US News Coverage Research Articles

Shaping the Narrative: Examining News Coverage of Voter ID Laws in the United States

ABSTRACT This study is the first to examine US news coverage of voter ID laws. Voter ID requirements are central to ongoing political debates about voting procedures. Despite rare cases of voter fraud by impersonation and the strong polarization over voter ID among partisan elites, there is a surprising broad bipartisan support for voter ID among the American public. Using a range of inductive computational content analysis methods, we analyse news coverage of voter ID requirements from 2013 to 2023. We find coverage differs by outlets political leaning and demonstrate a link between news media discourse and elite framing on the issue. Donald Trump’s voter fraud allegations, however, appear to have substantially shaped left-leaning media coverage from 2016, raising concerns around whether this might have helped amplify electoral conspiracies, instead of offering the public alternative ways of thinking about voter ID laws.

The Construction of Human Rights Narratives in the 2022 World Cup: A Critical Examination of US and Qatari News Coverage

This study examines the tensions in the representations of human rights discourses in the context of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Primarily drawing from postcolonial approaches, it investigates how the construction of human rights narratives were deployed by two leading publications representing US ( The New York Times—NYT) and Qatari ( Gulf Times—GT) viewpoints. In doing so, the study probes the representation and self-portrayal of Qatari cultural, political, and socio-economic repertoire by the NYT and GT, respectively. Results from a qualitative content analysis highlight how the NYT emphasized the exotic Otherness of Qatar and its supposed inability-cum-illegitimacy to host the tournament. Alternatively, GT demonstrated a paradoxical disdain and desire for Western validation. Overall, the narratives in the NYT and GT tell a story of an ambivalent relationship between the West and Qatar situated in the historical context of colonialism and reflective of the ongoing, reciprocal dialogue between publications targeting English speaking audiences.

A Comparative Study of News Headlines in Chinese and US News Coverage at the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic

News headlines can effectively condense the primary material of the report and highlight the most important topics. This article provides an in-depth look at the differences between China Daily and Voice of America in their coverage of the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic. Through this study, a more comprehensive understanding of the media’s role and reporting style in health crises can be achieved, along with an in-depth analysis of how these reports reflect differences between countries and cultures. These distinctions reflect how different countries’ cultures and beliefs are represented in news reporting.

Fear, Love, and News: How US News Coverage of Immigration Negatively Impacts the Mental Health and Well-Being of Immigrant Families

Fear, Love, and News: How US News Coverage of Immigration Negatively Impacts the Mental Health and Well-Being of Immigrant Families

The New York Times distorts the Palestinian struggle: A case study of anti-Palestinian bias in US news coverage of the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas

This article provides a methodologically novel, large-scale proof of historical bias against Palestine in a newspaper of international importance – The New York Times (NYT) – during the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas. Using state-of-the-art natural language processing toolkits as well as a regression model with over 90 percent accuracy based on a carefully validated word bank, the author analyzes over 33,000 NYT articles for (1) their use of active/passive voice, and (2) the objectivity, tone, and violent sentiment of the language used. She follows up her quantitative analysis with a qualitative validation step, analyzing biased articles in each period. In conjunction with historical context, the article shows that anti-Palestinian bias persisted disproportionately in the NYT during both periods and, in fact, worsened from the First Intifada to the Second. This work builds on a history of qualitative research on anti-Palestinian bias in the US media and attempts to provide a methodological contribution that encourages conversation between quantitative and qualitative metrics of bias.

News Media, Inflation, and Sentiment

We study the relationship between media portrayals of inflation and consumer sentiment. Using tools from natural language processing, we uncover two competing narratives in US news coverage of inflation: the first relates inflation to financial variables, while the second relates inflation to real variables. As inflation rose in 2021, media increasingly emphasized the real economy. Linking inflation news to social network data from Twitter, we find that exposure to articles emphasizing the connection between inflation and the real economy significantly reduces sentiment, particularly in periods of high inflation. Shifting media narratives may therefore have contributed to declining consumer sentiment in 2021.

