Category: Election Tracker
How news media are setting the 2020 election agenda: Chasing daily controversies, often burying policy
It’s a paradox of examining political coverage. Are news media just reporting what the political candidates are talking about? Or does political journalism really set the agenda by selecting stories […]
Facebook continues to run political ads with misinformation
Facebook claims it has enacted measures to stem the spread of misinformation on its platform since the 2016 election. But the platform seems to be applying a different set of […]
Even before Ukraine news, Joe Biden was the 2020 candidate with the most media coverage
Former Vice President Joe Biden has dominated the mainstream media’s coverage in the last month, even before the whistleblower’s complaint was reported in The Washington Post, prior to the Wall […]
Pete Buttigieg is flooding Iowa and New Hampshire with Facebook ads about his climate plan
The 2020 candidates are pouring money into online political ads and Facebook seems to be the platform of choice, with the 19 current Democratic candidates spending $32 million so far […]
In the effort to cover impeachment inquiry, media ignores 2020 candidates
There are less than two weeks until the next Democratic debate and mainstream media outlets have seemed to send nearly every reporter to cover the impeachment inquiry at the expense […]
Gabbard, Booker and Biden get most negative media coverage over last four months
Tulsi Gabbard, Cory Booker and Joe Biden are the 2020 Democratic candidates receiving the most negative media coverage, according to updated findings from the Storybench Election Coverage Tracker at Northeastern […]
Media continues to downplay Elizabeth Warren’s surging success in favor of a more comfortable narrative
In much the same way Sarah Palin’s personal life was covered in the news more than her policies in 2008, and just as Hillary Clinton was routinely described as “shrill,” […]
Measuring Google search interest for 2020 candidates following Fox News appearances
While the Democratic debates have no doubt helped some of the lesser known 2020 candidates gain broader name recognition, some have turned to Fox News to appeal directly to a […]
How Northeastern researchers are visualizing the presidential debates
Don’t have time to watch the debates? It can be tricky to find a recap that accurately represents exactly what took place. That’s why Laura South, a PhD candidate studying […]
Exploring 2020 demographic targeting and attack ads using Facebook’s Ad Library
Facebook’s Ad Library was criticized this week by several sources quoted in The New York Times for being “effectively useless as a way to comprehensively track political advertising.” Those sources […]
Quantifying the Twitter attacks on Kamala Harris during and following the Democratic debates
Media outlets have been quick to crown Kamala Harris the winner of last month’s Democratic debates thanks to a series of stand-out moments that included passionate storytelling and her pummeling […]
Men are writing two-thirds of national stories about the 2020 presidential race
Men are writing the vast majority of national online news stories about the 2020 presidential primary, according to a preliminary byline count performed by the Storybench Election Coverage Tracker at […]
History repeats itself as women on the 2020 campaign trail receive more negative coverage than their male peers
The women running for president in 2020 continue to receive more negative press than their male peers, according to updated and expanded findings from the Storybench Election Coverage Tracker at […]
Fox News’ obsession with AOC crowded out 2020 candidate announcements
“AOC mocks president’s literacy.” “How AOC became the boss of the Democratic Party.” “Ocasio-Cortez claims Trump ‘hates all immigrants.’” Those are all headlines that appeared on Foxnews.com in the days […]
What issues are 2020 candidates being mentioned with in the media?
Health care is a top concern among voters. That’s according to a recent poll of 2,000 Americans where respondents across age, gender and party lines ranked health care as the […]
Facebook political ads reveal an early but limited look at the Democratic playbook
In the first three days since launching his 2020 run for president last week, Joe Biden spent more than $400,000 on Facebook ads. His fellow candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie […]
We need deeper reporting and not just horserace coverage of Pete Buttigieg
The media loves a rising star and Pete Buttigieg is no exception. But is “Mayor Pete” just a flash in the pan? Time will tell, as Margaret Sullivan pointed out […]
How are Iowa and New Hampshire outlets covering 2020?
Less obsession with Trump. Less scandal coverage. More focus on policy specifics. Deeper coverage of underdog candidates. Those are the main trends that we noticed after analyzing over 50 articles […]
Illuminating the road to 2020 through media coverage, candidate tweets and Google searches
Aleszu Bajak Storybench’s editor is Aleszu Bajak, a science journalist and former Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. He is an alum of Science Friday, the founder of LatinAmericanScience.org, and […]
Women on the 2020 campaign trail are being treated more negatively by the media
Update, April 24, 2019: This project is ongoing, and we are adding more data to the original analysis as we go. See new analysis of the full text of 1,397 […]
Sexism through sentiment analysis: Looking at the media’s coverage of 2020 candidates
The 2020 election cycle has firmly begun. With Bernie Sanders throwing his hat into the ring last week, the Democrats now find themselves with a large (and likely still growing) […]
Horserace or issues? Tracking the media’s coverage of the 2020 election
It is quickly becoming impossible to ignore the 2020 presidential buzz. President Trump, of course, will likely be the Republican nominee barring some unlikely development. But on the Democratic side […]
Six ways media outlets are tracking presidential candidates for 2020
If you’re still reeling from the round-the-clock coverage of the 2016 presidential election, we have some bad news: It’s starting all over again. With the midterms past us, the stage […]