54. Name: Sally Ann Cruikshank Title: U.S. Presidential Election Coverage on the Global Stage: A Content Analysis of 2008 Election Coverage on Al Jazeera, the BBC and Russia Today Institution: Ohio University Country: United States Date: 2009 Language: English Abstract: This study, guided by the framing theory, examines how the 2008 U.S. presidential candidates, Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, were framed by three major international news networks; Al Jazeera English, the BBC, and Russia Today. It also examines the type of coverage and issue coverage and how the election process itself was framed by these networks. A content analysis of 117 stories on evening newscasts, from October 6, through November 3, 2008, found that Obama was framed more positively than his rival McCain on all three networks. The majority of coverage on Al Jazeera and BBC focused on the horse race, rather than the issues. The analysis indicated that similar frames were used to describe candidates internationally. It is argued that if networks continue to focus on the horse race, rather than the issues, audiences will learn only who is ahead in the polls and not necessarily which candidate is better suited for the office. Future research should expand the findings of this study by analyzing more international networks to determine if these findings are generalizable beyond the cultures featured here.
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