PEJ: Romney Coverage Turns More Negative

Coverage during Jan. 23-29 shifted 13% to the negative side

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/30/2012 3:31:43 PM

Mitt Romney appeared to be subject to the old adage about the highest head above the trench drawing the most fire. While he was going into Florida's Tuesday primary with a double-digit lead in some polls and predictions of his victory over formerly-surging New Gingrich, coverage of Romney by the national news media has gotten tougher. That is according to a news analysis by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

According to the latest installment in its recently launched election 2012 reports, coverage of Romney was 38% negative to 25% positive for the week of Jan. 23-29 (a 13 percentage point differential), compared to Gingrich's 29% positive/27% negative (2 percentage points).

The week before, 35% of the Romney coverage was negative, but 33% positive for only a 2 point spread, while Gingrich's was an even 28%/28%, statistically the same as last week's coverage.