Studies & Research

According to the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” has something to crow about.

The CMPA examined the three network evening newscasts, along with the first half-hour of “Special Report,” and examined how they treated the GOP candidates. The findings? The horse race gets more coverage than the issues, all of the candidates except Mitt Romney received mostly favorable coverage by all of the outlets, and the outlet that came the closest to being balanced was “Special Report.”

CBS had the most positive portrayals — 57% positive vs. 43% negative, partly because of its highly favorable (89% positive) evaluations of Ron Paul. FOX had the most balanced overall coverage with 52% positive vs. 48% negative comments. NBC was the most negative overall with 27% positive vs. 73% negative coverage, followed closely by ABC with 32% positive vs. 68% negative coverage. Both NBC and ABC featured 85% negative comments on Romney.

Caveats abound, of course. “Special Report” is on cable, not broadcast, and it isn’t apples to apples to compare half of an hour-long broadcast to a half-hour broadcast.

Public Policy Polling released its 3rd annual TV news trust poll, and the results are slightly schizophrenic.

Fox News Channel was both the most trusted and the most distrusted of the news channels, garnering 34% of respondents in each category. FNC was followed by PBS, CNN and ABC in the “trusted” category. In the “distrusted category, FNC was followed by Comedy Central (we know, we know, not really a news channel), MSNBC and CNN.

Not surprisingly, there was an ideological bias at play. “Somewhat conservative” and “very conservative” respondents overwhelmingly trusted Fox News, and distrusted just about everything else. Self-identified liberals and moderates trusted the broadcast news divisions and CNN, but not Fox News, or as Dean Debnam, the president of Public Policy Polling said in announcing the results:

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Mediabistro.com is partnering up with Poll Position, the new polling company founded by former CNN executive Eason Jordan. On occasion, TVNewser and our other blogs will share results from Poll Position polls having to do with news media consumption and coverage. Each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, Poll Position conducts national telephone polling, asking more than 1,000 Americans 10 hot topic questions in addition to demographic questions – gender, race, age, political affiliation. Among the Poll Position questions this week was the following:

Do you think that Stephen Colbert Should Join the 2012 Race for President?

Yes	No	N/O
12.5%	68.2%	19.3%

National Telephone Poll of 541 Registered Voters / 01.15.11 / Margin of Error +/- 4%

An overwhelming majority of respondents don’t approve of Colbert’s faux-Presidential run. Note: this question was part of a poll of 1,179 registered voters, but was only asked to the 541 respondents who identified as Republicans who said they were likely to vote, hence the +/- 4% margin of error.

Demographic details below

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A new study in the journal Political Communication suggests that there is a correlation between the physical attractiveness of a politician, and the amount of time they get to discuss issues on TV news.

The New York Times examines the study, and talks to some familiar names to get their take on it:

Jeff Greenfield, an author and political analyst, said he thought it possible that networks had “some unconscious tilt to better-looking guests.” But, he added, “not nearly as much as the full-tilt preference for anchors and news readers who set hearts, and perhaps other body parts, aflutter.”

Richard C. Wald, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and former senior vice president of ABC News, went one step further. “Since the day that Socrates was known for being ugly and Pericles for being handsome and compelling, humans have found better-looking persons to be more interesting to look at than those less well-favored by the culture,” he said.

Mediabistro.com is partnering up with Poll Position, the new polling company founded by former CNN executive Eason Jordan. On occasion, TVNewser and our other blogs will share results from Poll Position polls having to do with news media consumption and coverage. Each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, Poll Position conducts national telephone polling, asking more than 1,000 Americans 10 hot topic questions in addition to demographic questions – gender, race, age, political affiliation. Among the Poll Position questions this week was the following:

Do you think that the national TV news networks provide too little, too much or just the right amount of coverage of the U.S. presidential election contest?

Too Much	Too Little	Right Amount	N/O
41.8%	20.2%	26.3%	11.7%

National Telephone Poll of 1,094 Registered Voters / 01.03.11 / Margin of Error +/- 3%

A plurality of respondents say that there is too much coverage of the election by the TV news networks, and that holds up across all demographics, including age, sex, race and political affiliation. Because the poll is just of registered voters, who are more likely to care about politics than those not registered, the actual interest in coverage could be skewed even further towards the “too much” category.

