PowerPoint for Communication Studies 488 - 2012 election coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle, and online news sources FireDogLake, Conservative Daily News and Wall Street Journal

1. 2012 Election Coverage Justin Norman, Elliott Polakoff, Carolyn Salari

2. Coverage of 2012 Election Mostly indirect coverage of election and GOP candidates “Some of President Obama’s most liberal supporters are threatening to stop volunteering… for his re-election campaign after he compromised on a key campaign promise…” (Joe Garofoli, 12/8/10) “At the same time, moderate Senate Democrats facing re-election in two years are forcing their own leaders to embrace budget restraints that would have been unthinkable a few months ago.” (Carolyn Lochhead, 2/14/11)

3. 2012 Election Direct coverage of the issues, both national and specific to California, that are going to be important in the election, but not the candidates “To win support from the gay rights community in the 2012 election… the president “will have to have become, by then, a supporter of full marriage rights”.” (Bob Egelko, 12/4/10)

4. 2012 Republican Candidates Coverage on potential Republican candidates only gives lip-service to fact that they are running. No analysis on electoral prospects for nomination or presidency “…major presidential hopefuls… include former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, and former Utah Governor and ambassador to China John Huntsman.” (Carla Marinuccci and Joe Garofoli, 3/21/11)

5. 2012 Reagan Comparison For the GOP to regain the presidency, the candidate must be a “great communicator”, like Reagan. It’s more about communicating the Republican message, than the issues. “Lacking an obvious front-runner or even a candidate who is assumed to be first in line for the nomination, party donors and leaders probably will gravitate toward a candidate who can conjure some of the winning Reagan magic.” (Carla Marinucci, 2/4/11)

6. 2012 Key Themes GOP v. Obama “President Obama needs to defend his poor record.. He should be raising money – he should be running scared.” – former US Treasurer Rosario Marin “House GOP leaders blasted Obama for changing the subject from the economy and failing to defend the law.” (Carolyn Lochhead, 2/24/11)

7. 2012 Key Themes Election coverage on local issues Key 2012 referendums: Prop 8 and Prop 19 Prop 8: “Major Victory for Gay Rights; Defense of Marriage Act: Administration Ends Support” (Carolyn Lochhead, 2/24/11) Prop 19: “Defeat of Pot Measure Shows Divide Lingers” (Kevin Fagan, 11/7/10)

8. Firedoglake Election Coverage Analysis taken from poll results, of GOP candidates’ electoral prospects, and current trends Opinion on health care reform and economy/jobs will determine whether Obama wins re-election Liberal bias, cynicism towards Republican party and its candidates “Will the Media Ever Realize that the GOP’s 2012 Candidates are Trolls” “…Michele Bachmann, who has about as much of a change of being president as Katy Perry…” (Blue Texan, 3/24/11)

9. Conservative Daily News View Election as chance to ‘save’ and ‘take back government’ from Liberals. Most dominant theme is criticism of general Democratic philosophies. “The second amendment is there to insure that the government cannot de-fang the citizenry to which they should be answerable. Libs are trying to make sure that we are all as sheepish and ignorant as they are.” Portrays all Republican candidates as potential hope to restoring order in the White House, but also not afraid to call out candidates for deviating from Republican norms “Herman Cain’s thoughts on government intrusion in matters of social justice put him firmly at odds with Conservatives” Obama’s actions viewed as wrong, fake, or dishonest “Oh no you didn’t” vs. “Yes we can”, Obama has lost the moral authority to remain leader of this great nation

10. Wall Street Journal 2012 a repudiation against Obama; Republican takeover, the sequel “Republicans… frequently charge that the current incumbent counts as an unprecedented, frightening fanatic with an alien, un-American agenda.” In-depth profiling of each major GOP candidate and their electoral prospects Obama struggling to prove himself worthy for re-election “But Obama cared about ObamaCare, and he couldn’t sell the public on that either. Has he ever managed to convince anyone of anything of substance?”

11. SF Chronicle v. Online News Sources Comparison between the Chronicle and online news sources Chronicle’s slight-liberal bias vs. blogs extremist positions and sarcasm Election coverage successes and short comings Blogs in-depth coverage vs. Chronicle’s lack of coverage Marketing/PR should focus on blogs More relevant in today’s Internet age and more potentially persuasive arguments and analysis