Primitive or empowered: representations of Native Americans and COVID-19 in news media

ABSTRACT Historically, representations of Native Americans in media have tended toward a narrative of a people who are savage at worst, primitive and helpless at best. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Native Americans were often featured in news coverage about the viral outbreak. Using close textual analysis, this study differentiates between COVID-19 themed news stories featuring Native Americans as told by Native media sources and those offered by non-Native media sources. Though the representations of Native people offered in the reports from non-Native news agencies were generally sympathetic, they upheld longstanding and negative visual tropes of primitiveness and helplessness. Native news sources, however, portrayed Native people as empowered and community oriented. We conclude that when Native people construct their own stories, even in the midst of a devastating pandemic, their narratives further efforts toward Native self-determination and rearticulate the archetypal framing of Native identity in US news coverage.

Can States Continue to Set the Agenda for Tobacco 21? Insights From US News Coverage Between 2012 and 2020.

Existing research on media examining the news content related to Tobacco 21 (T21) predate the adoption of most T21 laws. This study examined the discussion of T21 laws in top-circulating print media sources in the United States between 2012 and 2020. Systematic database searches using Access World News and Factiva identified T21-related news articles appearing in the top daily circulating newspapers in each state between January 2012 and December 2020 (n = 586 articles). Content analyses documented prevalence, types of articles and context related to framing of arguments for or against T21 laws. Newspaper coverage of T21 was highest in 2019 (42.8% of articles). The majority were news or features (75.4%) followed by editorials or opinions (24.6%) which largely supported T21. Most articles focused on state or local T21 action. Coverage of federal T21 increased in 2019. The most common argument supporting T21 included reducing youth tobacco prevalence (64.8%) while the most frequent objection was freedom infringement (25.1%). Tobacco and vape industries began voicing support for T21 in 2019. News coverage of state-level T21 in the United States began to increase in 2015 and peaked in 2019 with enactment of federal T21, a newsworthy event. As states adopt and amend T21 laws to align with federal law, advocates can use media to help shape the narrative and encourage strong T21 policies. This study described the volume and content of T21 print media coverage from 2012 to 2020, including common arguments used to support and oppose T21. Arguments in support of T21 included reducing youth tobacco use, particularly use of e-cigarettes, and related health effects while arguments against T21 focused on individual rights. Support for T21 reached a tipping point in 2019, including the tobacco industry's reversal in opposing such laws. States can and should continue to improve existing T21 laws and policies and increase public awareness about critical policy components such as inspection procedures and penalties.

Securitising an international humanitarian crisis: news framing of the Syrian refugee crisis in the US

ABSTRACT This study examined how the 2016 Syrian refugee crisis was framed in by US news outlets. Upon applying the concept of securitisation to framing theory, the results from a content analysis indicate that the majority of US news coverage framed Syrian refugees as a nonmilitary issue, emphasising the humanitarian nature of the refugee crisis, as well as a threat to the national security and identity of the US by emphasising terrorism. Implications for news coverage of international conflicts are discussed within the context of framing and securitisation theory.

Maintenance of News Frames: How US, British and Russian News Made Sense of Unfolding Events in the Syrian Chemical Weapons Crisis

ABSTRACT Frames are indispensable tools for journalists to make sense of unfolding events, but they also constrain their perspective to most readily see what they expect to see. In this study, we examine how pre-established news frames continue to inform journalists’ framing practices despite the ongoing arrival of novel, often contravening information. Specifically, we argue that dominant frames rooted in pre-existing cultural perceptions and strategic elite frame building have the capacity to overpower an open-minded appraisal of available information. In a qualitative, diachronic analysis of US, British and Russian news coverage of the 2013 Syrian Chemical Weapons crisis, we analyze journalists’ strategies for negotiating between pre-established news frames and novel, discrepant claims and observations. We find that most claims that directly contravened existing frames were either ignored or discounted by questioning the credibility of sources. By contrast, unforeseen events effectively challenged the predictive validity of dominant frames, necessitating adaptations with often far-reaching consequences for the frame. Observed patterns were consistent across outlets, despite the different journalistic cultures and embedding media systems and political settings. Our findings illuminate the important role of journalists’ pre-established ideas, which shape their news selection and framing practices, contributing to the maintenance of existing news narratives.

