Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Immigration Reform: A Community Structure Approach

Abstract

A community structure analysis compared community characteristics and nationwide coverage of immigration reform in newspapers in 21 major U.S. cities, sampling all 250+ word articles April 23, 2010 to November 12, 2013. The resulting 262 articles were coded for “prominence” and “direction” (“favorable,” “unfavorable,” or “balanced/neutral” coverage), then combined into each newspaper's composite “Media Vector” (range = .632 to −.4800). Nineteen of 21 newspapers showed favorable coverage of immigration reform. Pearson correlations yielded 4 significant results, the most powerful of which supported immigration reform. The “vulnerability” hypothesis (media “mirror” the interests of marginal/disadvantaged groups) was essentially confirmed. Higher percentages below the poverty line (r = .607, p = .003) and higher crime rates (r = .490, p = .017) correlated with more favorable coverage of immigration reform. By contrast, higher percentages of women in the workforce (r = −.543, p = .008) and higher proportions of hate crimes (r = −.403, p = .048) were linked with less favorable coverage. Regression analysis yielded the percentage living below the poverty line accounting for 37.2% of the variance, and proportion of hate crimes yielded an additional 19.1% of the variance. The Midwest had by far the most favorable coverage of immigration reform, more than any other region.