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Media Agenda Against Bernie Sanders? Examining the Emotional Tone of US Political News Articles
  • Derek Newman
Derek Newman
Cambrian College

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The emotional tone of news articles (N = 120) on Democratic Party primary candidates was examined to determine if the media has bias towards Bernie Sanders. Using the Dictionary of Affect (Whissell, 2009), article words (N = 115,569) in the first 60 days of 2020 were measured for their pleasantness, activation, and imagery by candidate - Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Mike Bloomberg. Significant differences between Bernie Sanders and the other candidates were found for article pleasantness (p = .000), article imagery (p = 0.003) and headline activation (p = 0.23). Articles written on Bernie Sanders were less pleasant and more active in tone, as well as being more abstract (low in imagery).
2022Published in International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature volume 10 issue 12 on pages 57-63. 10.20431/2347-3134.1012005