Problematic news framing of #MeToo

ABSTRACT Mainstream US news coverage of #MeToo reprises some of the central limitations of news coverage of rape and sexual assault from prior decades. However, #MeToo coverage also includes some indications of the contributions of corporate culture and rape culture to the abuses of power that have taken place. Through a close analysis of New York Times and Washington Post coverage of two cases, those of Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer, this article shows how most stories are framed from the point of view of the perpetrator or the organization of which he is a part. Following limitations of coverage in earlier eras, victims and their specific claims and experiences are quickly sidelined. Nonetheless, some stories name the problematic behaviors of perpetrators and discuss abuses of power and the role of corporate culture. These elements, while included, are dwarfed by the preponderance of coverage that is framed as centrally about either the accused or about the costs of his dismissal from the organization of which he was a part. In the context of this analysis, the final section of the article proposes several suggestions for improved coverage of #MeToo cases.

Uncovering a Climate Catastrophe? Media Coverage of Australia’s Black Summer Bushfires and the Revelatory Extent of the Climate Blame Frame

The Black Summer of 2019/2020 saw the forests of southeast Australia go up in flames. The fire season started early, in September 2019, and by March 2020 fires had burned over 12.6 million hectares (Werner and Lyons). The scale and severity of the fires was quickly confirmed by scientists to be "unprecedented globally" (Boer et al.) and attributable to climate change (Nolan et al.). The fires were also a media spectacle, generating months of apocalyptic front-page images and harrowing broadcast footage. Media coverage was particularly preoccupied by the cause of the fires. Media framing of disasters often seeks to attribute blame (Anderson et al.; Ewart and McLean) and, over the course of the fire period, blame for the fires was attributed to climate change in much media coverage. However, as the disaster unfolded, denialist discourses in some media outlets sought to veil this revelation by providing alternative explanations for the fires. Misinformation originating from social media also contributed to this obscuration. In this article, we investigate the extent to which media coverage of the 2019/2020 bushfires functioned both to precipitate a climate change epiphany and also to support refutation of the connection between catastrophic fires and the climate crisis.

From the Deeming Rule to JUUL-US News Coverage of Electronic Cigarettes, 2015-2018.

News media may influence public perceptions and attitudes about electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), which may influence product use and attitudes about their regulation. The purpose of this study is to describe trends in US news coverage of e-cigarettes during a period of evolving regulation, science, and trends in the use of e-cigarettes. We conducted a content analysis of e-cigarette topics and themes covered in US news articles from 2015 to 2018. Online news databases (Access World News, Factiva) were used to obtain US news articles from the top 34 circulating newspapers, four national wire services, and five leading online news sources. The number of articles increased by 75.4% between 2015 and 2018 (n = 1609). Most articles focused on policy/regulation (43.5%) as a main topic, followed by health effects (22.3%) and prevalence/trends (17.9%). Discussion about flavor bans quadrupled (6.1% to 24.6%) and discussion of youth e-cigarette use was most prevalent (58.4%) in 2018, coinciding with an increase in coverage about JUUL. JUUL was mentioned in 50.8% of 2018 articles. Across years, articles more frequently mentioned e-cigarette risks (70%) than potential benefits (37.3%). E-cigarettes continue to be a newsworthy topic, with coverage both reflecting numerous changes and events over time, and providing repeated opportunities for informing the public and policymakers about these novel products. Future research should continue to track how discourse changes over time and assess its potential influence on e-cigarette perceptions and policy changes. E-cigarette news coverage in the United States increased between 2015 and 2018 and predominantly focused on policy and regulation. Notable spikes in volume were associated with some but not all major e-cigarette events, including the FDA's deeming rule, Surgeon General's report, and release of the National Youth Tobacco Survey data in 2018. Coverage of the 2018 National Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences report on the Public Health Consequences of E-cigarettes received minimal news coverage. The high volume in 2018 was driven in large part by coverage of the e-cigarette brand JUUL; over half of news articles in 2018 referenced JUUL specifically.

The Political Assassination of Kim Jong Nam: A Comparative Analysis of US and South Korean News Coverage

North Korea is one of the most secretive and closed countries in the world that is still under communist rule. This paper presents a comparative content analysis of the overall framing in the online news coverage of the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, from The New York Times and Chosun Ilbo (N = 154). Results showed that while U.S. and South Korean newspapers displayed considerable similarities among the use of texts, visuals, sources, and news frames, differences existed in the use of hyperlinks and news tones. This study not only adds to the body of work in framing theory by examining the coverage of Kim Jong Nam’s sudden death from the lens of two different news media, but also contributes to international communication by exploring how international newspapers covered the same event related to North Korean political figures. The implications are discussed.

