Elections
by Leonard M. Baynes
Apr 4 2008
The 2008 election has made history with the racial and gender diversity of the Democratic Party’s presidential candidates: a white woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton; an African American man, Barack Obama; and a Latino man, Bill Richardson. From the beginning, the media have promoted a two-person contest between Clinton and Obama, virtually excluding all other candidates.
by Jesse Franzblau
Jan 25 2008
Readers of mainstream U.S. news coverage of Guatemala’s November 2007 presidential election, in which voters handed a comfortable victory to Álvaro Colom Caballeros over Otto Pérez Molina, received a distorted picture of the issues Guatemala faces today. Reports mostly misrepresented the country’s political dynamics and misled the public about the nature of the violence that led to the deaths of more than 50 candidates, activists, and their family members during the campaign season.
by Michael Cohen
Jan 10 2008
News coverage of the election of Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as president of Argentina on October 28, 2007, was as lop-sided as the election itself. Fernández de Kirchner, popularly known as Cristina, won about 45% of the popular vote, with the second place candidate, Elisa Carrio, receiving only 22%, with other candidates receiving fewer votes. This is a winning margin according to Argentine law and does not require a runoff between the top two candidates.
