Media coverage of poverty in the 2008 campaign

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity released a new report by Tom Freedman and John Bridgeland that looks at the coverage of poverty by the media 2003 to 2008.  "Reaching New Heights: The Issue of Poverty in the 2008 Campaign, A Study of Print Media" can be found here.  The key findings are:

• 2008 coverage of poverty as a topic in articles concerning the presidential campaigns was more than double that of 2004.
• The key drivers of the coverage in 2008 include John Edwards and the economy, but these were responsible for less than half the stories overall (44.8%).
• Both 2007 and 2008 were high points for coverage of poverty as an issue in politics.
• Overall, coverage of poverty in politics increased 369 percent since 2003.

-Thanks to Josh Nelson at the Hatcher Group for the heads up.  E.R. erosser@wcl.american.edu