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Boston, April 5, 2012: As the US media narrative shifts to focus on voter issues, President Obama´s domestic and international coverage are becoming more negative, according to Media Tenor International.

US Media coverage in March began to focus more on voter issues—mainly economic policies, employment, health care and international conflicts, such as Iran and the Afghan war. In addition, overall coverage has focused on President Obama above the leading Republican candidates, as the November election draws near.

“Obama´s election in 2008 was largely precedent on his ability to recover the economic situation and improve the international image of the United States,” says Casey Smith, analyst at Media Tenor. “Now that Mitt Romney has emerged as the leading nomination against Obama in November, the media narrative has shifted to focus on Obama´s accomplishments while in office—which has resulted in more negative tonality and a lowering in his approval ratings,” Smith adds.

International satisfaction with Obama has been on the decline since his election in 2008, with German TV leading in negative tone, while US networks have been most negative towards Obama´s economic and health care policies.

“The contrast between the positive media tone on decreasing unemployment numbers earlier in the month and Obama´s overall approval rating on a downward trend indicate his vulnerability to voters.” Smith adds. “With the media more negative on health care—his only major policy proposal while in office—and international issues that affect the economy of the US, this election is still up for grabs.”

Overall, Mitt Romney still maintains a higher percentage of positive coverage compared to Obama.

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