The Jeremiad Over Journalism

In relation to H1 the results between Table 8 and 13 do not support hypothesis H1 expecting Danish
newspapers over time to put greater focus on ―form instead of substance.‖ On the contrary for the
three Danish newspapers combined there is a statistically significant rise in issue coverage. The
results based on the American outlets do, however, indicate a decline in issue coverage and a slight
decline in strategy coverage as well.
The 2000 election‘s increase in strategy coverage for The New York Times (from 29,5 in 1988
percent to 44 percent 12 years later), stands out compared to the other elections studied and the
most likely explanation is the close race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which has been
described by scholars as ―the perfect tie.‖ 546 As an example, The New York Times ran many front
page stories in October and November of 2000 discussing Al Gore and George Bush‘s abilities to
win the necessary votes. The following article lead is a typical example of a ―strategy news‖ lead,
―Vice President Al Gore is showing considerable strength in Florida among elderly and
independent voters and is seen as more likely than his opponent to reduce the cost of health
care and prescription drugs and protect the environment, a New York Times/CBS News poll
shows.‖ 547
The presidential elections of 1988 and 2008 were not as closely contested, in the last three weeks of
the campaign as the 2000 election, and this may be part of the reason that the percentage of strategy
coverage is below 30 in both those elections.
546 James A. Ceasar and Andrew E. Busch, The Perfect Tie: The True Story of the 2000 Presidential Election (Lanham,
Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001).
547 David E. Rosenbaum and Janet Elder, "Independents and the Elderly Lift Gore in Florida, Poll Says," The New York
Times, October 26, 2000. Other examples include David Firestone‘s ―Big Push Starts to Lift Turnout of Black Vote,‖
from October 29, 2000 or Alison Mitchell‘s ―A Confident Bush Says He Can Win California‘s Vote,‖ from October 31,
2000.
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