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New York, June 6, 2008: Media coverage has presented Barack Obama as the likely winner of the Democratic nomination over the last several weeks. Now, having won the nomination, positive reflections on his campaign brought a sharp increase in positive statements this week. Yet immediately after Obama secured the nomination, speculation began on whether to unify the Democratic Party by naming Clinton as his running mate.

?In media coverage Clinton has not appeared as an ideal partner for Obama so far,? says Markus Rettich, Head of Political Analysis at Media Tenor International.

An analysis of aired and printed quotes by Democrats on Democrats since the beginning of this year shows Obama with a positive balance and Clinton a negative one. It is not Hillary Clinton but John Edwards that is runner-up in these statistics.

?Both camps dragged their allies into the competition,? says Rettich, ?and doubts on each other were cast to win the party?s support. I wonder whether this image can be changed.?

On the Republican side McCain?s media image improved as well. The media race between Obama and McCain is close. Media Tenor?s day by day analysis indicates a clear push for Obama early this week as he clinched the nomination and a shift back to McCain on Thursday. Current results from polling institutes differ. Gallup?s daily tracking shows a narrow lead for McCain in early June, while other institutes have measured a clear lead for Obama.

?Aside from all methodological differences: when polling trends shift and differ that means public opinion is volatile and short-term media trends can have an impact,? Rettich explains.

Substance did not matter in candidate coverage this week. As recession coverage increased in early June, the share of economic issues is down in the coverage of both Obama and McCain.

?So far, there is little interest in the ideas of either man running for the White House on how they would solve these problems,? Rettich concludes.

For the third time, International Media analysis company Media Tenor is offering a detailed analysis of the U.S. presidential campaign. TV news coverage of the leading Presidential contenders is scrutinized at a detailed level. ?The methodology was developed 15 years ago and has been successfully used not only to analyze the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, but also for International politics as well,? Rettich explains. Media Tenor?s Presidential Campaign Watch focuses not only on candidate standings, but also on topics and sources, while adding an international perspective. Results of Media Tenor studies will be regularly published on MediaChannel.org.

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