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The Media and the 2022 Election

Posted on in 2022 Midterms · 2022 Election Spark · 2022 Election

The media if often criticized for how it covers politics in the United States. Their coverage is often focused on polls and campaign strategy rather than the issues. This was clearly seen in the 2022 election. Unfortunately for the media, this focus led them to make wrong predictions about what would happen during the midterms. While the media predicted Republicans to make massive gains in the House, Republican gains were well below normal for the out-party in 2022.

Another criticism of the media is that they often try to treat all sides of an issue the same, even if the other side is pushing a clearly false narrative. This has become a bigger issue as some candidates in 2022 began pushing false claims that the 2020 election suffered from voter fraud and the same was likely during the midterms. Defenders would claim that the media gave ample coverage to these claims, although critics would claim they were often providing a platform for these falsehoods to spread in the first place.

Instructors: click the link below to download this week’s lecture for use in your classroom. The deck contains a writing prompt and a debate question as well as other assessment questions.

Download: The Media and the 2022 Elections

Videos

News Articles

The Media’s Red Wave Narrative Fell Apart on Election Night

Vanity Fair

11/9/2022

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/2022-midterms-election-media-red-wave

Media Preps for 2022 Election With Focus on Democracy Issues

Associated Press

11/4/2022

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-4b342f3cb8d2e42caa4a9ab3b4904d03

How TV Covered the Highs, Lows, and Worst Nightmare Candidates on Midterm Election Night

Arizona Centra;

11/08/2022

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/media/2022/11/08/how-fox-news-cnn-and-cbs-covered-election-night-2022/8290110001/

Why the Mainstream News Media Got Its Midterm Election Coverage So Wrong

Salon

11/26/2022

https://www.salon.com/2022/11/26/why-the-mainstream-news-media-got-its-midterms-coverage-so/

The Guy Who Got the Midterms Rights Explains What the Media Got Wrong

Vox

11/27/2022

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/11/27/23475262/midterm-elections-2022-results-red-wave-democrats

The New Media Is Missing the Real 2022 Midterm Election Plot

Newsweek

05/30/2022

https://www.newsweek.com/mainstream-media-missing-real-2022-midterm-election-plot-opinion-1711019

Assessment

Debate: How much should the media focus on political polls?

How should the media handle political figures pushing false claims?

Poll: Should the media equally present all sides of an issue?

Does media coverage affect your likelihood of voting?

Short Answer: Why did the media incorrectly expect a massive Republican wave in 2022?

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