conducts scientific studies of the news and entertainment media.
Press Releases
Media accounts contradicted the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ conclusion that HFCS and ordinary table sugar are equivalent in their composition and metabolism, according to a study released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs. According to CMPA President Dr. Robert Lichter, “The media still haven’t gotten the message from scientists that HFCS is essentially no different from any other nutritive sweetener.”
On the eve of Jay Leno’s retirement as host of “The Tonight Show,” a new study finds that Bill Clinton was Leno’s top political joke target over the past two decades, attracting one out of every ten jokes in his monologues, and O.J. Simpson was his top celebrity target. The study was released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University (GMU). It covered 43,892 jokes about public figures and public affairs from 1992, when Jay Leno became host of the Tonight Show, through January 24, 2014.
A newly published study of international and domestic TV news outlets finds that flagship news programs in England, Germany, and the Middle East all gave mainly favorable coverage to Barack Obama and mainly unfavorable coverage to George W. Bush.
Latenight TV talk show comedians have told far more jokes about Democrats than about Republicans this year, according to a new study of political humor by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA). This reversed CMPA’s earlier finding that Republicans were joked about more often than Democrats during the 2012 presidential election.
Press Release June 7, 2013 Contact: Katy Davis On May 28, 2013, CMPA released findings from a study of Politifact’s ratings of political claims made by Republican and Democratic sources. On May 29 the study was criticized in an article by Vanity Fair (VF) writer Kurt Eichenwald. The VF critique is a very useful contribution
Press Release May 28, 2013 Contact: Katy Davis A leading media fact-checking organization rates Republicans as less trustworthy than Democrats, according to a new study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University. The study finds that PolitiFact.com has rated Republican claims as false three times as often as Democratic
Press Release May 13, 2012 Contact: Katy Davis News coverage of the Benghazi attack followed the Obama administration’s lead last fall but has recently shifted to include more Republican perspectives, according to a study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA). (See attached graphic.) According to CMPA President Dr Robert Lichter, “The hearings
Press Release November 2, 2012 Contact: Katy Davis Democrats’ Depictions of Events Referenced More Than GOP’s Free Speech and Consulate Security Were Leading Issues Leading newspapers framed the Benghazi attack story in terms of a spontaneous protest (the Obama administration’s version) four times as often as a planned terrorist attack (the Republican version), according to a
Press Release October 31, 2012 Contact: Katy Davis Joked About More Than All Dems Combined Letterman Leads The Charge Latenight TV talk-show comedians have told more jokes about Mitt Romney than about all Democrats combined since the party nominating conventions, according to a new study of political humor by the Center for Media and Public
Press Release October 22, 2012 Contact: Katy Davis Romney Again Interrupted More Often Than Obama Schieffer’s GOP Problem Participants in the third presidential debate interrupted each other 47% less frequently than in the contentious second debate, according to a new study by the George Mason University Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) and Chapman