Washington Post VS. New York Times by Michelle Peribanez

Source 1:

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:09:00 UTC

The Washington Post is an American daily newspaper based in Washington, D.C. It is known for its national and international news, politics, and investigative journalism. The Washington Post recently announced that they won three Pulitzer Prizes in 2024, bringing their total to 76 since 1936. As of 2023, The Washington Post has 2.5 million digital subscribers and 135,980 print subscribers.

Source 2: The New York Times

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:13:42 UTC

The New York Times (NYT) is an American newspaper based in New York City. The New York Times covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. The New York Times (NYT) has won many awards for its journalism, including Pulitzer Prizes, Peabody Awards, and Emmys. As of August 2024, The New York Times (NYT) had over 10.8 million subscribers, including 10.2 million digital-only subscribers.

Coverage Comparison: Vice Presidential Debate

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:18:06 UTC

The Vice Presidential debate was considered "Top News" for both news publications the morning after the debate took place. Both publications published opinionated pieces about the debate within an hour of it taking place. This was "Top News" for two days, however other political coverage continued to stay in the "Top News" category.

My Focus

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:25:43 UTC

I want to see how these two news sources cover the Vice presidential debate that took place on October 1, 2024. Both had posted articles, mainly opinionated, within an hour after the debate. I think it will be interesting to compare these articles as they are both respected and mostly left leaning news publications.

Example: Washington Post Oct. 1

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:27:40 UTC

Both news publications published opinionated stories on JD Vance's performance during the Vice Presidential Debate. Here The Washington Post criticizes his performance, and specifically highlights when he tells CBS News moderator that they were not suppose to fact-check.

Example: NYT Oct. 1

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:28:00 UTC

For the NYT however, they had a very different perspective. Instead of criticizing Vance, they actually praise him which I found interesting since the NYT is known to be more liberal. They also compare him to his running mate Walz and offer some critiques.

Washington Post VIA Analysis

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:29:33 UTC

Verification: The Washington Posts main source was the live debate and quotes from the streaming. However they dig deeper and use other sources as well. All of the sources used to back up these statements in this opinionated piece were from other news sources. For instance, when recalling Donald Trumps posts on Truth Social during the debate, they linked in an article from the Independent.

Independence: Structurally this story is independent. However I would say that that the author isn't intellectually independent. This is an opinionated piece and although it is backed up by sources(other news article links) it is still mostly bias especially in the way that it is written.

Accountability: The Washington Post is known for ethical values and holding themselves accountable for errors. Although this is an opinionated piece, the facts were backed up by sources. there is accessible information throughout the publication to contact to handle any errors or corrections

NYT VIA Analysis

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:30:00 UTC

Verification: The NYT is known for their credibility. However in this article they lack sources. Possibly because this is an opinionated piece but this differs from the Washington Posts opinionated piece. They claim Vance's dominating performance but lack any evidence of this. There are no quotes and no links throughout the entire article which is shocking.

Independence: Similarly to the Washington Post, I would say that structurally this is independent. The author is not affiliated with any private groups. However I would say that the author isn't intellectually independent as this article is highly biased and not backed up with any sources.

Accountability: NYT is known to hold accountability for any errors or corrections and they provide information on who to contact for any issues. They also allow people to comment under their articles to give feedback.

What I found: Washington Post provides more details

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:31:58 UTC

Although this is an opinionated piece the Washington Post has more to offer. They provide background and more details on the debate to support their opinions. They include many sources from different outlets, and they use quotes from the live debate.

What I found: NYT is lacking details

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:32:18 UTC

This NYT article was relatively short. The author provided his opinions without any evidence or sources to back it up. They provide a different opinion to the Washington Post but lack a lot of information. I was surprised to see the NYT have no sources as they are known to be a credible source.

Conclusion: The Washington Post is the better source especially when it comes to opinionated pieces

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 20:32:35 UTC

Overall, The Washington Post is the better source compared to the New York Times. When covering the Vice Presidential Debate, both publications published articles within an hour of the live debate. Both were opinionated pieces, however the Washington Post had more to offer. They provided sources and evidence to their claim despite the article being opinionated and bias. In contrast to the short article the NYT provided, the opinionated piece was just that, an opinion with no sources to back it up.

Source Overview

mp00065 — 2024-10-16 23:19:30 UTC

For this project I will be comparing The Washington Post and The New York Times. Both publications are American daily newspapers and are known for their high quality journalism and covering a wide range of news topics such as international, national, and political news. I will be focusing on the coverage of the Vice Presidential Debate which took place on October 1st.