In Spring 2009 I presented my Independent Study at the Fredrick Douglas Conference. My study focused on how the mass media portrays race specifically during the 2008 Presidential Election.

1. MASS MEDIA’S
PORTRAYAL OF RACE:
THE 2008 PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
Catherin Reuther
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

2.  Racial identification is developed through
social interaction (Doyle and Kao 2007).
 Sullivan & Johnson (2008)
 The color of the skin within Black society has a
debate of who is Black enough.
 When examining the aspect that during the
election when Obama’s degree of “Blackness”
was brought into questions instances when he
was experiencing racism Blacks supported him as
a form of solidarity.

3.  Major & Coleman (2008)
 The media affects what people think about politics.
Evidence has been found that news content can be
affected by stereotypes.
 In a case of a woman running against a minority in a
campaign the minority’s race received more coverage
then the woman gender.
 Race is the most influential predictor of voting
behavior (Stockley 2008).
 Druckman (2005) did a comparison between
television news and newspapers. He concluded
that newspapers have more of an impact on
voters then television due to quality not quantity.

4. Methods
 Top 14 Newspapers based on circulation
 LexisNexis Academic Database
 News
 Term- Candidates last name in quotations
 Headline only
 US Newspapers & Wires

5. Table 1.1- Top 14 Newspapers
Name of Newspaper Circulation
USA Today 2,281,831
Wall Street Journal 2,070,498
LexisNexis did not Times
New York contain the following newspapers in
1,121,623
its database; Los Angeles Times***
Chicago Tribune, Long Island Newsday,
907,997
San Francisco Chronicle, and the Arizona Republic. It
Washington Post 740,947
also only contained the most recent six months for the
New York Daily News 708,773
Los Angeles Times.
Chicago Tribune** 643,086
New York Post 565,679
Long Island Newsday ** 527,744
Houston Chronicle** 477,493
San Francisco Chronicle** 468,739
New York Newsday 459,305
Arizona Republic** 452,016
Chicago Sun-Times 432,230

6. Methods
 There were 2 stages of analysis
 Comparison of Clinton and Obama
 Analysis of titles containing Obama
 Titles collected based on words in reference to
race
 Including, race, White, Black, African American,
Biracial
 References to Black or African American Culture
or White Culture
 Positive or Negative references
3 word proximity

7. Methods- Stage I
 Comparison between H.Clinton and Obama
 February 4, 2007- August 28, 2008

8. Table 1.3- Direct Reference to
Results- Stage I
Table 1.2- Reference to Race
Race
% containing “Black” or “White” in
Total number of titles % referencing race
Positive Direct Reference Percentage Negative Direct Reference Percentage
reference to candidate
Clinton
Clinton 2137
0 1.97%
0% 0 0% 0%
Obama Obama 3977
5 5.93%
1.91% 66 2.29% 25.19%

9. Methods- Stage II
 Analysis of titles containing Obama
 February 4, 2007- November 4, 2008

10. Table 1.4.- Black & Biracial
Results- Stage II
Titles
Direct Reference to Race Reference to Race
Frequency Percent Frequency Percent
Black 71 98.61 113 99.12
Biracial 1 .14 1 .88

11. Table 1.5.- Title Categories
Category Total number of titles Negative Reference Positive Reference
Black 92 43 12
Black and White 11 7 0
Reference to Black Culture 28 - -
Black and African-American 4 1 0
African American 7 4 1
Reference to Obama’s multiracial
2 - -
status
Minority 1 - -
Negro 1 - -
Prejudice 1 - -
Race and bigotry 1 - -
White 15 4 0
Race 90 - -
Color 9 1 0
Total 262 60 13

12. Discussion