Newspaper 1999 Abstracts
Newspaper Division
Bombing Bagdad: Comparing The Influence of Foreign Policy and Propaganda Tools in British and American Newspapers During a Joint Military Action December 17-21, 1998 • Abhinav Aima, Ohio University • This study compared the coverage of air strikes against Iraq in four American and four British newspapers in the period December 17-21, 1998. A content analysis of 293 news stories collected from the Lexis-Nexis databank for these five days showed a similar trend in newspapers of both countries that lent support to the propaganda model theory. Both countries’ newspapers over-represented the sources that were favorable to the respective foreign policies or largely kept their opinions within the confines of the foreign policy debate.
Enterprise and Investigative Reporting at Ohio Metropolitan Newspapers in 1980 and in 1995 • Joseph Bernt and Marilyn Greenwald, Ohio University • Underwood and McManus argue maximizing profit is incompatible with covering an establishment that includes media executives and celebrity reporters. Hamill thinks a cozy relationship between corporate ownership and market-oriented newsrooms endangers investigative reporting. Demers argues the managerial revolution has improved newspapers. rather than eroding their quality. Authors’ earlier study found a decline in investigative and rise in feature reporting in three major dailies from 1980 to 1995. This content analysis of six Ohio dailies found less shift from investigative reporting, noting some smaller papers expanded both forms.
News Media, Heal Thyselves: Sourcing Patterns In News Stories About News Media Performance • Ronald Bishop, Drexel University • The last decade has seen a marked increase in the amount of coverage afforded the “media angle” in major news stories. But where do journalists turn to find support for stories they write about themselves? This content analysis applies and extends past research on source selection patterns to these “media stories.” It is hypothesized that certain sources do recur in stories about news media performance. A series of Lexis-Nexis searches was performed between April and October 1998 for news stories and broadcast news transcripts from 1990 to the present which focused either on exploration of news media coverage or the practice of journalism.
The Great Home Run Race Of 1998 In Black And White • Mike Bush, North Carolina • In covering the race, most newspapers focused on Mark McGwire, ignoring Sammy Sosa, a black Dominican. But the contest may have been for second place; Negro Leaguer Josh Gibson once walloped 84 homers. Another issue was McGwire’ 5 use of a steroid, legal in baseball but banned by other sports. Once the biased coverage was noted, many writers gave Sosa due credit. Black papers ignored the unequal coverage story.
Job Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction of Texas Newspaper Reporters • Li-jing Arthur Chang, Nanyang Technological University and George Sylvie, Texas-Austin • This study surveyed 365 Texas daily newspaper reporters in spring 1998 to explore the conceptual distinction between job satisfaction and dissatisfaction as well as factors behind job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Results indicated the reporters’ job satisfaction and dissatisfaction were different concepts. Path analysis showed the predictors of their job satisfaction include sense of achievement, personal growth, newsroom policy, impact on community, and autonomy. The analysis also showed the predictors of their dissatisfaction include pay and work conditions.
Are Young People Reading the Newspaper? A 25-Year Cohort Analysis • Nancy Cheever and Tony Rimmer, California State University-Fullerton • The newspaper industry has long been concerned that it is losing the young reader. The research informing this concern is derived largely from cross-sectional studies. We argue that younger people become older, stable, newspaper readers and that a cohort analysis approach is needed to understand this phenomenon. We look at newspaper readership and its predictors both cross-sectionally and through cohort analysis in the 25-year cumulation (1972-1996) of the General Social Survey.
Numbers in Newsrooms: A Qualitative Case Study of How Journalists View Math on the Job • Patricia A. Curtin and Scott Maier, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • To explore how journalists perceive their use of numbers in the news and to lay the groundwork for developing training curriculum to help journalists work with numbers with greater competence and confidence, focus groups were conducted with reporters, copy editors, and top management of a 150,000-circulation, chain-owned daily newspaper. The results suggest different approaches to math training are necessary based on subjects’ comfort levels with math. Implications for journalism educators and newsroom managers are given.
Measuring the Marketplace: Diversity and Editorial Page Content • Michael Drager, Illinois State University • In this study of editorial page content, 105 newspapers were content analyzed to determine their diversity. An economic measure, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, was used to develop a composite index of diversity for each newspaper. Results found that while some aspects of editorial content were somewhat diverse in nature, overall diversity of content for the sample was lacking.
