Topline The Crisis over Syria: How Al Jazeera America Tackled Its First Major Story September 16, 2013 Pew Research Center
Volume of Cable News Coverage about Syria
Number Percent of Percent of Outlet Minutes Stories Stories Time
CNN 108 33% 380.93 30% MSNBC 39 12 193.55 15 FOX 64 20 219.5 17 BBC America 48 15 194.03 15 Al Jazeera America 68 21 273.17 22 Total 327 100 1261.18 99
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Format Percent of Stories Percent
Package 28% Interview (External or Staff) 40 Staff Live 25 Anchor Voice Over 6 Live Event 1
Date Range: Aug. 26–30, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Format by Outlet Percent of Stories Al Jazeera BBC CNN MSNBC FOX America America Package 26% 35% 18% 22% 42% Interview (External or Staff) 34 34 46 58 35 Staff Live 36 26 18 14 15 Anchor Voice Over 4 4 18 6 2 Live Event 0 0 0 0 6
Date Range: Aug. 26–30, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Focus of Cable News Coverage about Syria Percent of Stories Percent
U.S. Involvement Debate 44% Chemical Weapons Focused 14 Bombing Strike/Military Intervention Related 9 U.K. Involvement 7 Stance of Other Countries (Not U.K.) 6 Focus on Syrian Government or Politics/Internal Affairs 5 U.S. Politics Focus 3 Repercussions on Neighboring Countries 3 Viewpoint of Syrians Related to Politics or War 3 Humanitarian Crisis 2 Events on the Ground that Are Not U.S. Focused 2 Economic Impact 1 Media 1 General Middle East Focus/Arab Spring 1
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Focus of Cable News Coverage about Syria by Outlet Percent of Stories Al Jazeera BBC CNN MSNBC FOX America America U.S. Involvement Debate 36% 43% 62% 64% 25% Chemical Weapons Focused 19 13 15 8 10 Bombing Strike/Military Intervention Related 12 4 5 13 4 U.K. Involvement 6 3 5 0 23 Stance of Other Countries (Not U.K.) 5 9 0 3 15 Focus on Syrian Government or 9 4 3 0 2 Politics/Internal Affairs U.S. Politics Focus 2 9 5 0 0 Repercussions on Neighboring Countries 2 1 0 5 8 Viewpoint of Syrians Related to Politics or War 3 3 0 0 8 Humanitarian Crisis 1 6 3 0 2 Events on the Ground that Are Not U.S. 2 1 0 3 2 Focused Economic Impact 1 0 0 5 0 Media 2 0 3 0 0 General Middle East Focus/Arab Spring 1 1 0 0 0
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Messages in Cable News Coverage of Syria Percent of Stories (multiple messages may appear) U.S./Allies Should Get Involved in Syria 46% U.S. Should Go to U.N./Congress First 31 U.S./Allies Should Not Get Involved in Syria 27 U.S. Conflict Will Lead to Larger Middle East Problems 15 Other Countries Will Make It Hard for U.S. 15 Iraq Experience Should Make U.S. Cautious 13 Obama's Handling of the Situation Is Poor 10 There Are No Good Options 7 Syrians Don’t Want U.S. to Get Involved 5 Involvement Would Last Longer 5 Syrians Want U.S. to Get Involved 2 U.S./Allies Do Not Understand Middle East 0.3
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Messages in Cable News Coverage of Syria by Outlet Percent of Stories (multiple messages may appear) Al Jazeera BBC CNN MSNBC FOX America America U.S./Allies Should Get Involved in Syria 45% 43% 64% 45% 42% U.S./Allies Should Not Get Involved in Syria 23 24 38 20 40 U.S. Should Go to U.N./Congress First 19 35 41 39 35 U.S. Conflict Will Lead to Larger Middle East Problems 14 16 10 8 31 Other Countries Will Make It Hard for U.S. 10 15 15 14 29 Iraq Experience Should Make U.S. Cautious 7 10 28 9 21 Obama's Handling of the Situation Is Poor 6 3 3 36 2 There Are No Good Options 6 4 21 5 2 Syrians Don’t Want U.S. to Get Involved 6 6 3 6 4 Syrians Want U.S. to Get Involved 2 4 3 2 0 Involvement Would Last Longer 4 3 3 5 13 U.S./Allies Do Not Understand Middle East 1 0 0 0 0
