CHICAGO, Sept. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Cision, the global leader in earned media software and wire distribution services, published the latest data from its 2020 State of the Election blog series, a weekly nonpartisan media analysis of the U.S. presidential election. In its first week, Cision analyzed media coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. This week, Cision spotlights the most important issues of the 2020 election, as defined by Pew Research, to look at how the media is covering them, both nationally and locally.

To learn more about Cision and to view the full media analysis click here.

Key findings from this week's State of the Election include:

• The economy and healthcare are always-on topics and generate the most consistent coverage, month after month.
• COVID-19 has generated the most total coverage with 3.2M articles. The coverage peaked at the height of the pandemic and garnered 60% of the total coverage in March.
• Racial inequality did not become a major topic until the murder of George Floyd at the end of May.
• Gun policy, one of the most divisive issues in the country, received the least amount of coverage.

In addition to number of mentions, Cision highlights the importance of looking beyond that number in order to assess how the media is framing key issues. With a handful of states carrying important influence in this election, Cision looks at local coverage of key issues in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

Swing state data includes:

• In Michigan, healthcare received 17% of the media coverage – 5% more than all swing states and 7% more than the national average.
• Healthcare out-performed climate change and/or racial inequality news in Arizona, Florida and Michigan.
• Climate change experienced a large spike during Hurricane Laura and total mentions have declined 82% in the past week.

"The media's responsibility – and the power it has – to set, prime, and frame the public agenda, is increasingly apparent as we monitor the state of the media during this presidential election," said Lucie Vietti-Curtis, Director of Comms and Content at Cision. "Cision's State of the Election also highlights the power of media monitoring and how data can and should play a primary role in building any communications strategy."

To learn more about Cision and to view the full analysis click here.

Cision is politically unaffiliated and does not endorse any political parties, platforms, campaigns or candidates.

About Cision 
Cision is a leading global provider of earned media software and wire distribution services to public relations and marketing communications professionals. Cision's software allows users to identify key influencers, craft and distribute strategic content, and measure meaningful impact. Cision has over 4,800 employees with offices in 24 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information about Cision's award-winning products and services, including the Cision Communications Cloud^®, visit www.cision.com and follow Cision on Twitter @Cision.

Media Contact: 
Rebecca Dersh
PR Manager
cisionpr@cision.com

SOURCE Cision Ltd.