Newsroom Teams: A Baseline Study Of Prevalence, Organization And Effectiveness • Fred F. Endres, Ann B. Schierhorn and Carl Schierhorn, Kent State University • Although the concept of teamwork as an organizational model has been promoted in the busi-ness world for the past 25 years, only recently have some newsrooms begun to adopt the team model. This baseline study of U.S. newspaper managing editors found that 37 percent reported they had a full or partial permanent team system in place. Most of those teams were organized by news topic or as an ad hoc group of reporters, editors and designers who planned and executed specific stories or pack-ages.
You Had to Be There (And They Weren’t): The Problem with Reporter Reconstructions • Russell Frank, Pennsylvania State University • Newspaper stories that rely on the reconstruction of events from police reports, court records and the recollections of witnesses often sacrifice attribution for the sake of immediacy. Such stories make compelling reading but they mislead readers by erasing the line between information obtained via observation and information obtained from human or documentary sources. This paper argues that the lack of attribution is more distracting than its presence-because the reader wonders how the reporter knows what he knows-and calls on reporters to make clear when they have left the realm of observation and entered the realm of reconstruction.
Journalists’ Perceptions Of Online Information-Gathering Problems • Bruce Garrison, Miami • This paper reports a study of the leading problems identified in using the World Wide Web for newsgathering. Respondents to 1997 and 1998 national censuses listed their perceptions of flaws in the Web as a newsgathering source. Data from similar national censuses conducted in 1994, 1995, and 1996 are also reported. The study found growing use of the Web and commercial services during all five years. Among the leading problems were verification, unreliable information, badly sourced information, and lack of site credibility.
Diversity Efforts in the Newsroom: Doin’ the Right Thing or Just A Case of Show Me the Money? • Richard Gross and Glen T. Cameron, Missouri and Patricia A. Curtin, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • Researchers analyzed 76 interviews with reporters and editors at a respected western U.S. newspaper involved in enhancing diversity of its newspaper content and newsroom staffing. Researchers sought to determine if market-driven considerations and “quality” journalism were perceived by respondents as mutually exclusive. The study confirms previous findings that journalists consider knowledge about the business of their newspaper to be empowering, not necessarily in conflict with the editorial mission.
Framing Jasper: A Statement Analysis of Newspaper Coverage of the John William King Murder Trial • L. Paul Husselbee, Mary Alice Baker, O’Brien Stanley and Ashley Salter, Lamar University • Journalists frame issues by choosing to emphasize some issues over others, affecting news consumers’ awareness and perception of public problems and concerns. Journalistic credibility suffers from public perception that reporters do not show respect for communities they cover and that they chase “sensational” stories because they sell newspapers. This study analyzes newspaper coverage of a “sensational” story to determine how journalists framed the community of Jasper, Texas, and its citizens during the trial of white supremacist John William King.
Extra! Extra! Read all About It: The American Press and Crime News • Cathy M. Jackson, Norfolk State University • The centuries-old relationship between the press and crime coverage is explored in this descriptive paper. Yet, despite its longevity, crime news and its ability to historically highlight social conditions have not been fully explored by researchers. Crime news also is worthy of study because it has been a factor in the development of several journalistic techniques. Situated in its sociohistorical setting, the press and its coverage of crime news reveals a journalistic form that mirrored the American citizens’ quest for a place in the universe.
Local Views on Local News • Patricia M. Kennedy, Syracuse University • Expanding on research studying the relationship between community ties and media preferences, this study, based on a 1998 telephone survey in which half of the respondents use the internet at home, finds those with strong ties to the local political process (through voter registration, planning to vote and higher levels of political activity), and those who anticipated continued residency in the community, identified newspapers as the preferred medium for information about local public affairs.
Hispanics & the Media: A Case Study of Coverage in The Dallas Morning News • Camille R. Kraeplin, Southern Methodist University and Federico Subervi, Texas-Austin • This study examined coverage of Latinos by a large Southwestern daily, as well as their attitudes toward that coverage. Using focus groups, a survey and a content analysis, researchers found that although the quantity of coverage was low, the quality was generally positive. However, it was not as broad-based as it should be. Most Hispanic readers would like to see some Spanish-language content in the newspaper. And most expressed a high level of interest in “Hispanic” content.
