We're continuing to explore one particular aspect of election reporting - the number of name mentions of primary candidates in stories. Our latest data shows an increasing disparity in the total name mentions between the two Republican primary candidates in 20 election-related stories each week, from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4 and Feb. 5-11. During the latter week of data, one candidate was named more than 7 times over the other.

Last week, CivicStory launched an election news project: tracking name mentions of Republican* presidential candidates in groups of stories as one measure of equitability or fairness. We limited our counts to only election-related stories from the one news source between Jan. 2-13 (24 stories) and Jan. 22-28 (26 stories). We found notable differences in how often candidates were mentioned in news stories, even as the number of Republican candidates decreased from 6 to 2.

The charts below show the proportion of name mentions during those two periods. Candidates are represented by their initials and in alphabetical order of their last names.

Ex. 1. Jan. 2-13. & Ex. 2. Jan 22-28.

As our larger goal and shared responsibility is to help foster fair and successful presidential elections, especially in 2024, we decided to keep tracking. Our new data from the past two weeks may be more telling, as the number of Republican candidates is holding steady at two (Haley and Trump). The charts below show an increasing disparity in the total name mentions of the candidates in 20 election-related stories each week. Jan 29 to Feb 4 (Ex. 3) tallies over 3 times more name mentions for one candidate than the other (298 to 96). The week of Feb 5 -11 shows an overwhelming inequality becoming extreme: one candidate was named more than 7 times over the other (349 to 48).

Ex. 3. Jan 29-Feb 4 & Ex. 4. Feb 5-11

Some may think a large discrepancy is warranted, given last week’s dramatic oral arguments heard by the Supreme Court, but we did not count legally focused articles unless elections were specifically mentioned, so the disparity seems remarkable.

Others may question the utility of analyzing name mentions only, without context. Doesn’t the public have a right to know the news - however many name mentions that takes? Yet if the adage “there’s no bad publicity” has some truth, then on some level, every time a name is mentioned in news it reinforces a candidate's brand, and non-mentions do the opposite.

Our question for the coming week, leading up to the Republican Primary in South Carolina on Feb. 24: What is the best role of news during critical primary elections? What information do citizens most need, to ensure that the entire election process works well and fairly? While we're at it, let's make sure we’re clear on the tasks and requirements of the president. Our related blog post speaks to one notable gap in knowledge. Read it here.

Also, if you missed it, please enjoy Nicola A. Menzie’s article on ways to shift away from “sports-inflected” election reporting.

*We are not counting Democratic candidate name mentions, given President Biden’s incumbent advantage.

How Many Mentions Are Too Many?