Numbers: Our Data Library

This library contains all data PEJ creates or collects about the news media. The selections below will appear as charts you can customize. Use the menus on the left to filter the data according to your interests.

  • Who Was Covered on Network News

    As in print, most of the stories on network TV about the presidential debates in 2004 were about both candidates, not focused on one or the other.

  • Appearance of Character Themes and Rebuttals: 2004

    For both Sen. Kerry and President Bush, rebuttals of the dominant themes of the campaign were not frequent. The charge of Kerry being liberal received the most rebuttals.

  • Character Themes and Associations with the Candidates: 2004

    The character themes embedded in the coverage of the candidates in the spring leading up to the conventions tended to emphasize negative attributes of George Bush and John Kerry.

  • Percent of Themes by Candidate: 2004

    The dominant candidate campaign themes for the 2004 election focused on President Bush and were negative in nature. 
  • Positive and Negative Themes by Candidate: 2004

    The press coverage leading up to the conventions in 2004 tended to focus on Bush, both positive and negative character themes. There was little about comparatively little about John Kerry and most of it tended to be negative.

  • Sources for Character Theme Statements: 2004

    The dominant source for what the press was writing about the candidates in the spring of 2004 was the campaigns themselves, including the rival campaigns’ attack operations.

  • Most Important Problem Facing Journalism Today: 2004

    Journalists in 2004 were increasingly concerned with the effect of business pressures on their work.

  • Breaking News Viewership, First Night of Iraq War

    The broadcast networks such as NBC and CBS remained the breaking news source of choice on television at the onset of the Iraq war in 2003.

  • Local TV Public Attitudes: Factors Often Influencing Local TV News

    The public is much more skeptical of the motives inside local TV news than the news professionals who work in the industry.

  • Average Number of Stories on Election Front Pages: 2004

    In comparison with newspapers, the election front pages of online news sites featured a depth of stories.