The Recency and Frequency Effects in the Agenda-setting Process • Yulian Li, Minnesota • This study content analyzes the coverage of four issues by the New York Times in a 20-week long period. It finds that there are two types of effects in the agenda-setting process: a recency effect and a frequency effect. It suggests that there might not be such a thing called an optimal time lag. It also finds that it is on the obtrusive issues that the media have a stronger agenda-setting effect.
The New York Times and The London Times Cover War in Bosnia and Croatia, 1991 to 1995: Press Nationalism and U.S.-British Hegemony Over Bosnian Policy • Lawrence A. Luther, Ohio University • A content analysis of news articles in The New York Times and The London Times divided Bosnian war coverage into three periods between 1991 and 1995. Coded were datelines, sources (including U.S. and British officials), story topic, and U.S.-British policy rifts. Results demonstrated the increasing U.S. role over the West’s Bosnian policy, while Britain’s role declined. This supported Press Nationalism as a relationship between press attention and the U.S. role. It supported the premise of U.S.-British hegemony, with the U.S. role dominant.
Getting It Right: Newsmaker Perceptions of Accuracy and Credibility • Scott R. Maier, North Carolina-Chapel Hill • In a survey of news sources cited in a metropolitan daily newspaper, 58.1 percent of local news stories examined were reported in error. Factual errors were most common but ‘errors of judgment” were considered most egregious. News sources were forgiving of error, rating most inaccuracies minor and almost never seeking corrections. Inaccuracies were found to affect source perceptions of story credibility, but errors from any one story had no significant influence on overall newspaper credibility’.
Agency Concerns Over Newspaper Advertising • Ann Maxwell, Oregon and Wayne Wanta, Florida • A random survey of U.S. advertising agencies examined concerns about newspaper advertising. The results suggest that agencies still view newspapers positively. They also do not view online communications as a replacement for newspapers. However, agencies also appear to have concerns about the audiences they will reach through newspaper advertisements. In other words, the newspaper product is still attractive to advertising agencies, but the audiences they provide are key concerns.
Analytical Journalism: Credibility of Computer-Assisted Reporting • Justin Mayo, Missouri • An experiment tested readers’ perceptions of newspaper stories that used one of three different types of evidence to support the reporter’s claims in the stories: data the reporter independently gathered and analyzed via databases (computer-assisted reporting), data from official or expert sources, and anecdotal evidence. Participants read three news stories on different topics with one of the three types of evidence in each story. After reading each story, participants rated the story’s credibility, newsworthiness, liking, quality, understanding, and readability.
The Quest for Newspaper Credibility Through the Public Dialogue in Correction Boxes, Letters to the Editor and Columns Written by Newspaper Ombudsmen • Neil Nemeth, Purdue University-Calumet and Craig Sanders, John Carroll University • We examined how newspapers published in cities with competitive daily newspapers used correction boxes, letters to the editor and an ombudsman’s column in their public dialogue with their readers about the paper’s behavior. News content dominated the correction boxes and ombudsman’s columns. Reaction to the opinion of columnists or other letters to the editor writers dominated the letters to the editor. These findings raise questions about the effectiveness of these mechanisms to adequately address the credibility gap between newspapers and their readers.
Agenda Setting and the Presidency: A Longitudinal Analysis of the State of the Union Address and Newspaper Coverage • Ashby W. Pettigrew and William R. Davie, Southwestern Louisiana • Agenda-setting studies have suggested the president’s State of the Union address is subject to a re-ordering of priorities by the press. To test that assumption, ten State of the Union speeches and their coverage by The New York Times and The Washington Post were content analyzed and compared over a 47-year period. The results showed a remarkable degree of shared emphasis on agenda topics set forth by the president in this speech.
Journalists and Gender: An Analysis of The New York Times Coverage of the 1996 U.S. Presidential Election • Kimmerly S. Piper-Aiken, Indiana University • Content analysis of 339 election stories from The New York Times found striking similarities between stories written by women and men. This study examined whether or not women reporters were more likely to use gender-relevant frames, refer to the “women’s vote,” report on typical women’s themes, and include female sources more often than men. Regardless of gender, journalists avoided using simple sex stereotypes and women continued to be underrepresented as news sources and reporters.
