Going to the issue of the presidential debate itself, the ABC News report quotes representatives of the Republican and Democratic parties, where the latter calls Bush "...' great debater'... But wins match-ups on 'style not substance'..." The Republicans, on the other hand, considers Kerry a "seasoned debater" but tends to 'take' "more than one position on foreign policy issues."
Drawing from these observations from the ABC News report, both news coverage by the CNN and NY Times contain statistics from various polling agencies, which reflects the public's sentiment regarding the recently concluded first presidential debate. The CNN report cites the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 615 registered American voters as its primary reference to statistics drawn from questions about the Presidential candidates' chance of winning the election...
The special report states that 53% of the voters consider Kerry's debate as better than Bush's, although 54% of the voters still consider Bush as the candidate who "would be better as commander in chief." The NY Times report, similarly, shows that 51% of the voters consider Bush as a suitable leader when it comes to dealing with international crises. The poll, which was conducted by New York Times and CBS, was made through telephone calls involving 851 registered voters.
In sum, the objective reporting conducted by ABC News and statistical reports given by NY Times and CNN illustrates the fair media coverage given to the forthcoming Presidential elections.
Works Cited
Kerry, Bush start debate preparations." September 26, 2004. ABC News web site. Accessed October 4, 2004. Available at http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040926_1548.html.
Poll: Kerry tops Bush in debate." October 2004. Cable News Network (CNN) web site. Accessed October 4, 2004. Available at http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/01/debate.poll/.
Poll results show race for President is again a dead heat." October 2004. New York Times web site. Accessed October 4, 2004. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/politics/campaign/04CND-POLL.html?oref=login&hp.
