Media’s Been Hardest on Candidate Obama, Study Shows

Of all the presidential hopefuls who’ve thus far made their designs on the White House known to the masses, one in particular has been subjected to harsh coverage by the American media, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism — but this special treatment might have something to do with the fact that Barack Obama also happens to be the incumbent. –KA

‘Political Hotsheet’ on CBS News:

Pew found that Mr. Obama was the subject of negative assessments nearly four times as often as he was the subject of positive assessments. It found he received “positive” coverage nine percent of the time, “neutral” coverage 57 percent of the time and “negative” coverage 34 percent of the time.

The study, which was conducted using a combination of “traditional media research methods [and] computer algorithms to track the level and tone of coverage,” cuts against the widespread conservative claim that the “liberal media” aides Mr. Obama and other Democrats while attacking Republicans.

Pew says it looked at coverage from more than 11,500 news outlets, including local and national broadcasts, news websites and blogs.

Read more