Trust, Reach, and Fake News: How the Media Covered the 2020 US Election

Disinformation is mainly addressed by media with high NG-scores. They regularly carry out fact checks regarding false statements and make them clear. In September, these proven false statements originate almost exclusively from Trump. Media with an NG score below 60, on the other hand, report in a markedly one-sided and biased manner — pro-Trump and anti-Biden. Trump's statements are generally not checked here for their truthfulness.

Authors in Less Trustworthy Media More Active than Average & Clearly Pro-Trump

The enormous output of media with a low NG score within the analyzed media panel with selected media at the beginning/end of the NG scale is striking — according to the number of contributions, only names associated with Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit can be found in the first 6 places of the authors. The sheer quantity compensates for the partly low coverage, as these contributions are mainly played via social media. In terms of reach, the Washington Post with Jennifer Rubin and a decidedly positive sentiment leads for Joe Biden or negative sentiment in the case of Donald Trump. Paul Steinhauser at Fox News deserves a special mention: here, there is subtle criticism of Trump and thus a slightly negative sentiment, his reports on Biden are overall neutral.

Analysis of Hunter Biden's Laptop "Scandal"

A Strange Political Scandal Puts Joe Biden's Son in the Spotlight

In the last days of the election campaign in the USA a name suddenly enters the center of the discussions that is not even on the ballot: Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden. In our latest analysis, you can learn about the influence of social media and especially less trustworthy news sites on media coverage of the current allegations against Hunter Biden regarding corruption and child abuse. A New York Post article on the allegations regarding Biden's son and the official business of Joe Biden, as then Vice President, on 10/14/20 brought enormous media attention and were unusually widespread, especially on social networks and untrustworthy media. While coverage in credible media declined rapidly after October 14, the accusations had to be revisited due to massive pressure from social and untrustworthy media. The accusations against the U.S. presidential candidate and his son accounted for 13 percent of all online coverage of Joe Biden in the last two weeks and overshadowed important campaign issues.

The full report on Hunter Biden's laptop scandal is available on request.

Information on the US Election Campaign Study:

Coverage of 16 online media selected was coded by pressrelations analysts according to qualitative criteria. Among the selected media were eight US media and eight online media from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH), which were analyzed for the period from September 1 to September 30, 2020. In addition, TV coverage of CNN, Fox News, and ARD, as well as the tweets of Donald Trump and Joe Biden were analyzed.

pressrelations and its partners are politically independent and do not support political parties, platforms, campaigns, or candidates. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.