’ (28 and 29 October on BBC1). Way back and many times inbetween I have asserted that there was never meant to be a plan (at least in the generally accepted sense of the word) and indeed in 2003, the Bush regime stated that deposing Saddam was never about ‘nation-building’,

“We are not in Iraq to engage in nation-building — our mission is to help Iraqis so that they can build their own nation.” — Donald H. Rumsfeld, Washington Post, September 25 2003.