The Framing of Crime and Violence Print News in the Los Angeles Times • Shelly Rodgers and Esther Thorson, Missouri-Columbia • The authors examine how crime and violence reporting is framed by the Los Angeles Times. Using a public health perspective, we examine whether causal factors and societal impact of crimes are present in news stories. Surprisingly, we find that the classic stereotyping of crime and violence framing is strongly present in the Times. We discuss what changes would be useful to provide news consumers with a more accurate picture of crime in their community.
The Downing of Pierre Salinger: Friendly Fire or Self-Destruction? • Thomas E. Ruggiero, Bowling Green State University and Samuel P. Winch, Nanyang University, Singapore • Journalists are now using interactive electronic forums to engage in informal self-regulation. By critiquing coverage of news stories online, journalists seek to enhance professionalism and objective news practices. In the past this role was served much less frequently and primarily by social-science scholars, the trade press and professional conventions. Emphasizing a social-constructionist perspective, this study employed rhetorical analysis to locate supporting and contrasting elements and arguments from two primary sources.
Improving Newspaper Delivery: A Factor Analysis of Route Demographic Variables and Reliability Measures • Marc Seamon, West Virginia University • Reliability of newspaper delivery is a serious concern for circulation managers, but media researchers have done little to help them address the issue. This quantitative examination assesses reliability and satisfaction variables for lateness, damage and non-delivery and then correlates those indices with route demographic variables such as carrier age, carrier experience, route length, route density and length of time required for delivery. The results indicate that current industry trends to replace juvenile carriers with “more reliable” adults may be misguided.
The Shrinking Sphere of Privacy: Candidate Coverage in Presidential Politics, 1980 to 1996 • Elizabeth A. Skewes, Syracuse University • Politicians bemoan the personal nature of campaign coverage, saying it distracts voters and keeps good people from running for office. Others argue that a candidate’s handling of media scrutiny prepares him or her for the limelight of office. This study finds that campaign coverage is more personal than in 1980, although it is not more negative. It also finds that while most personal coverage is about Democrats, personal coverage of Republican candidates is more negative.
The Metro Wide Web: How Newspapers’ Gatekeeping Role Is Changing Online • Jane B. Singer, Colorado State University • Newspapers traditionally have about the world to local readers’ doorsteps. But as papers go online, their editors face new decisions relating to that gatekeeping role. This study examines the print and online versions of six Colorado newspapers, comparing the amount of local and non-local news, sports and business content in each. The findings indicate the online products have a much stronger local orientation than the print ones, suggesting that online papers may be moving toward abandonment of the role of connecting readers to a world that extends beyond their horizons.
The New York Times Coverage Of Somalia 1992-94: A Content Analysis • Mustafa Taha, Ohio University • This paper content analyzes 200 articles that dealt with the situation in Somalia during 1992-1994. The study contributes to the tradition of research in two areas: Information flow, and press-government relations. The results show that more than 55 percent of The New York Times sources were U.S. officials. The Times contribution to agenda setting regarding U.S. policy in Somalia was minimal. The study suggests that the closer the reporter’s location to policy makers, the less critical the reporter will be.
Baseball Box Scores in the Newspaper: Helpful Statistics or Sports Hieroglyphics? • C. A. Tuggle and Don Sneed, Florida International University • A survey of fans in attendance at two Major League baseball games reveals that many fans experience difficulty when trying to decipher box scores in the newspaper. Several factors affected the ability to read box scores, including having played sports in high school, the sex of the respondent, and whether English was the person’s native language. The authors suggest that publications include a legend on the agate page that explains the meanings of the abbreviations.
Local News Coverage Strategies in a Three-Way Daily Newspaper Competitive Market • Patsy G. Watkins, Arkansas • An exploratory study examines local news coverage strategies in the first months of an unusual competitive market situation involving three daily newspapers. The market is a two-county area including four main medium-sized cities and a few dozen small towns. Content analysis was used to determine the amount and topics of local news coverage allocated to the various municipalities in the market to find out if the papers were substitutes for each other.
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