Study: Media give Obama more and better coverage than predecessors

The media have lavished President Obama with more coverage and better coverage than his two predecessors during his first weeks in office, a nonpartisan media watchdog group reported Monday.

By contrast, a report by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA), Obama has endured much more critical handling of his policy proposals by the media.

Obama received almost four times as much coverage of his first 50 days in office than President George W. Bush had during nightly newscasts on ABC, CBS, NBC, and the Fox News Channel. Obama received almost twice as much coverage as President Bill Clinton.

According to the report, CBS led the other broadcast outlets, dedicating the most time to the new president.

Of those cumulative hours of reporting, the study found that 58 percent of the airtime was positive, compared to 33 percent positive for Bush, and 44 percent positive for Clinton.

But of all the coverage of Obama’s specific proposals, CMPA found that 39 percent of evaluative statements were positive.

CMPA is based at George Mason University in Virginia, which partnered with Chapman University in California.