Clinton projected to win; Trump unable to persuade media

U.S. TV & print news, August 1, 2015 – October 15, 2016

New York, October 18, 2016. Going into the third debate, Donald Trump is at a disadvantage in the overall media image that is likely insurmountable according to new research from Media Tenor International.

“Trump is at a disadvantage in the media on all key topic areas,” says Roland Schatz, the founder and CEO of Media Tenor. “Clinton is now being framed with a better image on the economy, national security, and overall. Additionally, voter issues are no longer visible on the agenda for Trump. Instead, because he has not heeded the media narrative of past elections, he has become known for scandals related to his behavior towards women and for his taxes.”

Schatz also points out that Trump’s accusations of media bias are unfounded. “Our data shows that Fox News has been covering Trump with a very similar tone to other TV networks,” he says. “There have even been times when NBC and CBS were more positive on Trump than the cable broadcaster often associated with Republican viewpoints. Similar movements in tone highlight that the media are generally perceiving and reporting on the same concerns regards Trump.”

“Trump started to lose the election in the convention season,” Schatz adds, noting that the tone in The Wall Street Journal for Trump declined severely around this time and never solidly recovered. “The Democratic convention was effective in criticizing Trump, especially after initial media negativity about the overall tone of the Republican presentation. Polling recoveries for Trump were short-lived and not enough for him to regain the media favor he had during the primary season.”

This research examined 79,862 reports on politicians on five U.S. TV news programs and in 8 opinion-leading print publications and 14,506 lines of data on presidential candidates in previous elections, 2000 – 2012.

For over 20 years Media Tenor’s mission has been to contribute to objective, diverse and newsworthy media content by bringing together the diverse parties. Media Tenor’s global research projects include analyses of election campaigns, investor relations, public diplomacy, corporate communications and other topics critical to news makers and news audiences. For more information, please contact Racheline Maltese at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +1 212-935-0210.