Media Bias? A Comparative Study of Time, Newsweek, The National Review, And The Progressive Coverage of Domestic Social Issues, Authors: Tawnya J. Adkins Covert and Philo C. Washburn A Book Review by Stephanie Martinez Media Bias Why does it matter? Our view of the news is, for most of us, our political reality. If we become disillusioned, thinking the media is not telling us the truth, we may become cynical and disinclined to be a part of the American democratic political process. Fundamental Messages To understand media bias Shed light on advantages as well as disadvantages of media bias To provide Empirically based understanding of media bias that supports belief in the value of news media, both mainstream and explicitly partisan, and encourages active engagement in civic issues. Media Bias Is itreally? It is common for Americans to think media is politically biasedit is what they see and hear in letters to editors, radio, television, internet and even in articles and other published works on this subject. Media bias is viewed as negative People with strong political views see whats published in the media as hostile to their own views (if it doesnt agree with my view, it must be biased) Conservative argument: Media is biased because its based on liberal perspective held by majority of leading American journalists who are liberal in their personal lives and not representative of the public. Liberal argument: Media biased because based on corporate ownership, profit orientation and dependence on elite sources of information and decontextualized coverage of social issues. Media Bias For purposes of this study, media bias is defined as: a)A quantifiable phenomenon that can be measured (and not just credibility based on personal beliefs). b)A media biased publication is one that relies on sources favorable to a liberal or conservative position. Measuring Media Bias 5 4 3 2 1 Data 1.Publications: 2 national newsmagazines Time & News Week - mainstream 2 Journals of political opinion National Review - conservative The Progressive liberal articles 3.Areas of focus: 4 domestic social issues: Crime, Environment, Gender, Poverty 4.Timeframe: 1975 2000 Using this criteria the study compiled empirical data under the following categories: Sources Costs Causes Solutions Measuring Media Bias - Application To measure the media bias, the authors assessed the social issue to determine: Source: Where did the information for the issue come from? Cost: Who or what has been wronged and what is the nature and extent of the grievance? Cause: Who or what is responsible for the wrong? Solution: What can be done to solve the problem? This moved this study beyond the limits of other studies which attempted to quantify media bias by focusing on a single element. Measuring Media Bias - Preparation 1. Identify the bias of a news story The bias or partisanship of a publication can be understood as a consistent tendency to provide more support to one of the contending parties, policies, or points of view in a sustained conflict over a social issue. 2.Identify Social Issues Social issues identified using 10 social problem textbooks in Perdue University Library representative of the study time frame ( ). Narrowed down to 4 Social issues based on the definition used for a sustained political conflict (one that lasts over 25 years). The 4 social issues: Crime, Poverty, Gender and Environment. Specifying the Measurement Model Source Categories & Criteria of Classification: Classified the sources as conservative or liberal Criteria for classification: Self-identification and/or Explicit support of partisan position. Some Sources classified as neutral or non- partisan with some exceptions. Example: Table 3.2 Next slide Table 3.2 Source Categories and Criteria of Partisanship Classifying Positions Operational definitions developed to enable the labeling of Sources as Conservative or Liberal: Media articles were analyzed and coded for each issue area Example: Table 3.4 Next slide Table 3.4 Conservative and Liberal Positions for the Issue of Environment Sample and Measure For each of the 4 magazines, all articles dealing with the selected social issues met the following criteria: Published between At least one page in length Must contain at least 3 of the 4 indicators (Source, Cause, Cost, Solution) 873 articles were coded by the authors Level of Bias: Articles taken from the four periodicals received a score for each of the four indicators (source, cost, cause and solution) on a scale of -1 to +1. -1 = Highest level of liberal bias +1 Highest level of conservative bias Ref: Sample Coding for Progressive article see next slide. Example: Coding for the Progressive article on Right to Life Rampage by Laura L. Sydell (August, 1993) Findings This study moved beyond the limits of other studies by using multiple measurement elements. Previous studies attempted to quantify media bias by focusing on a single element. Failure to consider the content of source comments or the context in which citations are located. This studys measure equally weights four separate indicators, provides a quantitative model that can be applied to print coverage of a variety of issues areas to reevaluate the media bias question. Chapter 4 of the book contains the majority of the data analyzed for comparison and consistency. This includes the following: Issue Area Coverage by Publication Comparing Bias across Publications Comparing Bias across Issue Areas Partisan Publications and Bias Consistency Comparing Coverage of Issues Consistency of Coverage of Issues over Time Proposing Solutions Bias Comparisons, Consistency & Proposing Solutions Issue Area Coverage by Publication Compared the issue focus across all four publications Findings indicated there is a moderate association between the publication and issue area coverage Ex: Time (7.8%) & Newsweek (13.4%) devoted smallest percentage to poverty Ex: National Review (17.2%) and The Progressive (10.3%) devoted least percentage to crime Comparing Bias across Publications The study compared level of bias by topic area for each publication. National Review: Adjusted bias score greater than +.20 (defined this media as conservative)