Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for January 2, 2018
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
January 2, 2018: As the Trump administration got started, 62% of media coverage was negative. Just 5% was positive, and the rest was neutral.[1]
According to the Pew Research Center, that’s far more negative than the coverage of any other recent president. When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, 28% of the coverage was negative. For George W. Bush, the share of negative stories was identical. For both men, there was a rough balance of negative and positive stories, with nearly half being neutral.
Barack Obama is the only recent president to receive overwhelmingly positive media coverage. Pew reports that 42% of the early stories concerning his administration were positive and just 20% were negative.
Pew also noted a shift in the topics covered. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Trump’s coverage was about leadership and character rather than ideology. For Obama, coverage was evenly divided between those topics. For Clinton and Bush, the focus was primarily on ideology.
Pew listed this as one of the 17 most striking findings of 2017.[2]
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- December 29, 2017 – 635 proposed regulations withdrawn
- December 28, 2017 – 46 percent say it’s completely accurate to say they’re proud to be an American
- December 27, 2017 – 5 million Americans of Hispanic ancestry do not self-identify as Hispanic or Latino
- December 26, 2017 – 50 U.S. senators previously served in House of Representatives
- December 22, 2017 – 55 percent of those who celebrate Christmas view it as a religious holiday
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
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Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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