Exemplification and Stigmatization of the Depressed: Depression as the Main Topic versus an Incidental Topic in National US News Coverage

ABSTRACT To understand the associations between the use of exemplars and other communication themes known to contribute to the stigmatization of the depressed, we conducted a content analysis of news stories about depression in three national media outlets – CNN.com, The New York Times, and The Washington Post (N = 986). The study found exemplars were often used in the coverage of depression by national news outlets. Such use was associated with an increased presence of common stereotypes about the depressed as violent and suicidal regardless of whether depression was the main topic of the news stories. Exemplars appeared more often in stories providing biomedical and environmental explanations for the mental illness when depression was mentioned incidentally rather than as the main topic of the news coverage. As for the context, stories with exemplars appeared most often in the healthcare, and culture and celebrity contexts when depression was the main topic. When depression was mentioned incidentally rather than as the main topic, news stories with exemplars appeared most often in the culture and celebrity context. These combinations of context and exemplar use were all associated with less frequent presentations of violent stereotypes and a more frequent use of biomedical attributions, which seem to challenge the stigma associated with the mental illness depression.

Consensus at Home, Opposition Abroad: Officials, Foreign Sources, and US News Coverage of Drone Warfare

This study examines the process and conditions under which U.S. news coverage aligns with—or challenges—the communications of government officials, focusing on the issue of U.S. drone warfare. White House, military, congressional, and press communications during President Obama’s first 5 years in office are analyzed to assess how the policy has been framed among officials and covered within the press. Evidence indicates that news coverage was significantly more critical of the policy than what was expressed among officials. In particular, despite near consensus at home, journalists exercised considerable discretion, consistently locating and amplifying oppositional voices from abroad in news coverage.

Mediated Terrorism: US News and Al-Qaeda Attacks

This paper presents an empirical test for the hypothesis that US news coverage of al-Qaeda causes al-Qaeda attacks. To isolate causality, disaster deaths worldwide provide an instrumental variable crowding out al-Qaeda coverage. Studying daily al-Qaeda coverage by CNN, NBC, CBS, and Fox News, as well as the NYT and the WaPo, results consistently produce a positive and statistically significant effect. At its mean, al-Qaeda coverage is suggested to cause 1.2-2.3 al-Qaeda attacks (equivalent to 5.8-10.9 deaths) in the upcoming week. Results are remarkably consistent across media outlets and it appears unlikely that attacks are simply delayed when coverage is low.

Islamophobia and Media Portrayals of Muslim Women: A Computational Text Analysis of US News Coverage

Islamophobia and Media Portrayals of Muslim Women: A Computational Text Analysis of US News Coverage

Foreign News on US Media: A Longitudinal Analysis of News Coverage of Israel

Israel is covered extensively by the American press. Several studies have examined US news coverage during specific events, yet a systematic analysis of the nature of this coverage is still lacking. This article provides an in-depth investigation of the coverage of Israel from 1981 to 2013 in three leading newspapers in the United States. Using computer-based content analysis of 56,490 news articles, we examine how the intensity of the coverage and the specific topics discussed vary over time. Our empirical findings demonstrate a relative decline in coverage of Israel, and confirm existing theories about media coverage of foreign events—mainly that coverage increases during periods of tumult, especially instances of armed conflict resulting in military action, and decreases during periods of heightened peace talks.

Who frames nuclear testing? Understanding frames and news sources in the US and South Korean news coverage of North Korean nuclear testing

ABSTRACTThis study investigated how US and South Korean newspapers framed the North Korean nuclear test on 9 October 2006 and the diversity of news sources in constructing such frames. A content analysis of news articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chosun Ilbo, and Hankyore Daily found that US and South Korean newspapers framed the North Korean nuclear test differently. Results also showed that US and South Korean newspapers used news sources differently to support certain frames of the nuclear test coverage, implicating strategic media framing by which news media strategically construct aspects or meaning of the events by selecting different types of news sources. Findings are discussed in relation to news frames and news sources.