The media’s coverage of Donald Trump has become one of the most debated topics of the 2016 campaign. The debate centers on how, and how much, media coverage helped Trump as he rose the top of the polls and became the presumptive Republican nominee.
This debate quickly (and typically) became polarized, with the usual starkly worded headlines: “Why is Trump surging? Blame the media” versus “Stop blaming the media for Trump.” Unhelpfully, the first headline is from one of us (Sides). So we’re long past due for some nuance and fresh evidence. …
Here are key questions and answers about the news media’s role in Trump’s success. CONT.
John Sides & Kalev Leetaru, The Monkey Cage