Research says debates and analysis alter viewpoint

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/10/03/do-debates-and-analysis-alter-viewpoint-research-says-yes/?cp=1#comment-1096656

Do debates and analysis alter viewpoint? Research says yes

2:47 pm October 3, 2012, by Jay Bookman

In 2004, political science researchers at Arizona State University assembled three groups of people. One group watched that year’s third presidential debate between John Kerry and George W. Bush. A second group watched the debate plus 20 minutes of analysis on NBC. The third group watched the debate and were then given 20 minutes of access to written “instant analysis” posted on CNN.com.

Then they were asked the same obvious question: Who won? The results, via a graph by Kevin Drum, in turn borrowed from John Sides:

..... [see link above for graph]

Just the debate:
Kerry 48%
Neither 28%
Bush 24%

Debate + NBC analysis
Kerry 17%
Neither 33%
Bush 50%

Debate + CNN analysis
Kerry 43%
Neither 38%
Bush 19%

After the debate, I definitely thought Kerry had done better. Then I heard the commentators criticizing his performance, making comments that did not at all reflect what I had just seen for myself.