Public Wants More Issue Coverage

PUBLIC WANTS MORE ISSUE COVERAGE
[SOURCE: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press]
Democrats, Republicans and independents are in agreement that the media should focus more on issues -- both foreign and domestic -- in covering the presidential campaign. More than three-quarters of the public (78%) would like to see more coverage of the candidates' positions on domestic issues and 74% would like to see more coverage of foreign policy positions. Fewer than half the public (40%) know a lot or a fair amount about Democratic front runner Barack Obama's foreign policy positions. This compares with 54% who know at least a fair amount about Hillary Clinton's positions on foreign policy and 52% who know as much about John McCain's positions. Even among those who have been following campaign news very closely, only a bare majority (54%) say they know a lot or a fair amount about Obama's foreign policy positions. Fully a quarter say they know very little. By comparison, 71% of those who are paying very close attention to campaign news know a lot or a fair amount about Clinton's positions on foreign policy and nearly as many (67%) know at least a fair amount about McCain's positions. Democrats know more about Clinton's positions on foreign policy than they do about Obama's positions. More than six-in-ten Democrats or independents who lean Democratic (63%) know a lot or a fair amount about Clinton's foreign policy positions, while 50% know a lot or a fair amount about Obama's positions. Among Republicans, 61% know a lot or a fair amount about McCain's positions on foreign policy.

* Has the Press been too easy on Obama?
Complaints from the Clinton campaign and others that the media has been too easy on Obama seem to have had a limited impact on public opinion. Fully 58% of the public say the press has been fair in the way it has covered Obama's campaign; 28% say the press has been too easy on the Illinois senator - up slightly from 23% in early February. The public is somewhat more critical of the way the press has covered the Clinton campaign, 18% say the press has been too tough on Clinton while only 8% say the same about coverage of Obama. Even so, 58% say the press has been fair to Clinton. Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) say the McCain campaign has gotten fair treatment from the press. Equal percentages (14%) say the press has been either too easy or too tough on McCain.

* Campaign Dominates, Iraq Fades from News Agenda
According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, since the beginning of October, 2007, the presidential campaign has been the most heavily covered news story each week with only two exceptions: the California wildfires in late-October and the turmoil in Pakistan in early November.
http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=399

* Poll: More Respondents Find Hillary Clinton Coverage Fair
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6539085.html?rssid=193