Rookie or Rock Star? Newspaper Coverage of Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential Campaign.

The press had great potential to influence voter perceptions of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, given her relative obscurity as Governor of Alaska when she was picked as Republican John McCain's running mate. This paper examines the press' portrayal of Palin and the degree to which it influenced public affect toward her. A total of 2,592 individual news articles and editorials were content coded from 17 leading U.S. newspapers from late August 2008 through Election Day. The findings suggest that voters were presented with a highly visible, negative image of Palin that emphasized her "rookie" over her "rock star" status and that the tone of her coverage varied based on key factors. Palin's coverage was more positive when the lead author was a woman and when Palin's gender was mentioned. Local reporters were also more positive than reporters working for elite newspapers and national wire services. Our multivariate models of favorability toward Palin suggest that press coverage influenced public perceptions of Palin, especially among independents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]