Cable News' Mandela Coverage Focuses On Obama Selfie, Handshake: Study

Cable News: Selfie-Obsessed
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 10: (EDITORS NOTE: Retransmission of #454753083 with alternate crop.) U.S. President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro during the official memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela at FNB Stadium December 10, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Over 60 heads of state have travelled to South Africa to attend a week of events commemorating the life of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mr Mandela passed away on the evening of December 5, 2013 at his home in Houghton at the age of 95. Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in jail for his activism against apartheid in a racially-divided South Africa. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - DECEMBER 10: (EDITORS NOTE: Retransmission of #454753083 with alternate crop.) U.S. President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro during the official memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela at FNB Stadium December 10, 2013 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Over 60 heads of state have travelled to South Africa to attend a week of events commemorating the life of former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mr Mandela passed away on the evening of December 5, 2013 at his home in Houghton at the age of 95. Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in jail for his activism against apartheid in a racially-divided South Africa. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Obama's handshake with Cuban president Raul Castro and his selfie with other world leaders at Nelson Mandela's memorial service made headlines on Tuesday. The stories prompted some critics to take issue with the media's focus on the two stories.

A Media Matters report on Wednesday indicated that those critics may have had a point. The organization found that coverage of Obama's handshake and selfie overshadowed the tribute to Mandela on cable news Tuesday evening.

CNN devoted twice as many segments to the handshake and the selfie (67 percent) than the actual memorial services (33 percent). Meanwhile, Fox News spent 65 percent of its segments on the two stories, while 55 percent of MSNBC's coverage focused on the handshake and selfie.

The coverage got plenty of criticism, from Jon Stewart's takedown to reactions on Twitter:

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot