LIBRARY M'Chigan State University PLACE ll RETURN BOX to remov- thb checkout from your board. TO AVOID FINES Mum on at More data duo. ‘ DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE The News Philosophy of African-American Newspaper Publishers and Editors Correlated With The News and Opinion-Editorial Content Found in Selected African-American Newspapers By James M. Stephens Jr. A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS School of Journalism 1994 ABSTRACT THE NEWS PHILOSOPHY OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS AND EDITORS CORRELATED WITH THE NEWS AND OPINION-EDITORIAL CONTENT FOUND IN SELECTED AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS By James M. Stephens Jr. This exploratory, non-experimental study describes the news philosophy of African- American newspaper publishers and editors and how they rate the importance of news and opinion-editorial content in African-American newspapers. The results reported were obtained from a national mail survey of 165 African-American newspaper publishers and editors. The results of a content analysis of the news and op-ed sections of eight purposively selected African-American newspapers also are described. News and op-ed content items were correlated with the preferences for six statements of news philosophy and ratings of importance these publishers and editors ascribed to news and op-ed items from the survey. Seven research questions are answered. Findings include: African-American newspaper publishers and editor unanimously agreed that. as a news philosophy statement, news in a meaningful context is important for readers; information for Black youth, while also enjoying a near unanimous preference of very important as news content in the survey. was not found at signifith levels in the newsholes of the newspapers content analyzed; and, items written for the Black local community and from an Afrocentric perspective enjoyed greater preference than those items written for the non-local community and without an Afrocentric perspective. Copyright by JAMES M. STEPHENS. JR. 1994 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my mother, Rossie Mae Stephens; my grandmother, Mrs. Annie Pearl Jefferson; and aunt, Mrs. Minnie Watson. This most certainly would not have been possible without you. Love to each of you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My first debt is to John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish, founders of Freedom’s Journal, the first Black newspaper published in this country. I acknowledge their contributions to this study, as well as the contributions they made to my career as a journalist. In no small way, the noble effort of founding Freedom ’s Journal engendered the development of such media institutions as the Chicago Daily Defender, JET magazine and the Black X-Press newspaper - all publications where I have worked as a general assignment reporter or editor. More important, Russwurm and Cornish gave first my career as a journalist and now my fledging career as an academician purpose: truth-seeking and truth-telling about the contributions of African-Americans in this country and throughout the world. I have, of course, benefited from the insight and expertise of many other people. Included are John Britton, my managing editor at JET magazine in 1972 who has, even to this day, shared his humor, intellect, and charm. David Potter, and his lovely wife Patricia, are also acknowledged for they have not only given bread and wine for sustenance of the body and spirit but also the more important measures of love and charity. The members of my committee are acknowledged: Dr. Stan Soffin, chair of the committee and director of the School of Journalism, whose precision in editing and exercise of patience during this process was greatly needed; Dr. Stephen Lacy, the first reader - his gracious invitation to join the Black Press Research Project during the first quarter of my graduate study has first developed into a valued friendship and an understanding of the workings of research and scholarship; and, Dr. Folu Ogundirnu, who joined the committee very late in the process as a second reader and yet made valuable contributions to closure of this project. For help with the survey instrument and conceptualization of the research variables, I turned to Drs. Cornelia Drdge and Dale Wilson, professors in the marketing department. I also turned to Cure Marvel Johnson, Judy Phillips, John Clogston, and Kay Robinson to help define and refine the coding framework developed especially for the content analysis of the newspapers included in the study. All of my classmates are also acknowledged for they gave precious moments away from their own research to assist with any task I asked of them. I would be remiss if I did not make special mention of Rick and Melissa Busselle. Their individual gentility and charm as a couple collectively brought cheer and companionship, all of which were important for me during this process. And then there are various members of the School of Journalism: Darcy Drew Green for help with the layout, design, and, most important, printing of the final product; Raye Grill and Dee Dee Johnson, both of whom made sure that all paperwork was in order for the thesis and graduation. For help with the specialized research on specific Black editors and publishers, I turned to Robert Miller, curator of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro- American History and Literature at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Public Library in Chicago. Mr. Miller was particularly helpful in his enthusiasm about the relationship explored in this work, thereby making it not only an interesting piece of academic research but also, I hope, a valuable contribution to the long neglected history of the Black Press in the United States. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of Jacquelyn Vincson, program director at Children’s Support System in Chicago. A graduate of the University of Chicago School of Social Administration and, more important, a life-long friend, she read and edited all of the working drafts, welding academic research to real-world applications in a project, that at times I must admit, was bothersome and tedious. With so much help, I surely deserve blame for remaining flaws in this thesis. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS COPYRIGHT NOTICE .......................................................................... i DEDICATION ..................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................ iii Chapter CHAPTER 1 .............................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................. 1 Purpose .................................................................. l Rationale ................................................................. 2 Research design. ....................................................... 3 Limitations. ............................................................. 4 Significance. ............................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2 .............................................................................. 6 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK ................................................. 6 Research background and assumptions .............................. 6 Components of the Research Framework. .......................... 10 The Social Conflict Model ............................................. 10 The Marketplace of Ideas .............................................. 11 Lasswell’s Model of Communication ................................ 14 Summary. ............................................................... 15 Conclusion. ............................................................. 15 CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................. 17 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................ 17 Introduction. ............................................................ 17 Part I .............................................................................. 18 Conflict Between African and White Americans .................... 18 Part II ............................................................................. 20 The African-American Press The Early Years, 1827-1891 ........ 20 Part III ............................................................................ 23 The News Philosophy of African-American Newspaper Editors As Reflected in the New/Op—ed Content Published in African-American Newspapers .................................... 23 A present-day assessment. ............................................ 31 Summary ................................................................ 35 Conclusion .............................................................. 36 CHAPTER 4 .............................................................................. 38 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................... 38 METHOD ........................................................................ 41 Survey Background .................................................... 42 The Survey Instrument ................................................ 42 The Sampling Frame ................................................... 42 Analysis of the questionnaire sections ............................... 43 The Content Analysis .................................................. 44 Newspaper sample ..................................................... 44 Stratification and selection of newspapers ........................... 45 Analysis of the news and op-cd sections. ........................... 47 Coding framework. .................................................... 47 CHAPTER 6 .............................................................................. 49 RESULTS ........................................................................ 49 National Mail Survey .................................................. 49 Personal and Publication Demographics ............................. 49 Mail Survey ............................................................. 51 Section 1 .......................................................................... 51 News Philosophy Section Results. .................................. 51 Section 2 .......................................................................... 52 News/Editorial Content Section Results ............................. 52 Content Analysis of Selected Black Newspapers ................... 55 Section 3 .......................................................................... 55 Categorical assumptions for coding framework .................... 56 Codin g framework pretest and intercoder reliability ............... 57 News and op-ed content analysis results. ........................... 58 Section 4 .......................................................................... 64 Correlational Analysis ................................................. 64 CHAPTER 7 .............................................................................. 68 Introduction. ............................................................ 68 News philosophy as a categorical construct ......................... 68 DISCUSSION ................................................................... 70 News philosophy as purpose. ........................................ 70 The salience of news philosophy ..................................... 70 The relationship of news philosophy with news and op-ed content. .................................................................. 71 Expectations and findings. ............................................ 72 Afrocentricity and geography reflected in News/Editorial Content. ................................................................. 75 Validity and reliability of News Philosophy. ....................... 78 Coding reliability and validity ......................................... 79 FUTURE STUDY .............................................................. 80 Implications of study for future research. ........................... 81 Conclusion. ............................................................. 82 APPENDICES ..................................................................................... 83 Appendix 1 -- Survey of the Black Press ............................................ 84 Appendix 2 -- Coding Framework and Instructions ................................ 90 Appendix 3 -- Directory of Respondents to Survey of the Black Press .......... 102 Bibliography ....................................................................................... 106 vi Table 8. 9. 10. 11. LIST OF TABLES Page Newspapers stratified into four circulation categories ............................... 46 Ratings and means for New Philosophy statements ................................. 52 Ratings and mean responses for News/Editorial Content items, stratified by geography ............................................................................... 54 News and op—ed space allocations in newspapers, May 1989 ...................... 58 Amount (square inches) and percent of news and op—ed items, May 1989 ........ 59 Frequencies of news and op-ed items stratified by geography and Afrocentricity ........................................................................... 60 Means of News Philosophy Statements Stratified Across 4 Circulation Levels .................................................................................... 62 Survey responses to Statement 5 cross-tabulated by four circulation levels ....... 63 News items as a percent of newshole space ........................................... 63 The Association Between News/Editorial Content Items and Statements of New Philosophy from Mail Survey (Nfl9) ........................................ 65 The Association Between Local and Non-Local News/Editorial Content Items Published In Black Newspapers and Statements of News Philosophy (N=8) ...................................................................... 66 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Research Typology ....................................................................... 9 2. Research Variables ....................................................................... l6 3 . Location of Black Newspaper Survey Respondents by Region .................... 50 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This thesis reports the news philosophy of contemporary African-American’ newspaper publishers and editors, and how they rate the importance of news and opinion-editorial (op- ed) content in their newspapers. The news philosophy of these newspaper entrepreneurs is derived from six statements of purpose, or news philosophy, contained on a mail questionnaire. These news philosophy statements were rank-ordered and correlated with ratings of importance news and op-ed content Were accorded on the questionnaire; a content analysis of the news and op-ed items published in eight African-American newspapers was performed. Lastly, the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors was correlated with news and op-ed items from the questionnaire and the content analysis in statistical tests for levels of association and significance. Purpose. The purpose of this exploratory, non experimental study is to determine the level of association and statistical significance between the news philosophy of African- American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers. Specifically, three goals enhance the investigation of this relationship. Those goals are to: (1) have present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors define their purpose, or news philosophy; (2) describe how present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors rate the importance of news and op-ed content in their newspapers; and, (3) determine whether a relationship exists between (a) ‘The terms Negro, African-American. and Black are used interchangeably in this study. While an effort has been made to maintain some consistency in using one or the other, there are instances in the study where onewill seeminglybeusedattheexclusion oftheotber; thishasmoretodowithtbesourcescitedandthe information being evaluated. The author has no preference for one or the other. 1 2 the news philosophy, or purpose, of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors and (b) the news and op-ed content published in their newspapers. Rationale. Mass media, over the past 20 years, have been fragmented by technology and demographics. This observation, and a projection of what that fragmentation means to The Black Press, provides the rationale for this study. Already, one consequence of the fragmentation of mass media is that the number of daily newspapers, and readership, has declined significantly during the past 20 years. Consumers of mass circulated newspapers have selected other, more highly specialized media products (both print and broadcast) - engendered by technology - to satisfy their news and information needs.1 Thus, this study was conducted because the explosive growth of minority segments of the population indicate that minority publications will become increasingly more important in the years ahead. Just as important is the explosive growth of minority segments of the population.2 This growth suggests media created by and intended for minorities are valuable to not only minority but also mainstream consumers of news and information. The value of these additional media producers is thus directly related to the reduction in the number of mass media manufacturers of news and information.3 1Leo Bogart, "Newspapers in Transition," in American Media: The Wilson Quarterly Reader, Phillip S. Cook. Douglas Gomery and Lawrence W. Lichty, eds., (Washington, DC.: The Wilson Center Press, 1989) , 47 - 58. 2Ted Pease, “Cornerstone for Growth: How Minorities Are Vital to the Future of Newspapers,“ Newspaper Research Journal (Fall 1989) : 1-22; and, Virginia Dodge Fielder and Leonard P. T‘rpton, “Minorities and Newspapers: A Survey of Readership Research," commissioned by the Readership and Research Committee of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, April 1986. 3At the turn of the century, writes Lucas A. Powe, there were over 2,000 daily newspapers; the aftermath of World War II saw a decline to 1,750 papers, with the decade of the 1980s dropping the number to about 1650. For detailed information, see Powe, The Fourth Estate and the Constitution: Freedom of the Press in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991) , 201 - 203. 3 Thus, the levels of association and significance between the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op—ed content of their newspapers needs to be determined because it will further enhance understanding of how these important contributors to the intellectual marketplace, and competitors in the commercial markets, define their purpose and manufacture their products. Research design. A correlational research design, cross-sectional in type, was employed to fulfill the goals of the study. A national mail survey of 165 present-day African- American newspaper publishers and editors was conducted to obtain qualitative information on their purpose, or news philosophy. The survey also assessed how African- American newspaper publishers and editors rated the importance of news and op—ed items in their newspapers. Quantitative information was obtained from a content analysis of the news and op- ed sections of eight purposively selected African-American newspapers. The predictor‘ variable in the study is the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors. There are two criterion variables: (1) the news and op-ed content items respondents rated as important for publication in their newspapers; and, (2) the actual news and op-ed published in their respective newspapers. Circulation is used as a control variable to divide the newspapers into two groups for examination of whether both the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content (both that rated and published) varied across circulation levels. Circulation as a control variable is also used to ensure that the results of the study are caused by the predictor variables. 4Because there is no active manipulation of variables in this nonexperirnental study, the terms predictor and criterion are substituted. respectively, for independent and dependent. For more information, see Mass Media Research, 3rd ed., by Roger D. Wimmer, and Joseph R. Dominick, (Belmont. CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1991) , 42-43. 4 The First Amendment, or more specifically the "marketplace of ideas,“ guides the qualitative aspect of the study. The quantitative component correlationally tests for the existence, strength, and significance of the presumed relationship between the predictor and criterion variables. Correlation of the results from the survey sections entitled News Philosophy and News/Editorial Content with the results of the content analysis of the news and op-ed sections of the selected African-American newspapers fulfills the research objective of the study. Limitations. Very little is known about how present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors define their purpose; even less is known about the news and op-ed items contained in African-American newspapers. Therefore, this study is limited to four areas: 1. Description of how African-American newspaper publishers and editors defrne their news philosophy. 2 . Description of how African-American newspaper publishers and editors rate the importance of news and oped content in their newspapers. 3 . A content analysis of the news and op-ed sections of eight purposively selected African-American newspapers. 4. Correlation of the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors with (a) what they said they provided in their newspapers and (b) what was actually published in their newspapers. Significance. This study is significant because it advances the study of The African- American Press. The national survey used to assess the news philosophy of African- American newspaper publishers and editors is just the fourth such survey;6 more 5The concept of the ”marketplace of ideas" is more fully detailed in the Research Framework and Review of the Literature sections. However, suffice it to say here that the concept has its roots in John Milton and John Stuart Mill. See, for example, The Prose Work of John Milton, ed., J.A. St. John, vol. 24 (London: George Bell and Sons, 1883) and On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (London: Longmans, 1867). More modem antecedents are in Justices Holmes and Brandeis. See, for example, Mass Communication Law: Cases and Comments, 5th ed., by Todd F. Simon, et al., (Minneapolis, MN: West Publishing Company, 1990); Powe, chapters 1 - 4; and, Jerome A. Barron, "Access to the Press - A New First Amendment Right,” Harvard Law Review, 80 ( June 1967) , 1646-47. 6A. Wade Smith, “Problems and Progress in the Measurement of Black Public Opinion,” American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 30, no. 4 (March/April 1978) : 444. 5 important, this study is the first to examine the levels of association and significance between the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content found in their respective African-American newspapers. This study is also the first since Penn’s in 18917 to simultaneously combine a qualitative assessment of the news philosophy of all African-American newspaper publishers and editors with a quantitative analysis of the news and op—ed content found in Afi'ican-American newspapers. Therefore, this study fills a void in the scholarly literature on the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors, as well as updates the quantitative information on the news and op—ed content of present-day African-American newspapers. 71. Garland Penn, The Afio-American Press and Its Editors (Springfield, MA: Wiley and Company, 1891). CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH FRAMEWORK Research backgron and assumptions. This study is part of a larger study conducted at the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Begun in 1989, the Black Press Research Project had two objectives: (1) conduct a national mail survey of all African- American newspaper publishers and editors; and (2), conduct a content analysis of the news, editorial, advertising, and visual sections of all Black newspapers currently published in America. The Black Press Research Project sought to predict and explain the content published in these newspapers. The nature of this study is descriptive and exploratory. The news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors, and the news and op-ed content published in their newspapers, enjoys the substantive focus of this study. The designation of research, rather than analytic or even dreoretical, is intentional, for the description and exploration of that relationship, not its causal explanation, is central to this study.8 The quantitative analysis of data previously collected for another purpose further suggests the framework for this study should be constructed more to explore how African- American newspaper publishers and editors of the past characterized their news philosophy. A qualitative assessment of how these predecessor Black newspaper publishers and editors expressed their news philosophy in the intellectual marketplace, coupled with an assessment of the types of news and op-ed items published in their newspapers, could well provide indications of whether this is the relationship for correlational testing. 3Wimmer, and Dominick, op. cit., 43. 7 The descriptive-exploratory nature of this study, therefore, requires a framework that fully captures, rather than restricts, not only the multiple dimensions of the news philosophy of American-American newspaper publishers and editors but to also examine how Afrocentricity9 is blended into the specific types of news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers. The research framework builds upon three assumptions. These assumptions, in turn, are triangulated to decipher the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors, assess the type of news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers, and determine what statistic tests are appropriate to measure the level of association and significance between the news philosophy of these publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content published in their newspapers. The first assumption is that African-American newspapers are niche publications; that is, the publishers and editors of these newspapers target a specific segment of the intellectual and commercial markets to express opinion and publish information. Consumers are both readers and advertisers -- readers who want or need opinion and news written from an African-American perspective about African-Americans, and advertisers who want or need to reach the African-American consumer with particular messages or appeals about particular products manufactured especially for the African- American consumer. Credence for this assumption comes from the attributes of an African-American newspaper, which not only serve to distinguish it from the congeries of mainstream (white) newspapers but to also shape the mission, or purpose, of the African- American newspaper enterprise. African-American newspapers have these attributes: l. Blacks must own and manage the publication; they must be the dominant racial group connected with it. 2. The publication must be intended for Black consumers. 9Moreti Kete Asante is credited as the principal propagator of this concept. For details of the concept, see Molefi Kete Asante, Afrocentricity: The Theory of Social Change (Buffalo, NY: Amulefi. 1988); and, Molefi Kete Asante, and K. Welsh-Asante, African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity (London: Greenwood Publishing. 1985). 8 3. The paper or magazine must “serve, speak and fight for the black community.”10 The second assumption is that the concept of news has different meaning for different publishers and editors, both Black and white. Of the several fine definitionsll available, this study employs one by Van Dijk. The concept of news is placed within a social and economic context; thus, it is relevant and pertinent to this study. Van Dijk states that the notion of news is ambiguous because, First, we have the general notion of news, meaning “new information,” as we find in everyday sentences as “I have bad news for you” or “What is the latest news from your son?” Clearly, the notion of news we are dealing with is both different but also has meaning components in common with this more general notion. Our notion of news, then, is a part of a second class of meanings, which involve the media and mass communication. It is used in such expressions as “Have you read the news about the rising interest rate?” or in “Did you watch the news last night?” From the two examples just given, we see that news may be understood as new information or as a news article but also as a TV program in which news is presented, as demonstrated in the phrase "The Ten O’clock news.” In other words, the notion of media news in everyday usage implies the following concepts: 1. New information about events, things or persons. 2. A (TV or radio) program type in which news items are presented. 3. A news items or news report, i.e., a text or discourse on radio, on TV or in the newspaper, in which new information is given about recent events.12 This study employs the concept of news Van Dijk detailed in Example 3; that is, news is a text in a newspaper in which new information is given about recent events. Journalists have also traditionally used seven normative values13 to decide which set of facts make up a news story; this study adds an eighth -- context. More properly defined, loRoland Woseley, The Black Press, U.S.A., 2nd ed. (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1990) : 4. 11See, for example, Todd Hunt, “Beyond the Journalistic Event: The Changing Concept of News,” Mass Comm Review, 1, no. 2 (April 1974) : 23-30; and, J. Herbert Altschull, “What Is News?” Mass Comm Review 2, no. 1 (December 1974) : 17-23. 12'I‘ueu A. Van Dijk, News as Discourse (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1988) 4 13Fred Fedler, Reporting for the Print Media 4th ed. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1989) , 179-180; and, Ray Eldon Hiebert, Donald F. Ungurait, and Thomas W. Bohn, Mass Media VI: An Introduction to Modern Communication (New York: Longman Publishing Company, 1991) , 413-415. 9 context is the social, political, and economic circumstances that make a news story meaningful to a reader. The third assumption is that African-American newspaper publishers and editors systematically employ the concept of news in a much more specific way than their white counterparts. African-American newspaper publishers and editors place the concept of news within an Afrocentric context. Afrocentricity is defined in this study as the racial or cultural themes of Africans and Afro-Americans in a news text. Seeman, for example, found that the publisher and editor of the Chicago Daily Defender employed the concept of news to offer both “. . .the most salient black angle of a story . . .(for) . . .great value to our readers.”14 These assumptions are integrated into a typology for research, illustrated below, for this study. Figure l.--Research Typology F- L MACRO-LEVEL OF CONCEPTUALIZATION Social Conflict Model: 4 basic assumptions about society. one being that society is composed of groups in conflict with each other as they compete to promote and preserve their interests. GROUPS In CONFLICT [African-Americans I l White Americans I ‘ FIRST ADMENDMENT ¢ Not only a mechanism of governance in American democratic society but also a tool of mediated communication that fosters social order and stability. enabling all groups to compete in a mu'kctplacc of ideas -- without government intervcnsion or regulation; press owners control access to the marketplace of ideas. not government. l l MICRO-LEVEL OF ANALYSIS Lasswell’s Model of Mass Communication Who so: what through whilh channel African-American Opinion publishers and editors News newspapers Advertising 14Howard L. Seenran, “Keeping the Gates at the Chicago Defender,” Journalism Quarterly 48 (Summer 1971) : 276 [emphasis urine]. 10 Components of the Research Framework. The nature of this study is descriptive and exploratory. Thus, the Research Framework developed for this study is purposively normative. 15 While the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers enjoy the substantive focus of this study, no one mass communication theory fully embraces the three assumptions embedded in the study. Rather, the Research Framework is created from various aspects of three mass communication models. Singularly, The Model of Social Conflict, The Marketplace of Ideas, and Lasswell’s Model of Communication partially, not holistically, address the assumptions. These mass communication models were selected, firstly, to amplify the themes in the assumptions and, secondly, to enrich the qualitative assessment of the news philosophy of present-day Black newspaper publishers and editors and, thirdly, to facilitate the quantitative analysis of the news and op-ed content published in Black newspapers. The next sections of this chapter detail how these mass communication paradigms fit together into the Research Framework. The Social Conflict Model. One of the clearest statements of the Social Conflict Model was made by Ralf Dahrendorf in 1958.16 Essentially, that model can be summarized in these four assumptions: 1. A society can be best thought of as a community of groups of people whose interest differ sharply from one another. 2 . All these components of society attempt to pursue their interest by resisting the competitive efforts of others. 3 . A society so organized constantly experiences conflict as its components try to attain new gains to preserve their interests; conflict, in other words, is ubiquitous. lsThetermnor'rnativeis usedhereintbesamesensethatDenisMcQuaildoes; tlmtis,thisstudy “ismore concernedwithhow mediaougbttooperateifcertainsocialvaluesmetobeobservedaattainedmndmf course, with the nature of social values." For further details, see Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction, 2d ed. (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1987) , 4. 16Ralf Dahrendorf, “Toward a Theory of Social Conflict,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 2, no. 2 (June 1958): 158-183. l 1 4. Out of this dialectic process of competing and conflicting interests comes an ongoing process of change; societies are not in a state of equilibrium but are ever changing.” Assumption 1 is particularly relevant to this framework because the question of how communication is linked to society can be partially answered by identification of the groups in conflict. In turn, the identification of those groups engenders some idea of how they have resolved conflict in the past. Therefore, Assumption 1 supplements the qualitative research on the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors; it also helps to formulate this research statement: The African-American Press is a unique community-oriented, reader- focused social and economic enterprise that advocates the interests of the African-American community. The Marketplace of Ideas. Dahrendorf’s Model of Social Conflict, and its attendant assumptions, help identify the groups in conflict as African-Americans and White Americans. However, neither the interests of either groups nor how they compete at this macro, and still nebulous, level of conceptualization is clear. The interests of African-Americans, as well as how they compete as a group in society, are crystallized by The Marketplace of Ideas. Very simply, one can surmise that the role, or purpose, of The African-American Press is to engage in the dialectic process of the intellectual marketplace, explicating the interests of African- Americans within the framework of the social conflict model. The question thus becomes, to paraphrase McQuail: What is the link between communication and society?18 Though the marketplace of ideas is a rather amorphous, if not romantic,19 conceptualization of The Press in America, the concept serves as a transitional device in the Research Framework, moving this study’s focus from the macro-level of conceptualization to a micro-level of analysis. The marketplace of ideas enables l'7Melvin L. DeFluer, and Sandra Ball-Rokeach, Theories of Mass Communication, 5th ed. (New York: Longman Inc., 1989) , 36. 18McQuail, op. cit., 84. 19Jerome A. Barron, “Access to the Press: -- A New First Amendment Right," Harvard Law Review: 1641-1678. 12 exploration of the linkage of communication and society and description of the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors. Furthermore, the marketplace of ideas also facilitates the examination of the news and op-ed content found in African-American newspapers to be placed within a social and economic context. At its core the marketplace of ideas belies the fact that, though government may not intervene or control the opinion or news content of print or broadcast media, media owners themselves exercise great control over who has access to the marketplace and, consequently, what ideas are expressed in the intellectual market. Director makes two salient points. He states, for one, “The preference for a market without government regulation or intervention stems from an undue emphasis on the definition of democracy as government by discussion or consensus and neglect of the older description of democracy as government by majority rule.”20 The importance of this distinction lies not only in the fact that African-Americans are minority constituents in terms of the social process of governance but also that African- American newspaper publishers and editors choose to articulate the political interests for African-Americans within a political framework guaranteed by the Constitution. Director’s second point is: “Decisions are made by consensus in the sense that all participate in making them, and those who do not like the decisions are willing to accept them because of their initial preference for this method of making them. This does not alter the coercive character of government. The minority gives way not because it is convinced that it is wrong but because it is convinced it is the minority.”21 The delegates to the constitutional convention after the Revolutionary War sought two things: insurance of a peaceful transition of government and assurance that the minority was heard. The assurance is illustrated by a remark by Thomas Jefferson, who said: “The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the first object should 20Aaron Director, “The Parity of the Economic Marketplace," Journal of Law and Economics 7 (October 1964) : 7. 21mm, 7. 13 be to keep the right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable or reading them.”22 That the opinion of the people be heard is guaranteed, of course, by the First Amendment -- Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press . . . Altschull remarks: “It is no accident that the word market turns up in the traditional picture of the media that appears in the democratic assumption of the press as a marketplace of ideas. The media are themselves markets to which news consumers go to learn what ideas and opinions are being express by whom under what circumstances.”23 Hiebert et al conclude: “The Founding Fathers, hoping to establish a democratic society, knew that the free flow of information was essential to citizens who were seeking their rights and freedoms. They knew that newspapers were the key, so they insisted on the right of newspapers to pursue the truth and publish it, whether or not the government agreed with their perception of the truth.”24 Thus, over time this right to publish ideas, be it opinion, news, or simply information, came in time to be known as the marketplace of ideas. As these viewpoints became accepted over time by mass communication and mass media scholars, Siebert et al ascribed these six tasks to the press:25 1. Servicing the political system by providing information, discussion, and debate on public affairs. 2 . Enlightening the pubic so as to make it capable of government. 2W Jefferson to Edward Canington, January 16, 1878, in A Jefl'erson Profile as Revealed in His Letters, ed. Saul K. Padover (New York: John Day, 1956) , 44-45. 231. Herbert Altschull, Agents ofPower: The Role ofthe Mass Media in Human Afl'airs (New York: Longman, Inc., 1984) , 18. 24Ray Eldon Hiebert, Donald F. Ungurait, and Thomas W. Bohn, Mass Media VI: An Introduction to Modern Conununication (New York: Longman Publishing Group, 1991) , 217. 25Fred 8. Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and William Schramrn, Four Theories of the Press: The Authoritarian, Libertarian, Social Responsibility and Soviet Communist Concept of What the Press Should Be and Do (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1956) , 4. l4 3 . Safeguarding the rights of individuals by serving as a watchdog against government. 4. Servicing the economic system, primarily by bringing together the buyers and sellers of goods and services through the medium of advertising. 5 . Providing entertainment. 6. Maintaining its own financial self-sufficiency so as to be free from the press of special interests. Task 1, servicing the political system by providing information, helps to formulate a second research statement: African-American newspaper publishers and editors service the democratic political system through active participation in the debate on public affairs as they relate to the interests of African-Americans. Lasswell’s Model of Communication This model has been summarized to be: Who says what through which channel to whom with what effect?26 Quite obviously, Lasswell’s model27 reifies the research variables. Who is conceptualized to be African-American publishers and editors; what is conceptualized to be both their news philosophy and the news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers. Thus, the who and what of the model help to formulate a third research statement: The news philosophy of African-American publishers and editors is reflected in the news and op—ed content found in African-American newspapers. 26Harold D. Lasswell, "Ihe Structure and Function of Communication in Society,” as quoted in Pamela J. Shoemaker, and Stephen D. Reese, Mediating the Message: Theories of Influence on Mass Media Content (New York: Longman Publishing Group, 1991) , 10. 27Two mass communication theories particularly applicable to this study are Social Relationships Theory and General Systems Theory. DeFluer and Ball-Rokcach, op, cit, for example, note that Social Relationships Theory “from a standpoint of mass communication research on how peOple encounter and respond to the media, one study stands out as the context within which the importance of group ties, as a complex of intervening variables between the media and audience influence, was discovered. [emphasis mine].” L. von Bertalanffy introduced the second, General Systems Theory, in 1968. Because communications systems are open systems - they interact with their environments -- the system can be broken into smaller unit, subsystems, which are part of larger systems. Those smaller units can, thus, be examined, for example, either qualitatively or quantitatively as a set of interdependent units which work together, or compete against each other, to adapt to a changing environment [emphasis mine]. - from Building Communication Theory by Dominic A. Infants, Andrew S. Rancer, and Deanna F. Wornack (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, Inc., 1990) : 81-88. 15 Summary. The Research Framework sets a macro-level of conceptualization to facilitate the micro-level of analysis of the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content found in African-American newspapers. Aided by the concept of The First Amendment, which is both an interface and a bridge from the broad, somewhat general assumptions and statements at the macro- level to a much more specific, focused unit of analysis at the micro-level, the interrelationship of the three models of communication can now be stated as a syllogism. The mass communication model, the premise and conclusion derived from the model, and the research statement formulated from the particular model is detailed below. Research Statement Social Conflict Model Premise 1 The African-American press is a unique community-oriented, reader-focused social and economic enterprise that advocates the interests of the African-American community. Marketplace of Ideas Premise 2 African-American newspaper publishers and editors service the democratic political system through active participation in the debate on public affairs as they relate to the interests of African-Americans. Lasswell ’s Model of Conclusion The news philosophy of African-American Communication publishers and editors is reflected in the news and op—ed content found in African-American newspapers. Conclusion. Important concepts, and their interrelationships, have been defined, explicated, and reified into a framework of research for this study. It should be emphasized that this study does not portend to explore specific conflicts and the specific parties in the conflicts. The development of an abstract, conceptual framework that captured the specific theoretical concepts just delineated in this chapter was more important because the purpose of this study is to determine the level of association between the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers. Thus, the research 16 framework applied here captures many of the social and political factors that might influence both the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op—ed content published in African-American newspapers Thus, the approach is similar to that of Davis, who discerned that the existence of the Black Press “...was predicated upon the right and need of free spwch in a democratic society. They (publishers and editors) had a mission.”28 This study also explores and describes how the themes of geography (local and non-local) and Afrocentricity, i.e., a perspective that addresses the unique social, cultural, and political context, affect the communication found in African-American newspapers. The process of this communication, and its consequent distribution to the intellectual and commercial marketplaces, is illustrated in the diagram below, together with the variables this study explores and describes. Figure 2.--Research variables Predictor Variables fl [1 V abl News Philosophy Conceptualized C te 0” art ‘5 in 6 Statements X Actual News/Editorial Content 1 Published in Selected African-American Newspapers Yr News/Editorial Content 7 Categorical Items Thematically Explored Within Geographic and — Afrocentric Context x2 Conclusion. This chapter established a framework for the exploration of the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors, as well as 28Henry Vance Davis, “The Black Press: From Mission to Commercialism, 1827-1927" (PhD. diss., University of Michigan, 1990) , 295. 17 the description of the particular pattern of content found in contemporary African-American newspapers. The model identifies three areas of research from which that news philosophy, the statistical analysis of the news and op-ed content, and the correlation of news philosophy and new and op-ed content may be described. From the Social Conflict Model, the groups in conflict are identified; the Marketplace of Ideas sets that conflict within a democratic framework for resolution; and, Lasswell ’s Model of Communication finally focuses the descriptive and interpretive lens for analytic solutions, and therefore serves as a tool to clarify the research relationship between the predictor variable of news philosophy and the criterion variables of news and op-ed content. CHAPTER 3 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Introduction. A paucity of the literature on The African-American Press specifically addresses the relationship under investigation in this study: the level of association, and its significance, between the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op—ed content published in African-American newspapers. Specific oeuvre in the literature on this relationship number just three; as such, this review will be as much a qualitative analysis of the news philosophy Black newspaper publishers and editors have espoused over time - coupled with an examination of the news and op—ed content published in Black newspapers to ascertain whether that news philosophy was reflected in their newspapers - as it will be an analysis and critique of the only three studies embedded in the literature on this research relationship. A historical perspective is adopted for the review of the literature for two important reasons. One, The African-American Press has not enjoyed the attention of contemporary mass communication or mass media scholars.29 More important, however, is the second: the notion that this study is very much an exploration of "how institutions are created and how they change over time...”30 and a description of “the judgments and drive of the individual entrepreneur and of the distinctive competence and capabilities of specific companies."31 29It is interesting to note that of the three standards texts used for the history of journalism in America one, by Frank Mott, does not even mention a Black Press until 1941. The Press and America: An Interpretive History by Emery and Emery, devotes a scant 75 pages of a 750 page text to the history of The Black Press and its publishers and editors, while Voices of a Nation, by Jean Folkerts and Dwight L. Teeter has a two-page section with scattered references. 30Richard S. Tedlow, New and Improved: The Story of Mass Marketing in America (New York: Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1990), 5. “are. 5. l8 19 Organized both chronologically and topically, the time frame starts at 1827, the founding date of the first Black newspaper, and concludes with the present. The research framework conceptualized for the study is enlarged; each component is variously used to examine the conflict between black and white Americans within a social context, discern the initial news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and determine what ideas and ideals were brokered in the marketplace of ideas, and, finally, decipher the evolution of the news philosophy of Black newspaper editors and publishers over time to describe the news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers. Topically, the news and op-ed sections of Black newspapers are examined to ascertain the content and context of the information published. Therefore, the review of the literature has three sections: Part I examines the conflict between black and white Americans, deciphering the interests of black Americans. Part II extends that effort, narrowing the substantive focus of the thesis on the marketplace of ideas for indications of why and how the social institution of The African-American Press emerged and evolved. Part III iterates the themes found in the previous two sections, citing and analyzing only those works relevant to this study: whether the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors is reflected in the news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers. Part I Conflict Between African and White Americans. The United States in the late 17008 and the early 18003 was a beacon to other nations in the world community. The fruits won in the Revolutionary War, freedoms of assembly, speech, and press, served as cornerstones in this new foundation of democratic governance. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights became models for citizens of the country and the world. 20 Though lurched forward by the twins of the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment, America remained troubled by one issue: slavery. James Weldon Johnson notes: ‘The spirit of the Revolution not only wrought . .. a humanization of sentiment regarding slavery and a softening of the condition of the slave, but also amused and strengthened a considerable section of public Opinion and set it in motion against the whole institution.”32 The Quakers, for one, went on public record as opposing slavery as early as 1767.33 That same year, Johnson notes, the Quakers sent a statement to the yearly public meeting held in Flushing, New York, propounding the following question for consideration in the intellectual marketplace: If it is not consistent with Christianity to buy and sell slaves, is it consistent with the Christian spirit to keep those in slavery that we have already in our possession by purchase, gift, or any otherwise gift?34 The Quakers constantly debated this question at their meetings; by 1779, Johnson writes, the last slave held by a Friend was set free.35 More important was that the task the Quakers set for themselves was successful in the broader, social intellectual marketplace as the New York State Legislature passed an act in 1779 providing for gradual emancipation of slaves; the provisions of the act were that every male child born of a slave after July 4, 1799 should be free. Finally, on July 4, 1827 , an act was passed by which all slaves were emancipated and slavery was abolished. Opposition to the Quakers came from other groups, principally the mainstream (white) press of New York City. Jackson reports the black community of New York City in 1827 was the object of continuous invective from several papers owned by Mordecai M. Noah, editor of the New York Enquirer.36 Discrimination was particularly rife in New York, even though a large number of Blacks were accomplished and financially 32James Weldon Johnson, Black Manhattan (New York: Da Capo Press, Inc., 1991) , 12. 33Ibid., 12. 34lbid., 13. 35Ibid., 13. 36Luther P. Jackson, "The Beginning : The Sprit of the Early Black Press," Encore American and Worldwide News, 20 (June 1977) : 19. 21 comfortable; Blacks had over a million dollars in real estate and another half-million in savings.” Penn described Noah as an “Afro-American—hating Jew who encouraged slavery and deplored the thought of freedom for the slave”38 in his newspaper. Noah was not alone. Saxton found that Early issues of the New York Sun, coinciding with the beginnings of abolitionist organization, contained scatterings of antislavery material. Thus in March, 1834, a news item announced that the secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society would lecture at the Chatharn Street Chapel on the “Cruelty and Injustice of Slavery as it Exists in the United States.” Only a few days later came an anecdote of a “Captain Strickland” who hated “these New York niggers.” The Herald as usual outdid the Sun. Bennett liked to use racist invective to affect a belligerently egalitarian style. Thus he would refer to the Sun -- the competition upon which his own paper had largely been modeled -- as that “decrepit, dying penny paper, owned and controlled by a set of woolly-headed and thick-lipped Negroes;” or, “our highly respected, dirty, sneaking, drivelling contemporary nigger paper.” The Sun 's second owner and publisher, the Connecticut Yankee Moses Beach, became “a pale-faced nigger from the banks of the Senegal.”39 Free Negroes, recorded by the census of 1830 as numbering 44,870 in New York state with 14,083 in New York City, joined the conflict.40 And, as Franklin remarked: “Soon there would be other institutions -- schools, newspapers, benevolent societies -- to serve those who lived in the world apart.”“1 Part II The Afiican-American Press: The Early Years, 1827-1891. The Rev. Samuel E. Cornish and John Brown Russwurm, two Black freemen, started the first Black newspaper, Freedom 's Journal, not only to serve those who lived in the world apart but to also participate in the now much larger, and more public, discussion on Black enfranchisement and entitlement in New York state. When Russwurm and Cornish sought access to the 37mm, 19. 38Penn, op. cit., 28. ”Alexander Saxton, “Problems of Class and Race in the Origins of the Mass Circulation Press,” American Quarterly 36. no. 2 (Summer 1984) : 232-233. “bid. 13. “John Hope Franklin, "The Two Worlds of Race: A Histnical View." in Race and History: Selected Essays 1938-1988 by John Hope Franklin (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press) : 134. 22 opinion pages of the New York Enquirer and other New York penny newspapers in the spring of 1827 to address the effort to erode the rights of free Blacks in New York, they were denied. The issue of slavery had now become the “Negro Problem?42 Daniel reported that although New York had passed a law outlawing slavery, “white slave holders still pursued their ex-slaves across the Hudson River in New Jersey, which had 200 slave holding families and 236 slaves as late as 1850.”43 Mainstream press publishers and editors gathered and printed news and opinion on Black emancipation and enfranchisement. The conflict between free blacks and mainstream press publishers and editors in the North was given further impetus by David Walker, a free Northern black who published An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World in 1829. Walker’s call for slaves in the South to revolt against slave-owners coupled with the “violent attacks of William Lloyd Garrison on the South, coming just before the slave revolts of 1831 and 1832, appeared to Southern states with large slave populations as cause and effect,”44 leading to the enactment of laws governing publication and circulation of material “tending to incite insurrections” in all of the states of the lower South by 1836, and were reaffirmed and tightened in subsequent years.45 While newspapers in all regions of the country devoted considerable news and editorials to the topic by 1830,46 newspapers in New York had taken to making ”vile attacks against their race?“ Thus, Kessler notes that throughout the pre-civil war era 42Mtntin E. Dann. The Black Press, 1827-1890: nte Quest for National Identity (New York: GP. Putnam’s Sons, 1971) , 15. 43Walter C. Daniel, Black Journals of the United States (Westport, CI‘: Greenwood Press, 1982) , 184. 44Russell B. Nye, “Freedom of the Press And the Antislavery Controversy,” Journalism Quarterly 22, no. 1 (March 1945) , 3. 451bid., 3; also, for a more detailed view of the effort to stop publication of such material. see W. Sherman Savage, “Abolitionist Literature in the Mails,” Journal of Negro History, vol. 13 (1928) : 150-184. 4“Donald Lewis Shaw, “News About Slavery from 1820-1860 in Newspapers of South, North and West,” Journalism Quarterly (Autumn 1984) :483-492. 47 Lauren Kessler, The Dissident Press: Alternative Journalism in American History (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc., 1984) , 17. 23 Black (and white) abolitionists found it necessary to create their own marketplace in order to spread ideas of Black enfranchisement and equality.48 Growth of The Black Press, both as an political institution and commercial enterprise, was fostered by continued denial to the intellectual marketplace by white newspaper publishers and editors. For example, the New York Sun frequently published editorials in the middle 1800s and proposed ideas that would negatively affect free and enslaved Blacks. When the paper proposed curbing Negro voting rights in the state of New York, Willis Hodges, a militant, free black whitewasher, wrote a reply he wanted to have printed in the newspaper. The white editor told Hodges he would print it as an advertisement for a fee of fifteen dollars. Furthermore, the editor changed the wording before printing it. When Hodges complained he was told: “The Sun shines for all white men, not for colored men.”49 He was also told that he should publish his own paper, if he had something to say. Penn notes that the Black publishers and editors of this era not only had something to say but also drew inspiration from the First Amendment. “The ability and fitness of the press is a measure of a country’s progress and its power,” Penn writes, “It causes the country to develop, by publishing its resources. A unanimous suggestion of the press is followed by an equally unanimous action of the people.”50 The growth of The African-American Press between 1827 and 1891 was such that Pride found that 1,187 black papers were added during the years 1865 to 1900 to the forty founded before 1865. Another 1,500 had been added by 1951, but the survivors number only 175. The average life span of a black newspaper, Pride found, was nine years.51 More than 3, 000 black newspaper -- owned and edited by blacks for black reader -- have appeared since Freedom’s Journal made its 1827 debut. 43 Kessler, op. cit., l7. 49Jannette L. Dates, “Print News” in Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media, Jannette L. Dates, and William Barlow, eds. (Washington, DC. : Howard University Press, 1990) , 347. 501. Garland Penn, nte Afro-American Press and Its Editors (Salem, NH: Ayers Publishing Company, 1988) , 522. 5‘ Emery and Emery, op. cit., 266. 24 Pride gives several reasons for the increase in black papers beginning in the mid- 1880s: increased educational opportunities for blacks, support of black papers by religious and welfare groups working in the South, establishment of political sheets for enfranchised blacks, and the growth of urban black communities could support papers.52 Wilson and Guiterrez also note that with the publication of Freedom 's Journal Black consciousness and identification with the Black community emerged among Blacks throughout the United States.53 Freedom ’s Journal, and the 40 some Black newspapers published between 1827 and the advent of the Civil War in 1865, was able to do so by articulating a news philosophy of emancipation and entitlement with information, features, culture, and entertainment important to its Black readers.54 Part III The News Philosophy of African-American Newspaper Editors As Reflected in the New/Op-ed Content Published in African-American Newspapers. By the late 18003, The African-American Press had matured into a viable social, political, and economic institution. Thus, in the early 1900s three Black historians assessed the editorial philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors; one quantitatively measured the news and op-ed content of all Black newspapers published during the 1827-1891 epoch. Penn, recognized as the first historian of The African-American Press, identified 125 Black newspaper publishers and editors, 27 of whom were women.” Though he provided a biographic sketch for each, Penn called upon T. Thomas Fortune, then the dean of African-American newspaper publishers, to write the lead section for a chapter entitled, “The Afro-American Editor’s Mission, By Eminent Journalists.” Fortune summarized the news philosophy of black newspaper publishers and editors to be one of “...making a square honest fight for the rights of our race.” 52 Ibid., 267. 53 Clint C. Wilson 11 and Felix Guiterrez, Minorities and Media: Diversity and the End ofMass Communication (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, Inc., 1985) : 55. 54Dates, op. cit. 55Penn, op. cit. 25 Fortune expanded the point, saying that Only those who understand thoroughly the serious nature of the contention of colored citizens for the cession to them of their full rights under the Constitution, and the magnitude and power of those who are now withholding those rights, and who also correctly estimate the commanding influence of the modern newspaper in creating, as well as giving, voice to public opinion, can have a correct idea of the great work reserved to the colored newspapers, would seem to be the fact that white men have newspapers; that they are published by white men for white men; give, in die main, news about white men, and pitch their editorial opinion entirely in the interest of white men...The colored newspapers of the United States, some one hundred and twenty five, are the only papers that are making a square, honest fight for the rights of our race.56 Fortune, who published and edited the influential New York Age from 1887 to 1907 , himself "sought to use the press as a vehicle for mobilizing black public opinion to support his militant ideology and for establishing himself as a spokesman for and defender of the rights of Afro-Americans in the South as well as in the North."57 Dann was the second Black historian to qualitatively assess The Black Press. He too examined the Black Press of the period of 1827-1890.58 Specifically analyzing the news philosophy of Black newspaper editors and publishers, Dann concluded: "Their (black newspapers from between 1827 and 1890) common theme is the black man’s quest for a national identity?59 Dann further states that “two currents in black intellectual history evident in the black press converge repeatedly: a response to white racism and an assertion of self-determination.”60 Of the news and op-ed content published in Black newspapers, Dann noted: “The black press throughout its history brought its readers an awareness of oppressive conditions, while it emphasized the successes of black men and women. Black newspapers urged their readers to work for their own progress, for recognition in their professions as black men and women, with dignity and self-respect. The accomplishments “Penn, op. cit., 482 . 483 [emphasis urine]. ”Emma Lou Thornbrough, "T. Thomas Fortune: Militant Editor in the Age of Accommodation," in Black Leaders of the Twentieth Century, John Hope Franklin, and August Meier, eds. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982) : 19. 58Dana, op. cit. 59Ibid., 12. 6°Ibid., 13. 26 of black people as doctors or lawyers, teachers or workmen, became a major theme in these papers. In such a way, the press was able to instill a positive sense of the progress and future of black people which was imperative to resisting attempts by white racists to undermine the black community.”61 Detweiler, the third African-American historian to examine the African-American Press from 1827 to 1890, characterized the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors as “a policy of general and continual protest?‘52 Their news philosophy was premised on “... a conviction that scarcely any white dailies can be trusted to tell the truth about the Negro and that many deliberately place him in an unfavorable light.”63 Detweiler quantitatively measured the news and op-ed content of “40 typical periodicals“, reporting that “...the amount of space devoted to news and opinion seems to average 60 percent...”65 while “The editorials as such take an average of 4 percent of the space. About one-seventh of all goes into out-of-town news.”66 Detwelier expanded the number of newspapers in this purposive sample from 40 to 64, and content analyzed “editorials along with the news as indicating the attitude of the paper toward the subjects handled?‘57 The content analysis of 879 articles for indications of whether an editorial theme was present in the news and op-ed articles found that on the subject of racial wrongs or clashes, there were 151 news items, 71 editorials; on race and pride, 124 news items and 12 editorials; on welfare efforts, including education, 'etc., 92 news items, 15 editorials; on the work of the movements (such as the NAACP, etc.) directed to resolution of racial problems, 59 news items, 4 editorials; on Negro crime 611bid., 22-23. 62Detweiler, op. cit. , 63Ibid., 148. 64Ibid., 81. Ten newspapers each were examined from towns of less than 10,000 population; 10,000 to 50,000; 50,000 to 500,000; and the last from the largest centers. 651bid, so, 81. 66Ibid, 80. 67mm, 82. 27 (chiefly in city papers), 85 news items, 2 editorials; and, on all other subjects, 194 news items, 70 editorials.“8 Detweiler concluded, A large number of the articles, especially the news, have to do with local or national politics, and frequently there are articles on Africa, Brazil, or other parts of the world toward which Negroes are now looking. The outstanding fact is, however, that when you add together the figures of the first four groups, you have 528 articles, or almost three-fifths of all devoted to the characteristic racial struggle of the Negro groupf’9 O’Kelley, in two articles on the interrelationship between Black newspapers and the Black protest movement, found that the Black press “concerned itself above all with the problems of the race and served as a vehicle for black protest.”70 In her review of the literature, she reported several content analyses of Black newspapers. For example, she noted that Robert Kerlin analyzed several black papers issued from July 1 through November 1, 1919. Kerlin, O’Kelly reported, found a considerable amount of anti-white content. A sizable number of papers were advocates of what he (Kerlin) called extreme measures -- “retaliation, blood for blood, life for life.”71 Kerlin further noted that during World War I the papers fought discrimination against black soldiers and applauded all their successes and heroism. They demanded the vote, equal political participation, equal school facilities, equath and justice, and an end to segregation on the editorial pages. Lynchings and riots were given considerable attention on the news pages. Race progress was always applauded and blacks were encouraged to support each other’s endeavors, especially black businesses.72 Thombrough said of The African-American Press during the years 1880-1914 that “the typical Negro paper was a four-page weekly.”73 Thombrough also said that although 581bid., 82. 69Ibid., 82. ”Charlotte G. O'Kelley “Black Newspapers and the Black Protest Movement: Their Historical Relationship,” Phylon 43, no. 1 (Spring 1982) : 1-14; and “Black Newspapers and the Black Protest Movement, 1946-1972,” Phylon 41, no. 4 (Winter 1980) : 313-324. 7llbid., 6 721bid.. 5 73Emma Lou Thombrough, "American Negro Newspapers, 1880-1914, " Business History Review 40 (Winter 1966) , 486. 28 the fundamental reason for the existence of Black newspapers was to serve Blacks, “On the whole, Negro papers failed to exploit race.”74 Rather, she remarked, “Typical was the statement of purpose of the Indianapolis World - ”To build up our people -- to refine their manners and improve their morals -- to inspire race pride -- to develop race enterprise - to inculcate a higher conception of duty and citizenship is the World is mission."75 She commented : "All papers emphasized race issues almost to the exclusion of all else in their editorials, but there were wide variations in the amount of space devoted to editorials and in editorial policy of race."76 Thombrough, suggesting that a pronounced effort was made to keep news philosophy on the op-ed pages, states that African-American newspaper publishers and editors did not capitalize on the sensational aspects of race questions in their news columns. At no time were lynchings and race riots as numerous as in the decades preceding World War I, but the Negro press usually reported with restraint and without startling headlines. There was also a remarkable absence of sensationalism in the presentation of other types of news. Crime received little attention, and such stories as there were on the subject were likely to be relegated to an inauspicious position. Sex stories were almost non-existent.77 Stroman found that the news philosophy of Robert S. Abbott, editor and publisher of the Chicago Daily Defender, between 1916-1918, was reflected in the news and op-ed content. Abbott, reported Stroman, “openly advocated that blacks move North.”78 The news and op-ed content of the newspaper reflected this call for migration as the Defender focused both on the news and advertising needs of this new readership: “The Defender attempted to live up to its name. The front page of the Defender carried accounts of discrimination in restaurants, employment, transportation, ect., and many editorials strongly urged blacks to protest segregation and discrimination. . . . Moreover, the paper 741bid., 487. ”mm. , 487. 761bid., 488. ”Md, 488. [emphasis mine]. 78Carolyn A. Stroman, “The Chicago Defender and The Mass Migration of Blacks, 1916-1918,” Journal of Popular Culture 15 (1981) : 63. 29 was an obvious supporter for the Chicago Urban League...The Defender devoted both news and editorial columns to the activities of the League, and for several years was very active in the League’s effort to raise money for its organization. In addition, each issue ...carried job opportunities, rooms for rent and other classified advertisements?” O’Kelly reported that scholars of the late 1930s found black newspapers to be an integral part of the rising black protest movement.80 For example, a content analysis of twenty black newspapers by Matthews and Fueglein81 found that race conflicts and race progress and achievement were the top categories. News about the NAACP, Urban league, National Negro Rights League, and Universal Negro Improvement Association, the National race Congress and other such organizations was emphasized. O’ Kelley herself, in a subsequent article on the relationship between Black newspapers and the Black protest movement from 1946-1972, thematically analyzed what she classified as “movement-related editorials” - editorials which mentioned the “movement related organizations, leaders, events, and issues during six time periods between 1946 and 1972.”82 The rank ordering of a sample of 1,623 editorial pages of the Baltimore Afro- American, the New York Amsterdam News, the Pittsburgh Courier, and the Norfolk Journal and Guide83 for the ten most frequently discussed themes categorized into these six time periods: 1946-1949; 1950-1954; 1955-1959; 1960-1964; 1965-1969; and, 1970- 1972. The rank ordering revealed that only twenty different themes were represented, although theoretically a maximum of 60 could have been reached if there had been a total change in the most frequently discussed themes from time period to time period.84 O’Kelley found that integration was the one common theme which appeared across the six 791bid., 64,65. 80O’Kelly, op. cit., 10. 81Ruth Matthews, and Jacob Fueglein, The Negro Press in America (Unpublished B.A. thesis, Marquette University, 1933) , 104. 82O'Keuy, “Black Newspapers and the Black Protest Movement, 1946-1972,” Phylon 51, no. 4 (Winter 1980) , 313. 83Ibid., 313. 841bid., 323. 30 time periods. She noted that The Black Press unfailingly expressed a news philosophy of integration that was explicitly linked with news and op-ed articles on the subject. Jones too studied the changes of editorial content of The Black Press , but from the World War I to the World War 11 period.” He found, as did 0’ Kelley, that the news philosophy of integration in the armed forces was advocated on the editorial pages of Black newspapers; consequently, Black newspaper publishers and editors -- particularly those of the World War 11 period -- placed greater emphasis on the impact of the war on Blacks in the news sections of their newspapers, and allocated other space in the newshole specifically to the international scene and colonialism.86 Brooks, in a content analysis of five national Black newspapers published during World War 11, accepted the research hypothesis that these newspapers reflected the political ideals and values consistent with the liberal democratic “American Creed,” or “American Tradition.” More important, however, he concluded that the news content of the “role of the Negro Press is essentially that of a supplemental press...for those news stories which hold special interest for them, they (Black readers) eagerly await the appearance of their own newspapers for the story behind the news, to see what really happened?” O’Kelly also noted that a Fortune analysis of The Black Press in 1944 found that "The Negro press is an interest-group press; its chief concern: Negro progress.” Fortune’s analysis of the front page found the chief preoccupations were with advances in Negro- white relations, stories of discrimination, Fair Employment Practices legislation, activities of the NAACP, success of individuals, integration and discrimination in the armed forces.88 Specific content and the measurement of the front page revealed that 32 percent of the space on the front page was news exclusively about Negroes; 35 percent was given ”Lester Jones, “The Editorial Policy of Negro Newspapers of 1917-1918 as Compared with That of 1941- 5242,” Journal of Negro History 29 (January 1944) : 24-31. Ibid. 8'7Maxwell R. Brooks, The Negro Press Re-Examined (Boston, MA: The Christopher Publishing House, 1959) : 62. 880'Keny, “B lack Newspapers and the Black Protest Movement: Their Historical Relationship, 1827- 1945," 13. w 3 1 to reporting or furthering friendly Negro-white relations; 18 percent was unfavorable to whites’ conduct in Negro-white relations; and, 15 percent was neutral on such relations.89 Also, in the 19408 Mydral devoted considerable attention to the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors, if not the news and op—ed content published in Black newspapers, in his monumental work, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy.90 Rather than interpret what he thought the news philosophy, or purpose, of Black newspaper publishers and editors, Mydral asked P.B. Young, “the editor of one of the best Negro papers, the Norfolk Journal and Guide,”91 to articulate it. Young said: “Traditionally our press is a special pleader; it is an advocate of human rights.”92 Of the relationship between news philosophy and news and op-ed content in the 210 Black newspapers published then, Mydral quoted two prominent Black sociologists, Willis D. Weatherford and Charles S. Johnson, who asserted: Negro papers are first of all race papers. They are first and foremost interested in the advancement of the race. A large percentage of the editorials are concerned with justice to the race, with equal privileges, with facts of race progress, or with complaint against conditions as they are. Of course there occur from time to time well written editorials on topics of general interest, such as world peace, better political adjustment, or the progress of civilization; but it remains true that most of the editorials are distinctly racial. The articles in these papers are usually propaganda - that is they follow the line of the editorials. A great many are genuinely inflammatory.93 More pointedly, Mydral also found that Negro papers of the 1940s offered something not found in the white press. Mydral found that Detweiler’s characterization of that relationship from the 1900s applied to the 1940s as well. Mydral again turned to a Black sociologist, Detweiler, to characterize the relationship of the news philosophy of Black newspapers publishers and editors and the news and op—ed content published in 89Fortune, “Press Analysis," May 1945, 233. 9°Gunnar Mydral, An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, 20th anniversary ed. (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1964) : 908-1422. 91Ibid., 908. 92Ibid., 908. 93Ibid., 908. 32 Black newspapers. Detwelier said, “Through all the Negro press there flows an undercurrent of feeling that the race considers itself a part of American and yet has no voice in the American newspaper. Members of this group want to learn about each other, they want stories of their success, conflicts, and issues told, and they want to express themselves in public.”94 A present-day assessmentThis study advances the research on The Black Press by filling a void in the scholarly literature. The research framework provides a conceptual bridge from the news philosophy of past Black newspaper publishers and editors to those of the present. Also, the research framework enables description of the social and intellectual traditions of The Black Press by present-day scholars to now focus on The Black Press today. Description of the social and intellectual traditions of The Black Press by scholars abruptly stops in the late 19703. Though some theses and dissertations have been written on The Black Press by graduate students,95 even that scholarly output is symbiotically joined with the efforts of contemporary mass media and mass communication researchers to re-examine both the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content published in Black newspapers of the past. Much of that re-examination centers on these words: We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived in the things which concern us dearly, though in the estimation of some mere trifles; for although there are many in society who exercise toward us benevolent feelings, still (with sorrow we confess it) there are others who enlarge upon that which tends to the discredit of any person of color.96 94Detweiler, op. cit., 70. 9536e, for examme, Frankie P. Hutton, “the Antebellum Black Press and The Quest for Inclusion: Ideals and Messages of Social Responsibility, Morality, Class and Style” (PhD. diss., Rutgers University, 1991); Benjamin Franklin Clark, “The Editorial Reaction of Selected Southern Black Newspapers to the Civil Rights Movement” (PhD. diss., Howard University, 1989); Jane Rhodes, “Breaking the Editorial Ice: Mary Ann Shadd Cary and the Provincial Freeman” (PhD. diss., University of North Carolina, 1992); and, Kimberley Louise Phillips, “Heaven Bound: Black Migration, Community, and Activism in Cleveland, 1915-1945 (Ohio)” (PhD. diss., Yale University, 1992). 96Freedom’s Journal, “To Our Patrons,” (16 March 1827) :1. 33 The words above are from the first editorial in Freedom ’s Journal, the first Black newspaper published in America While Russwurm and Cornish clearly state their news philosophy is one where they, as Blacks, will “...plead our own cause”, what they meant, indeed what kind of news and op-ed content was published in Freedom ’3 Journal, has been variously interpreted by contemporary mass media and mass communication scholars. For example, Frederick Cooper, a noted historian, commented in 197 2: "That powerful voices were often raised in protest is undeniable, but what seems to have been most discussed and to have influenced the broadest group of people with the greatest consistency was not abolitionism or civil rights but self-irnprovement.”97 Cooper continues: “In the two-year lifetime of Freedom ’3 Journal, slavery was mentioned with some frequency, but rarely was it the subject of the featured article or the editorial. Articles on slavery were often reprints from other journals, while the editors themselves wrote about other subjects.”98 Cooper’s thesis, that Freedom ’3 Journal can be best understood as a newspaper designed to serve the needs of a developing black community, is buttressed by the fact that “much of the newspaper was devoted to a wide variety of articles whose main purpose was to provide material to people who wanted to read and disseminate knowledge about diverse subjects.”99 The foundation for the newspaper was a news philosophy, Cooper notes, that substantively focused the news and op-ed content of the newspaper on “...the dissemination of useful knowledge among our brethren, and to their moral and religious improvement, must meet with cordial approbation of every friend to humanity.”100 Thus, while the news philosophy of Russwurm and Cornish stressed the “...causes of self- irnprovement and education. (It was) In numerous brief articles (that)...the paper tried to inculcate the proper mental attitudes. Throughout the life of the paper, editorials urged ”Frederick Cooper, “Elevating the Race: The Social Thoughts of Black Leaders, 1827-50," American Quarterly 24, no. 5 (December 1972) , 605. 98Cooper, op. cit., 606. 99Ibid., 607. 100Ibid., 606. 34 readers to improve their minds and send their children to school.”101 The news section of the paper was much like that of any other paper of its time: fires, domestic tragedies, and serialized features.102 Cooper’s interpretation of the relationship between the news philosophy of Russwurm and Cornish and the news and op-ed content published in Freedom ’3 Journal was premised on a wholistic reading of that first issue, where the issue of slavery was given a scant two sentences in that first editorial. Gross had long ago concluded that the ”goal of the Journal was universal elevation of man, the secret of which lay in the arts and sciences to be cultivated by men working in harmony for the general good. Only by strange necessity, the editors declared, forced them to stress 'race'; the cosmic outlook, the universal good was never sacrificed on the altar of race." 103 Gross, too, found the content of Freedom’s Journal was a reflection of a news philosophy primarily concerned with "...the vindication of the people, and the stimulation of race-pride."104 In particular, the news and op-ed content was concerned with the following issues or themes: the accomplishments of African-Americans; vindication of the colored woman; scientific study of slavery; the Colonization Society; and finally, education.105 Roland Woseley, a noted historian of the African-American press, has used the oftimes quoted words from the first edition of Freedom ’3 Journal to frame the purpose of African-American newspapers from a contrary, if not contradictory, perspective. Woseley states that The Black Press is a "special pleading institution with a cause, goal or purpose going beyond the basic one necessary for survival in the American economy -- the making 1011bid., 608. 102mm,, 607. 103Bella Gross, ”Freedom's Journal and the Rights of All,” The Journal of Negro History, vol. 16, no. 3 (July 1932) , 246. 104mm, 257. 105nm, 258-269. 35 of a profit."106 Woseley opines: “The primary purpose, 160 years ago and for many years thereafter was to campaign for freedom of the slaves. After the Civil War it was for more fair treatment of black citizens in many areas of their lives, such as access to public eating places, attendance at white colleges, and use of public beaches.”107 Woseley asserts that this news philosophy of integration is but one of several. He notes: “Black newspapers now exist primarily to report the news of the black population and the particular local community, to give space to their own and others’ opinions on many racially oriented matters, to promote the activities of the society in which they exist, to present advertisers with a billboard or a spoken message, and to be the advocate for the black population.”103 Davis has most recently challenged both of these 19703 scholarly conclusions about the mission, or news philosophy, of African-American newspaper editors and publishers. Davis concluded the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors was strongly influenced by the what he termed the “commercialization” of these papers; the shift from a mission to commercial orientation “critically altered the content judgment of black editors, disrupted one of black people’s chief mediums of consensus...”109 Yet Hutton states, “The editors’ sense of responsibility in the operation of their newspapers falls in line with an inveterate belief in republicanism, one of the ideals that emanated from the American Revolution. . . . The editors felt it expedient for all newspapers to foster responsible journalistic practices -- truth, fairness, good taste, and complete reporting of all sides of issues.”110 Scant literature exists on today’s Black Press, the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors, and consequently the news and op-ed content of Black 106Ron E. Woseley, The Black Press, U.3A., 2d ed. (Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1990) . s [emphasis mine]. 1071bid., 5. 103mm, 6. 109Henry Vance Davis, "The Black Press: From Mission to Commercialism, 1827-1927" (PhD. diss., University of Michigan, 1990) , 1-344. 110Frankie Hutton, The Early Black Press in America, 1827-1890, (W estport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993) , 37. 36 newspapers. However, Ernest Pitt, publisher and editor of The Winston-Salem Chronicle, perhaps best articulates the news philosophy of present-day Black newspaper publishers and editors. He stated that the “purpose of the weekly, like that of the nation’s first Black newspaper 165 years old, was to provide a fuller picture of African-Americans and to chronicle their accomplishments and aspirations.”111 He continued that the role of the Black Press is “to monitor institutions in our community that pretend to represent the interest of the community.”112 The news of the Black Press is shaped, therefore, by giving “the black community news it can use.”113 Summary. The review of the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op—ed content published in African-American newspapers in the voluminous literature on the African-American press has been both selective and purposeful. The intent was to garner, within the research framework conceptualized for this study, how Black newspaper publishers and editors described their news philosophy; analysis of the literature on the news and op—ed content of Black newspapers sought to determine the pattern of such content. Thus, the review of the literature on these two aspects of the African-American press is summarized to include the following: 0 Black publishers and editors have always espoused a news philosophy; more specifically, these publishers and editors, as Hutton states, “seemed to have a convenant with the ideals of democracy; they believed that America’s ideals could become realities for the free elite and would eventually lead to abolition of slavery.”114 0 Hutton too states that “...careful examination of the editorial content of these publications shows them to be significant in messages of journalistic responsibility and reveals that they were operated in the public interest and not bound by strictures that were solely Negro centered.”1 15 111Christine Reid Veronis, “Black Press Comeback? Economic problems persist, but there are some favorable signs pointing to a more vital role for these ethnically targeted publications," presstirne (July 1989) : 20. lleargaret Bernstein, “Pressing On,” Black Enterprise 19 (June 1989) : 148. 113mm,, 148. 11“Hutton, op. cit, 27. 1151bid., 36 37 Conclusion. The review of the literature indicates that African-American newspaper publishers and editors have always expressed the news philosophy of social responsibility - one tent of which was the practice of such contemporary journalistic practices as truth, fairness, good taste, and balanced reporting; another tenet that of “truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent accounts of events in contexts that give them meaning.”116 Where in the beginning, 1827, the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors was explicitly concerned with enfranchisement and equality of free Blacks in the North, their philosophy changed over time to encompass the emancipation of all enslaved Blacks -- in the North and South. Also, over time - certainly from the Civil War to the present-day -- the news philosophy of Black publishers and editors, as well as the news and op-ed content of their newspapers, changed to reflect the concerns of African-Americans in a marketplace that must be characterized both as intellectual and commercial. The concerns in the intellectual marketplace changed from equality and enfranchisement and emancipation at the beginning to integration to, finally, civil rights and affirmation action in the contemporary period. Those concerns are now, just as they were in the beginning, how to compete in the commercial marketplace, and yet serve the needs and wants of Black readers while increasing profit margins. The review of the literature also indicates that the social and political environment of the times influenced not only the content of Black newspapers but also helped to determine the type of news and other information published in Black newspapers. Also, it is significant that from the beginning of these publications, the First Amendment was an importance touchstone for Black newspaper publishers and editors. They used this legal construct to enter the intellectual marketplace to offer competing ideas on Black enfranchisement, entitlement, and equality in an intellectual marketplace polluted by the miasrnic atmosphere of white racism. 