Mainstream media crowned Mitt Romney as the winner of the GOP primary as far back as Feb. 28 according to a new report released by the Pew research group.
In the groups report which examined 11,000 news outlets from Jan. 2 through April 15 the group found that after winning in Michigan coverage for Mitt Romney grew more intense and favorable compared to coverage of the GOP’s presumptive candidate before that victory.
The report says that after Feb. 29 we witnessed “a suddenly intense discussion of ‘delegate math’ and the conclusion that no other candidate could win.”
At the same time coverage of Romney’s closest rival Rick Santorum turned sour and in the case of most media outlets began to decrease in coverage, allowing Mitt Romney to literally steal the media spotlight. According to the report by the time Rick Santorum officially called for the suspension of his political campaign on April 10 the race had already been decided in Romney’s favor by media operators.
What might have been the most telling sign that mass media had turned in favor of Mitt Romney over other GOP nominations was the fact that after Feb. 28 and leading up to Santorum’s suspended campaign the press had reported more negative stories than positive ones pertaining to President Obama. Typically when a challenging party picks its nominee mainstream media then goes on the offensive against the current President for a short period of time. Media attacks against the president were instigated in most cases by Republican attacks against the economy, high gas prices and the Supreme Court battle involving ObamaCare.
In the meantime Ron Paul received almost all positive press but he also received the least amount of actual media coverage.
