INCREASED ATTENTION TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Of every 100 news items published by the Hispanic media during the first three years of the Trump administration, 13 mention one of the two major political parties in the country: Democratic and Republican. However, the annual percentage of articles that somehow address the work of the parties decreased 41% between 2017 and 2019.
In 2017, the monthly average of articles containing the Spanish words for “Democratic Party,” “Democrats,” “Republican Party” or “Republicans” reached 16.57%. That figure dropped to 14% in 2018 and 9.7% in 2019. In the first three weeks of 2020, that percentage was 8.2%, lower than the figures for the same days the two previous years (14.8% in 2018 and 15% in 2019).
Growing media attention for Democrats
According to the percentage of stories that mention political parties, the Spanish-language media have been devoting more attention to the Democratic Party than to the Republican Party. The change occurred after the midterm elections in 2018.
Source: MediaCloud/CCM
Growing media attention for Democrats
According to the percentage of stories that mention political parties, the Spanish-language media have been devoting more attention to the Democratic Party than to the Republican Party. The change occurred after the midterm elections in 2018.
Source: MediaCloud/CCM
Beyond the fact that mentions of political parties by Spanish newsrooms have decreased since 2017, the data also indicates that since 2018 the media outlets studied have paid more attention to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, if compared to the first months of the Trump administration, when Republicans were on the news agenda most frequently.
The data shows that at least between September 2017 and September 2018 the percentage of coverage of both parties was practically equal.
The gap became more noticeable in November 2018 – when Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives – and has widened as the election year approaches. The monthly average of articles that mention the Republican Party went from 15% in 2017 to 8% in 2019, that is, a decrease of 46%.
Meanwhile, the monthly average of articles that mention the Democratic Party went from 14.4% in 2017 to 9.12% in 2019. The decrease was 36%, less than what happened with the Republicans.
In the first 20 days of 2020, articles mentioning Republicans made up 6.56% of all content. Meanwhile, the percentage of articles mentioning Democrats was 9.12%.