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Datelines of Cable News Coverage about Syria Percent of Stories Percent Washington, D.C. 37% New York City, NY 34 London, U.K 8 Syria 6 Lebanon 3 Israel 3 Russia 2 Turkey 2 Jordan 1 Denver, Colo. 1 All Other U.S. Datelines 1 Iraq 1 Germany 1 Seattle, Wash. 0 Middle East (Other) 0 France 0 Switzerland 0 Egypt 0
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Datelines of Cable News Coverage about Syria by Outlet Percent of Stories Al Jazeera BBC CNN MSNBC FOX America America Washington, D.C. 48% 35% 41% 31% 17% New York City, NY 23 41 44 63 2 Denver, Colo. 0 1 0 0 2 Seattle, Wash. 0 1 0 0 0 Other U.S. 0 0 5 0 0 Syria 10 1 0 0 17 Iraq 1 1 0 0 0 Lebanon 4 9 0 0 2 Israel 4 0 0 6 2 Russia 1 4 0 0 6 Turkey 1 1 8 0 0 Jordan 1 1 3 0 2 Egypt 0 1 0 0 0 Middle East (Other) 0 0 0 0 2 London, U.K 6 0 0 0 42 Germany 0 0 0 0 4 France 1 0 0 0 0 Switzerland 0 0 0 0 2
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Sources Cited in Cable News Coverage of Syria Percent of Stories (multiple sources may appear) Percent Obama Administration 30% President Obama 30 Non Middle East Government 19 Syrian Government 14 Congress Republican 13 U.S. Media 13 Former U.S. Military or Diplomat 12 U.N. Representative 10 Congress Democrat 8 Middle East Government 7 Non U.S. Media 7 Expert on Other Subjects (U.S. Based) 7 Expert on Middle East (U.S. Based) 6 Polls 6 Former Military or Diplomat (Non U.S.) 5 Current U.S. Military 4 NGO Representative 4 Syrian Citizen 4 Syrian Rebel 2 Republican Partisan 2 U.S. Citizen 2 Democratic Partisan 1 Expert on Other Subjects (Non U.S. Based) 1 Syrian Military 1 Religious Leader from Middle East 1 Other Middle East Citizen 1 Expert on Middle East (Non U.S. Based) 0
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Sources Cited in Cable News Coverage of Syria by Outlet Percent of Stories (multiple sources may appear) Al Jazeera BBC CNN MSNBC FOX America America Obama Administration 30% 32% 23% 38% 25% President Obama 30 34 31 38 15 Non Middle East Government 11 19 15 16 46 Syrian Government 16 10 5 11 29 Congress Republican 9 10 26 22 0 U.S. Media 15 4 41 8 2 Former U.S. Military or Diplomat 13 16 10 11 8 U.N. Representative 6 15 3 8 23 Congress Democrat 6 6 13 14 2 Middle East Government 6 9 5 5 13 Non U.S. Media 3 7 13 6 6 Expert on Other Subjects (U.S. Based) 12 9 5 2 0 Expert on Middle East (U.S. Based) 9 12 8 0 0 Polls 4 12 8 2 6 Former Military or Diplomat (Non U.S.) 2 0 10 13 6 Current U.S. Military 1 10 8 5 0 NGO Representative 1 7 5 5 6 Syrian Citizen 3 9 0 0 6 Syrian Rebel 2 6 0 0 2 Republican Partisan 1 1 3 5 0 U.S. Citizen 0 3 0 3 2 Democratic Partisan 0 0 3 2 0 Expert on Other Subjects (Non U.S. Based) 0 0 0 0 4 Syrian Military 1 1 0 0 0 Religious Leader from Middle East 0 1 0 0 2 Other Middle East Citizen 1 0 0 0 6 Expert on Middle East (Non U.S. Based) 1 0 0 0 0
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots
PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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Reported vs. Opinion Pieces in Cable News Coverage of Syria Percent of Stories Percent Reported Piece 72% Opinion Pieces 28%
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Reported vs. Opinion Pieces in Cable News Coverage of Syria by Outlet Percent of Stories
Reported Opinion Outlet Piece Piece
CNN 86% 14% MSNBC 64 36 FOX 41 59 BBC America 77 23 Al Jazeera America 63 37
Date Range: Aug. 26–31, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Reported vs. Opinion Pieces in Cable News Coverage of Syria by Daypart Percent of Stories
Reported Opinion Daypart Piece Piece
Evening 70% 30% Daytime 79 21
Date Range: Aug. 26–30, 2013, Key Cable Timeslots
Note: The Aug. 31, 2013 coding sample is not included here. PEW RESEARCH CENTER
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