MSNBC, CNN and Fox are some of the leading cable news networks. As the 2024 Presidential Election draws closer, coverage of Harris, Biden and Trump has varied wildly between the three networks. In general, Trump has received the most coverage on each network, but Biden and Harris have varied, alongside the frequency that Trump is mentioned day-to-day.
The graphs below showcase the frequencies of mentions of Harris, Biden and Trump on MSNBC, CNN and Fox, alongside a combined graph of all three. The combined graph is first, then MSNBC, then CNN, then Fox.
Below the four graphs are the code used in RStudio to create the graphs, with the graphs themselves beneath the code as reference.
For reference, here are the codes that produced each graph. The combined graph is the first code, then MSNBC, CNN, and Fox.
if (!require("tidyverse"))
install.packages("tidyverse")
if (!require("plotly"))
install.packages("plotly")
library(tidyverse)
library(plotly)
# Defining date range
startdate <- "20240429"
enddate <- "20241028"
### Trump
# Defining query
# Note:
# In queries, use %20 to indicate a space
# Example: "Donald%20Trump" is "Donald Trump"
# Use parentheses and %20OR%20 for "either/or" queries
# Example: "(Harris%20OR%20Walz)" is "(Harris OR Walz)"
query <- "Donald%20Trump"
# Building the volume dataframe
vp1 <- "https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tv/tv?query="
vp2 <- "%20market:%22National%22&mode=timelinevol&format=csv&datanorm=raw&startdatetime="
vp3 <- "000000&enddatetime="
vp4 <- "000000"
text_v_url <- paste0(vp1, query, vp2, startdate, vp3, enddate, vp4)
v_url <- URLencode(text_v_url)
v_url## [1] "https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tv/tv?query=Donald%20Trump%20market:%22National%22&mode=timelinevol&format=csv&datanorm=raw&startdatetime=20240429000000&enddatetime=20241028000000"Trump <- read_csv(v_url)## Rows: 1494 Columns: 3
## ── Column specification ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
## Delimiter: ","
## chr (1): Series
## dbl (1): Value
## date (1): Date (Daily +00:00: 04/29/2024 - 10/28/2024)
##
## ℹ Use `spec()` to retrieve the full column specification for this data.
## ℹ Specify the column types or set `show_col_types = FALSE` to quiet this message.Trump <- Trump %>%
rename(Date = 1, Trump = 3)
### Biden
# Defining query
query <- "Joe%20Biden"
# Building the volume dataframe
vp1 <- "https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tv/tv?query="
vp2 <- "%20market:%22National%22&mode=timelinevol&format=csv&datanorm=raw&startdatetime="
vp3 <- "000000&enddatetime="
vp4 <- "000000"
text_v_url <- paste0(vp1, query, vp2, startdate, vp3, enddate, vp4)
v_url <- URLencode(text_v_url)
v_url## [1] "https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tv/tv?query=Joe%20Biden%20market:%22National%22&mode=timelinevol&format=csv&datanorm=raw&startdatetime=20240429000000&enddatetime=20241028000000"Biden <- read_csv(v_url)## Rows: 1494 Columns: 3
## ── Column specification ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
## Delimiter: ","
## chr (1): Series
## dbl (1): Value
## date (1): Date (Daily +00:00: 04/29/2024 - 10/28/2024)
##
## ℹ Use `spec()` to retrieve the full column specification for this data.
## ℹ Specify the column types or set `show_col_types = FALSE` to quiet this message.Biden <- Biden %>%
rename(Date = 1, Biden = 3)
AllData <- left_join(Trump, Biden)## Joining with `by = join_by(Date, Series)`### Harris
# Defining query
query <- "Kamala%20Harris"
# Building the volume dataframe
vp1 <- "https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tv/tv?query="
vp2 <- "%20market:%22National%22&mode=timelinevol&format=csv&datanorm=raw&startdatetime="
vp3 <- "000000&enddatetime="
vp4 <- "000000"
text_v_url <- paste0(vp1, query, vp2, startdate, vp3, enddate, vp4)
v_url <- URLencode(text_v_url)
v_url## [1] "https://api.gdeltproject.org/api/v2/tv/tv?query=Kamala%20Harris%20market:%22National%22&mode=timelinevol&format=csv&datanorm=raw&startdatetime=20240429000000&enddatetime=20241028000000"Harris <- read_csv(v_url)## Rows: 1494 Columns: 3
