The Return of the Honeymoon: Television News Coverage of New Presidents, 1981-2009

Content analysis of network evening news coverage during the first year of the Barack Obama presidency revealed coverage that was far more positive in tone than comparable news reports from the first years of the Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush presidencies. Both domestic and international policy evaluations of the Obama presidency were more positive in tone than those of the last three presidents to take office during partisan transfers of power. The findings reveal a revival of the media honeymoon that scholars thought had disappeared during the modern era of a more combative press. An investigation of the “beat sweetening” hypothesis reveals mixed results, suggesting the need for further investigation

News Coverage of New Presidents in \u3ci\u3eThe New York Times\u3c/i\u3e, 1981-2009

Content analysis of front-page The New York Times stories during the first year of the Barack Obama presidency revealed news coverage that was far more positive in tone than that received during the first year of the Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush presidencies. Overall, the Obama findings reveal a media honeymoon in that influential newspaper, a sharp contrast from first-year coverage of other presidents during the modern era of a more combative press. The positive policy coverage Obama received in the Times was also significantly more positive than on evening newscasts of network television and on Fox News’ Special Report

Partisan Targets of Media Fact-checking: Examining President Obama and the 113th Congress

An analysis of statements by President Obama and by Democratic and Republican members of Congress selected for analysis by PolitiFact.com and Washington Post Fact Checker reveals that PolitiFact was more likely to find greater deceit in Republican rhetoric and that the Fact Checker was more negative overall in its assessments. Legislators who had more than one statement analyzed during the study period were disproportionally likely to be influential members of the House or Senate leadership or likely 2016 presidential candidates. The lawmakers selected for greater scrutiny were also more likely to be more ideologically extreme than the median members of their party caucuses

Network Television’s Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election

Content analysis of network evening news coverage of the 2008 presidential election revealed a slight increase in the amount of coverage and a decline in the coverage of policy matters compared to 4 years earlier. Barack Obama received the most positive coverage recorded for any major party nominee on network television since the Center for Media and Public Affairs started analyzing election news content in 1988. The tonal gap between the Democratic and Republican nominees was also the largest recorded over the past six presidential elections. The one-sided coverage on ABC, CBS, and NBC was in sharp contrast to the more uniformly negative coverage of the two candidates during the evening newscasts on Fox News

International News Coverage of Barack Obama as a New President

Content-analyzed television newscasts in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Middle East during 2009 gave the new president more positive coverage than did US media. International news turned negative during the first half of 2010 but remained less negative than US news for most outlets. Positive international news coverage focused on Obama’s personality and his capacity to govern, while Middle East policies received largely negative comments. These findings demonstrate a president’s limited ability to “spin” international news and underscore key differences among domestic and international news outlets regarding coverage of a new US president

Detection of complete and partial chromosome gains and losses by comparative genomic in situ hybridization

Comparative genomic in situ hybridization (CGH) provides a new possibility for searching genomes for imbalanced genetic material. Labeled genomic test DNA, prepared from clinical or tumor specimens, is mixed with differently labeled control DNA prepared from cells with normal chromosome complements. The mixed probe is used for chromosomal in situ suppression (CISS) hybridization to normal metaphase spreads (CGH-metaphase spreads). Hybridized test and control DNA sequences are detected via different fluorochromes, e.g., fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and tetraethylrhodamine isothiocyanate (TRITC). The ratios of FITC/TRITC fluorescence intensities for each chromosome or chromosome segment should then reflect its relative copy number in the test genome compared with the control genome, e.g., 0.5 for monosomies, 1 for disomies, 1.5 for trisomies, etc. Initially, model experiments were designed to test the accuracy of fluorescence ratio measurements on single chromosomes. DNAs from up to five human chromosome-specific plasmid libraries were labeled with biotin and digoxigenin in different hapten proportions. Probe mixtures were used for CISS hybridization to normal human metaphase spreads and detected with FITC and TRITC. An epifluorescence microscope equipped with a cooled charge coupled device (CCD) camera was used for image acquisition. Procedures for fluorescence ratio measurements were developed on the basis of commercial image analysis software. For hapten ratios 4/1, 1/1 and 1/4, fluorescence ratio values measured for individual chromosomes could be used as a single reliable parameter for chromosome identification. Our findings indicate (1) a tight correlation of fluorescence ratio values with hapten ratios, and (2) the potential of fluorescence ratio measurements for multiple color chromosome painting. Subsequently, genomic test DNAs, prepared from a patient with Down syndrome, from blood of a patient with Tcell prolymphocytic leukemia, and from cultured cells of a renal papillary carcinoma cell line, were applied in CGH experiments. As expected, significant differences in the fluorescence ratios could be measured for chromosome types present in different copy numbers in these test genomes, including a trisomy of chromosome 21, the smallest autosome of the human complement. In addition, chromosome material involved in partial gains and losses of the different tumors could be mapped to their normal chromosome counterparts in CGH-metaphase spreads. An alternative and simpler evaluation procedure based on visual inspection of CCD images of CGH-metaphase spreads also yielded consistent results from several independent observers. Pitfalls, methodological improvements, and potential applications of CGH analyses are discussed

Planned Reduction in Electrical Energy Use in Nashville - Davidson County, Tennessee: A Preliminary Assessment

An assessment was carried out of the impacts of the various alternative strategies designed to reduce the rate of electrical energy use in the Nashville-Davidson County area, in the light of a potential crisis in supply. Seven strategies were identified among the major categories of voluntary reduction, price regulation, and mandatory reduction. Thirty-three sub-sectors were identified among residential, commercial and industrial users, and the consequences of imposing the strategies were assessed using a cross-impact matrix. The value of the methodology as an aid to public policy formulation lies in its possible extension to allow direct participation of various affected publics