The document summarizes a presentation about trends in media coverage of Hillary Clinton around the 2014 midterm elections. It analyzes coverage of Clinton in traditional news sources and online from October 21st to November 18th. The analysis found that 70% of articles mentioned Clinton as a potential 2016 presidential candidate. Coverage focused on her campaigning before the election and her status afterward. Liberal sources were generally more favorable in tone while conservative sources campaigned against a 2016 Clinton run. The document recommends developing relationships with allied reporters, connecting campaign messages to economic concerns, and monitoring online conversations to address issues before they spread.

1. Trends in Hillary
Clinton Coverage
Around the
Midterms
A Study of Traditional and Online News, as Well As Social Channels
DATE: 12.9.2014 PRESENTED BY: Group 3

2. DANIEL FOWLER GABRIELA
TORRES-SOLER
Graduation: Summer 2015
SINETRA
BOWDRY
KRISTIN
OBERLANDER
Graduation: Spring 2016 Graduation: Fall 2015 Graduation: Fall 2014
2
Communications Research – Fall 2014

3. 3
A definite 2016 contender
HEADLINE: After Drubbing,
All Eyes on Hillary Clinton
-- Maggie Haberman
POLITICO
Midterm elections are a major news
event. Democrats took a beating. People
don’t like President Obama. Hillary was a
very active campaigner this year. People
expect Hillary will run for president in
2016.
Source: Dennis Van Tine/AP

4. “If I want to knock a story off the
front page, I just change my
hairstyle.”
-- HILLARY CLINTON

5. 5
A quick review of the presentation
Timeline
1) METHODOLOGY
2) METRICS
3) TRENDS
4) RECOMMENDATIONS
5) CONCLUSION

6. 6
How did we find it?

7. 7
Factiva, by the numbers
October 21 – November 18
(2 weeks before and after
2014 midterm elections)
Major U.S. Business and News
POLITICO
Not WashingtonPost.com (duplicates
paper copy)
Photo Credit: Flickr.com/Lance

8. 8
How did we characterize it?

9. 9
An analysis of many categories
1) The basics (author, Clinton as a
candidate, etc.)
2) Digging deeper (positive, negative,
neutral, in between?)
3) Favorability rating involved a language
analysis

10. We’ve come to a fork
in the road…
10
Positive: “All of us at Vogue look forward to putting on
the cover the first female President of the United
States.” – Oct. 29, (New York) Daily News article
Negative: “Republicans hope to run against Clinton
given what (RNC chairman Reince) Priebus said was
her lackluster performance helping candidates in 2014.”
– Nov. 7, Christian Science Monitor article
Grey Areas: “And to all the sexist pundits who
pontificate about whether Hillary ‘will be able to run for
president and be a grandmother at the same time’ or if
the grandmother status will ‘soften her image,’ I say
please.” – Nov. 9, Denver Post article
Photo Credit: Flickr.com/MoDOTPhotos

11. 11
What did we see?

12. 12
Most articles referred to her as a 2016 contender
70% of articles in this time period mentioned Hillary
Clinton as a presidential candidate, whereas 30% did
not.
Hillary Clinton Presidential Mentions
121
51
Yes
No

13. 13
Before, During, or After Election Day
By and large, the articles focused on Clinton’s
campaigning before midterms, and her status
afterward.
Publication Date of Article
Before Election (10/21-
11/3)
On Election (11/4)
After Election (11/5-
11/18)
Unknown

14. 14
Those favorable to a Hillary 2016 run
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Robert Schroeder, “Market Watch” – Positive
Example Quote: "Wall Street bankers … by and large
badly want the former secretary of state and ex-New
York senator to be president"; “Clinton is a pragmatic
problem-solver not prone to populist rhetoric"; Wall
Street isn't shy about coming out for Clinton"
Maggie Haberman, POLITICO – Positive/Neutral
Example Quote: "There were knowing references from
some patrons who told her they wanted to support her
again. She laughed and kept going, or asked people to
keep their focus on Tuesday’s vote. Others were people
she’d worked with in the past, like union leaders, who
she greeted warmly.”

15. James Freeman, The Wall Street Journal – Negative
Example quote: "But the Warren rhetoric has now
been exceeded by Mrs. Clinton’s absurd argument that
businesses don’t create jobs."
Jennifer Rubin, The Washington Post – Negative
Example quote: "But in either event, she lacks
conviction, the belief in something for which she is
willing to defend on principle even against the wishes of
her base. "
Peter Nicholas, The Wall Street Journal – Negative
Example Quote: "Liberals are casting about for a
committed populist to run against her in 2016. They see
the former secretary of state and senator as too closely
aligned with large corporations and question whether
she can be counted on to narrow the income gap in
America."
15
Those campaigning against a Hillary 2016 run
Photo credit: Associated Press

16. 16

17. 17
Monitoring online conversations
After the “corporations
don’t create jobs” comment,
Fox News had the most
shares, beating liberal blog
Politicus USA by 20k
shares, in the selected time
period.
Fox News had 64,216 shares, the
majority of which were on Facebook..
Politicus USA had 43,049 shares on a
positive article about Clinton and Warren
campaigning together.
Photo credit: Buzzsumo, 2014

18. 18
October 26, 2014
“Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s
corporations and businesses that create
jobs.” (The Washington Post) Photo credit: BuzzSumo, 2014

19. 19
Pew Research Journalism Project
Observations
LIBERALS AND CONSERVATIVES HAVE
DIFFERENT MEDIA CONSUMPTION HABITS
Analysis
GO TO WHERE LIBERALS TEND TO
DWELL AND MEET THEM IN THAT
SPACE.
» Consistent liberals trust 28 of 36 news outlets.
» More likely to follow issue-based groups, rather than
political parties or candidates in their Facebook feeds.
» They follow government and political news very
closely, and are more likely to be a news source for
friends.
47%
44%
According to Pew Research, consistent
conservatives see more Facebook posts
in line with their views, versus 32% of
consistent liberals. Conservatives tend to
rely solely on Fox News.
Consistent liberals are more likely to
block others on social media because of
politics. They are less unified in their
media loyalty, relying on NPR and the
New York Times most often.
CONCLUSION
Democrats have greater variety of
online and traditional media news
sources to pitch stories and be heard.

20. 20
Review & wrap up

21. 21
Where to go from here…
Lay the groundwork for a relationship. Give them exclusives and offer
information in any way that you can to help them do their job more easily.
They will be your most important line of defense in debunking false
information.
Observations
GET IN TOUCH WITH
REPORTERS WHO ARE
YOUR ALLIES
Implications
Hillary Clinton needs to develop and begin telling a coherent story about the
economy that explains what Democrats have “done right, connects with
people’s current displeasure, and shows a way forward.” (The Washington
Post, Nov. 11)
CONNECT WITH VOTERS’
DISPLEASURE ON ECONOMY
Social media only amplifies bad stories, and your enemies have a vast
network. The good news is, so do you. Monitor your outposts to find
emerging issues and address them swiftly before they gain momentum and
make it to mainstream media outlets.
DON’T FORGET ONLINE
CONVERSATIONS

22. THANK YOU!