The Effect of Fox News and CNN's Postdebate Commentator Analysis on Viewers' Perceptions of Presidential Candidate Performance

摘要

Television news coverage following a presidential debate often presents the debate as a contest between winners and losers by employing a horse race paradigm. The use of this paradigm can help viewers form their assessments of the candidates' performances, but its overuse can limit serious campaign discourse on the issues. This study examines the effect of postdebate analysis by two cable news networks on the perceived outcome of a 2004 presidential debate and the perceptions of the candidates, finding perceptions of the outcome differing between viewers of the two networks. This finding contributes to our understanding of viewer interaction with postdebate television coverage by focusing on the importance of the sources of information.