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TV news analyst Andrew Tyndall has released his latest report, the 2011 network news year in review. As usual, he listed the most frequently used network correspondents for the year.

This year, the top five were: ABC’s David Muir (right), with 343 minutes of airtime, ABC’s Jake Tapper with 283 minutes of airtime, NBC’s Richard Engel with 246 minutes, NBC’s Chuck Todd with 226 minutes and CBS’ Nancy Cordes, also with 226 minutes. Last year Tapper and Muir led the pack, though their positions were reversed.

What stories received the most coverage on the network evening newscasts last year?

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The Project for Excellence in Journalism released its annual report looking back on the year in media. Among the findings: while Fox News and MSNBC spent a good deal of time covering politics and domestic issues, CNN spent far more time than its competitors covering international news… and some domestic stories as well.

Fox News and MSNBC both spent a plurality of their time covering two stories: the economy, and the 2012 election. MSNBC spent nearly 30% of its newshole covering the economy, and 17% covering the election, while FNC spent 21% of its newshole on the economy and 16% on the election.

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The Project for Excellence in Journalism released its annual report looking back at the year in media. Among the findings: the “CBS Evening News” and the “PBS NewsHour” differentiated themselves from the other evening newscasts in significant ways, while CBS has also been slowly adding more hard news to its morning show in advance of its January format change.

The top five stories on the network evening newscasts were the economy, unrest in the Middle East, the 2012 election, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the shooting in Tucson that included Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

“Traditionally, the three broadcast networks have not had marked variations in their selection of news,” the PEJ writes in its report. “That appears to be changing. In 2011, one network appears to differentiating itself with a more hard news orientation.”

That network is CBS, which spent more time on the economy than either of its competitors, and less airtime on lifestyle, celebrity or sports stories than its competition.

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Mediabistro.com is partnering up with Poll Position, the new polling company founded by former CNN executive Eason Jordan. On occasion, TVNewser and our other blogs will share results from Poll Position polls having to do with news media consumption and coverage. Each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, Poll Position conducts national telephone polling, asking more than 1,000 Americans 10 hot topic questions in addition to demographic questions – gender, race, age, political affiliation. Among the Poll Position questions this week was the following:

NBC is considering the possibility of making “American Idol” TV show host Ryan Seacrest the co-host of NBC’s “Today Show” If Ryan Seacrest co-hosted NBC’s “Today Show,” would you be more or less inclined to watch the “Today Show”?

More inclined to watch	Less inclined to watch	No difference	N/O
12.2%	39.3%	42.0%	6.5%

National Telephone Poll of 1,133 Registered Voters / 12.15.11 / Margin of Error +/- 3%

The good news for NBC is that a plurality of respondents say it would make no difference in their viewing habits, though close behind is the group that says it would be less inclined to tune in Only 12.2% said they would be more likely to tune in because of Seacrest’s presence. Of course, for NBC, the goal is not to boost viewership as much as it is to retain viewership. When you break it down by demographics:

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Mediabistro.com is partnering up with Poll Position, the new polling company founded by former CNN executive Eason Jordan. On occasion, TVNewser and our other blogs will share results from Poll Position polls having to do with news media consumption and coverage. Each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night, Poll Position conducts national telephone polling, asking more than 1,000 Americans 10 hot topic questions in addition to demographic questions – gender, race, age, political affiliation. Among the Poll Position questions this week was the following:

Do you believe that one or more of the cable television news networks try to inflame public opinion?

Yes	No	N/O
64.4%	14.7%	20.9%

National Telephone Poll of 1,138 Registered Voters / 11.29.11 / Margin of Error +/- 3%

If the respondent answered in the affirmative, they were asked a followup:

Do you feel that Fox News, CNN or MSNBC is most guilty of trying to inflame public opinion?

Fox News	MSNBC	CNN	N/O
32.2%	27.0%	22.4%	18.4%

National Telephone Poll of 1,138 Registered Voters / 11.29.11 / Margin of Error +/- 3%

A majority of respondents believe that cable news tries to inflame public opinion, and Fox news and MSNBC are the ones cited as being the worst offenders. When you break it down into demographics, things are about what you would expect:

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