## ── Column specification ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
## Delimiter: ","
## chr (1): Series
## dbl (1): Value
## date (1): Date (Daily +00:00: 04/29/2024 - 10/28/2024)
##
## ℹ Use `spec()` to retrieve the full column specification for this data.
## ℹ Specify the column types or set `show_col_types = FALSE` to quiet this message.Harris <- Harris %>%
rename(Date = 1, Harris = 3)
AllData <- left_join(AllData, Harris)## Joining with `by = join_by(Date, Series)`### Graphic
AllData <- AllData %>%
arrange(Date)
# Add "WeekOf" variable to the data frame
if (!require("lubridate"))
install.packages("lubridate")
library(lubridate)
AllData$WeekOf <- round_date(AllData$Date,
unit = "week",
week_start = getOption("lubridate.week.start", 1))
CombinedCoverage <- AllData %>%
group_by(WeekOf) %>%
summarize(
Trump = sum(Trump, na.rm = TRUE),
Biden = sum(Biden, na.rm = TRUE),
Harris = sum(Harris, na.rm = TRUE)
)
fig <- plot_ly(
CombinedCoverage,
x = ~ WeekOf,
y = ~ Trump,
name = 'Trump',
type = 'scatter',
mode = 'none',
stackgroup = 'one',
fillcolor = '#B8001F')
fig <- fig %>% add_trace(y = ~ Biden,
name = 'Biden',
fillcolor = '#507687')
fig <- fig %>% add_trace(y = ~ Harris,
name = 'Harris',
fillcolor = '#384B70')
fig <- fig %>% layout(
title = 'Segment counts, by topic and week',
xaxis = list(title = "Week of", showgrid = FALSE),
yaxis = list(title = "Count", showgrid = TRUE)
)
fig# MSNBC
MSNBC <- AllData %>%
filter(Series == "MSNBC")
figMSNBC <- plot_ly(
MSNBC,
x = ~ WeekOf,
y = ~ Trump,
name = 'Trump',
type = 'scatter',
mode = 'none',
stackgroup = 'one',
fillcolor = '#B8001F')
figMSNBC <- figMSNBC %>% add_trace(y = ~ Harris,
name = 'Biden',
fillcolor = '#507687')
figMSNBC <- figMSNBC %>% add_trace(y = ~ Harris,
name = 'Harris',
fillcolor = '#384B70')
figMSNBC <- figMSNBC %>% layout(
title = 'Segment counts, MSNBC, by topic and week',
xaxis = list(title = "Week of", showgrid = FALSE),
yaxis = list(title = "Count", showgrid = TRUE)
)
figMSNBC# CNN
CNN <- AllData %>%
filter(Series == "CNN")
figCNN <- plot_ly(
CNN,
x = ~ WeekOf,
y = ~ Trump,
name = 'Trump',
type = 'scatter',
mode = 'none',
stackgroup = 'one',
fillcolor = '#B8001F')
figCNN <- figCNN %>% add_trace(y = ~ Harris,
name = 'Biden',
fillcolor = '#507687')
figCNN <- figCNN %>% add_trace(y = ~ Harris,
name = 'Harris',
fillcolor = '#384B70')
figCNN <- figCNN %>% layout(
title = 'Segment counts, CNN, by topic and week',
xaxis = list(title = "Week of", showgrid = FALSE),
yaxis = list(title = "Count", showgrid = TRUE)
)
figCNN#Fox News
FoxNews <- AllData %>%
filter(Series == "FOXNEWS")
figFox <- plot_ly(
FoxNews,
x = ~ WeekOf,
y = ~ Trump,
name = 'Trump',
type = 'scatter',
mode = 'none',
stackgroup = 'one',
fillcolor = '#B8001F')
figFox <- figFox %>% add_trace(y = ~ Harris,
name = 'Biden',
fillcolor = '#507687')
figFox <- figFox %>% add_trace(y = ~ Harris,
name = 'Harris',
fillcolor = '#384B70')
figFox <- figFox %>% layout(
title = 'Segment counts, Fox News, by topic and week',
xaxis = list(title = "Week of", showgrid = FALSE),
yaxis = list(title = "Count", showgrid = TRUE)
)
figFox