2.2.5.2.1.7 Press coverage

Mainstream media have not established a sustained role in promoting public consciousness. Most of the press coverage of the ICANN election was intermittent, or appeared in niche publications geared towards the technical community and not towards generating awareness of the importance of public representation within ICANN.

Major newspapers and television networks did not give large play to the story of the ICANN election, although many did run some stories about it (commonly in the business or lifestyle section). Where major media did cover the election, they generally focused on criticism of ICANN in general, and on ICANN's difficulties in bringing off the election. Very little of the coverage actually focused on the candidates and their platforms; the "hook" for most stories was how election difficulties were a reflection of general problems that ICANN faces on an ongoing basis.

Thoughtful, comprehensive coverage was generally limited to technical and computer-oriented print and web publications; even there, criticism of ICANN's technical management of the election process (and of other ICANN actions) dominated over substantive coverage of candidate positions.

2.2.5.2.1.6 In-Person Debate

2.2.5.2.2 The Election phase