Study: TV News More Favorable to Obama; ABC Fairest

The nightly news broadcasts of the four major networks have been twice as favorable to Barack Obama than they have been to John McCain, a new study by the nonpartisan Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) found.

Almost two-thirds of reports on Obama and running mate Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) have been positive, while 31 percent of reports on McCain and running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have been positive, the organization found.

CMPA, a non-partisan, non-profit organization affiliated with Virginia’s George Mason University, analyzed nearly 1,000 election news stories between August 23 and October 24 on the CBS, NBC, and ABC nightly news broadcasts, along with the first half hour of Fox News Channel’s “Special Report With Brit Hume.” The total runtime of stories between the two dates amounts to almost 34 hours of coverage in the broadcasts for the two candidates.

Among other findings, the CMPA report said ABC had the most balanced broadcast, followed by Fox’s “Special Report.” The Center said that CBS and NBC’s broadcasts were “tilted toward the Democrats.”

Michael O’Brien

Tags Barack Obama Center for Media and Public Affairs Entertainment Fox News Channel Joe Biden John McCain John McCain Person Career Sarah Palin United States

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