116mm, 40. CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS The review of the literature, especially the articles by Cooper and O’Kelley, suggests the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors is one which embodies the social responsibility theory of the press. The news philosophy of social responsibility, first expressed by Russwurm and Cornish in Freedom '3 Journal as ”...self- improvement through education,” was reflected in the content published in Freedom's Journal. Additionally, over time still other African-American newspaper publishers and editors articulated a philosophy of news that could be characterized as social responsibility: Black newspaper publishers and editors pointedly expressed two of the tenets of this latter-day normative standard of the press theory in that they (1) serviced the political system by providing information, discussion, and debate on public affairs; and, (2) safeguarded the rights of individuals by serving as a watchdog against government. Indeed, Hutton re-examined the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors from 1827 to 1860 and found that “antebellum black editors used their publications as clarions of press responsibility.”117 Though Shoemaker has categOrized the particular pattern of content in any newspaper five different ways,118 O’Kelley’s articles119 on the interrelationship between the news philosophy of Black newspaper editors and publishers and the news and op-ed content published in Black newspapers suggests that an Afrocentric perspective can be another category by which not only news 11"Hutton, op. cit., 41. 118Pamela J. Shoemaker, with Elizabeth Kay Mayfield, ”Building a Theory of News Content: A Synthesis of Current Approaches,” Journalism Monographs 103 (June 1987) , 1, 2. 1190' Kelley, op. cit., “Black Newspapers and the Black Protest Movement: Their Historical Relationship,” and in particular, “Black Newspapers and the Black Protest Movement, 1946-1972.” 38 39 philosophy but also news and op-ed items can be classified as content. Martindale's report on the relationship of The White Press and Black America“?0 also suggests that the theme of race, or the contextual framework within which news and editorial opinion is offered to the commercial and intellectual markets, may also be relevant to the purposes of this study. Martindale concluded that the theme of race, when it does have the attention of the mainstream press, results in negative portrayals of minorities. When race is the theme of news and op-ed items in the African-American press, the portrayal, more often than not, is positive.121 Thus, the social and political contexts within which news and information is presented is positively correlated to the perspective, or angle, from which the news is written -- Black or white, Afrocentric or Eurocentric. These factors are mentioned because the suspected relationship between the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the type of news and op—ed content contained in their newspapers has not been tested by mass media or mass communication scholars; rather, those few research hypotheses formulated and tested have focused either on the effects of these publications on their readers122 or on the gratifications readers derived from these newspapers.123 This study does not offer any hypotheses124 for testing, because the research design is exploratory.125 The intent is to describe the relationship between news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors and news and op-ed content found in Black newspapers. Also, the objective of this study is to gather preliminary data on the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors. This 12°Marundale, op. cit. 121Seeman, op. cit., and Van Dijk, Racism and the Press. 122Leo Bogart, "Negro and White Media Exposure: New Evidence," Journalism Quarterly 49 (Summer 1972) : 15-21; and, Gibbons, and Ullotb, op. cit. l238haron, op. cit.; Alexis S. Tan, "Evaluation of Newspapers and Television by Blacks and Mexican- Americans,” Journalism Quarterly 55, no. 4, (Winter 1978) : 673-681; and, Alexis Tan, and Percy Vaugh, "Mass Media Exposure, Public Affairs Knowledge, and Black Militancy," Journalism Quarterly 53 (Summer 1976) : 271-279. lz‘lnfante, et. al, op. cit., 409. 125Marshall, and Rossman, op. cit., 78. 40 categorical assessment of the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors is then to be conelationally tested with the news and op-ed content found in present-day African-American newspapers, ascertaining the level of association and significance of that relationship. Therefore, the objective of this study is to answer the following seven research questions: . Of the six statements from the News Philosophy section in the Survey of the Black Press, which statement draws the most favorable response from African-American newspaper publishers and editors? . Of the 14 statements in the News/Editorial Content section of the questionnaire, which statement draws the most favorable response from African-American newspaper publishers and editors when they describe the news and op-ed content of their newspapers? . How do African-American newspaper publishers and editors rate the importance of news and op-eds in their newspapers? . What is the percent of space allocated to the coverage of news and the expression of opinion in African-American newspapers? . Of the space allocated to the coverage of news and the expression of opinion and editorials, how many of the news and op-ed items are local and have a Black or Afrocentric theme? . Does the news philosophy, or purpose, of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the amount of space allocated to news and op-ed content in their newspapers vary with circulation? . What is the level of association and significance between the purpose of African-American newspaper publishers and editors, as they define it, and the news and op-ed content they report and actually publish in their newspapers? CHAPTER 5 METHOD A correlational research design, cross-sectional in type, was selected to answer the seven research questions. A comprehensive method was devised; four separate stages answer the research questions of the study: 1. A national mail survey of all identifiable African-American newspaper publishers and editors. 2 . A content analysis of eight purposively selected African-American newspapers. 3 . A descriptive statistical analysis of the responses from survey respondents to statements in the “News Philosophy” and “News/Editorial Content” sections of the national Survey of the Black Press questionnaire. 4. Correlational analysis of the “News Philosophy” and “News/Editorial Content” statements of eight publishers and editors with the actual news and Opinion/editorial content found in their respective newspapers. The conelational research design was selected because it best fit the purposes of this study: determination of the level of association and significance between the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and the items found in the news and op—ed sections of African-American newspapers. The first week of May 1990 was selected because it was the one week for which all of the newspapers in the collected sample had an issue. The method for each stage is detailed in this chapter. However, background on the survey, the survey instrument, and the sampling frame is presented first. The specifics of the statistical analysis and description of the questionnaire sections follow. Finally, details of the coding framework, which was specifically developed for the analysis of the news and op-ed sections from the eight selected newspapers, provide the chapter’s conclusion. 41 42 Survey Background The questionnaire (see Appendix 1) utilized for the qualitative aspect of this study was originally developed by the author for The Black Press Research Project at Michigan State University.126 The questionnaire was constructed with three purposes in mind: one, to gather primary data from present-day African-American publishers and editors about how they characterize their purpose, or news philosophy; two, gather information on how these newspaper entrepreneurs would rate the importance of news and op—ed content in their newspapers; and, three, construct a foundation for a later, more extensive analysis of the news, advertising, op-ed and visual content of African-American newspapers in the United States. Such a thorough quantitative analysi3127 has never been conducted; additionally, such a qualitative assessment of the all African-American newspapers has not been attempted since 1. Garland Penn128 in 1891. The Survey Instrument. The mail questionnaire developed for the Black Press Research Project was entitled, Survey of the Black Press. It was six-pages and contained six sections: Publication Demographics, Personal Demographics, News Philosophy, Readership, News/Editorial Content, and The Future of Black Press. Space was also provided for the publishers and editors to articulate the “issues of importance that Black publications will encounter during the next 10 years.” The Sampling Frame. The exact number of African-American newspapers varies widely, depending on the sources searched. 129 For the purposes of the Black Press Research 126Dr. Stephen Lacy, associate professor in the Michigan State University School of Journalism, initiated the Black Press Research Project in 1988. After a pilot content analysis of 13 such newspapers in three Midwest states, Dr. Lacy and Dr. Stan Soft'm, director of the School of Journalism, began collecting a national sample of newspapers from the approximately 180 black weeklies in the country. Lacy was awarded a Baskett Moose Research Award to conduct a mail survey of the publishers and editors to gain "a much better understanding of how these newspapers function and serve their communities." 12"’Summer E. Stevens, and Owen V. Johnson, "From Black Politics to Black Community: Harry C. Smith and the Cleveland Gazette," Journalism Quarterly 67, no. 4 (Winter 1990) , 1092. 128Penn, op. cit. 125’The National Negro Publishers Association, the official voice of Negro newspaper publishers, counts 200 as the number of African-American newspapers published in the United States. The discrepancy in the number of African-American newspapers may be that the NNPA is a trade association, promoting the 43 Project, the population of African-American publishers and editors was identified from the 1989 Editor and Publisher International Yearbook. Thus, the 163 African-American publishers and editors identified in this publication were designated as the sampling frame for the project. The list was increased by two in number because two more African-American newspapers were known to exist by Black Press Research Project researchers. The final sampling frame, therefore, numbered 165 identifiable African-American newspaper publishers and editors. Ten of these publishers and editors were randomly selected for a pretest of the questionnaire, reducing the effective population of African- American newspaper publishers and editors to 155. These publishers and editors were mailed the questionnaire in Fall 1989 and Winter 1990. Ten of the questionnaires from the initial mailing in Fall 1989 were returned by the U. S. Postal Service as “undeliverable.” Thus, the effective population of identifiable African-American newspapers was further reduced to 145 newspapers. Analysis of the questionnaire sections. Only the results of the analysis of the “News Philosophy” and “News/Editorial Content” sections of the Survey of the Black Press are described in this study. One of the purposes of this study is to search for indications of a relationship between the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content of their newspapers; as such, this objective is fulfilled by a descriptive statistical analysis of the two sections selected for investigation. News Philosophy is operationalized by the six statements in the section. The phrase, “The role of my publication is to...” begins each statement: 1. ...provide a quality editorial product, even if it means losing money. 2. ...uphold the Constinltion of the United States. 3. ...present the truth, regardless of who gets hurt. 4. report the news objectively. interests of its paid membership. Also, Woseley, op. cit., 93, 110, puts the number of all African-American newspapers ill 1986 at 266, including three dailies. 44 5. ...report the news in a meaningful context for readers. 6. ...Because we are a Black publication, news coverage should be targeted to attract a Black or minority readership. News Content is operationalized by the six distinct types of news given in this section. The six categorical items of news content were: hard, in-depth analysis, social happenings, sports, features and information for Black youth. Editorial Content is operationalized by the two distinct types of items given in the section. The two categorical items of editorial content were: editorials, and letters to the editor. Each news and editorial item was further assessed for geography and Afrocentricity. Therefore, Geography is operationalized by determination of whether the item was local or non-local in origin; Afrocentricity is operationalized by whether the item could be characterized as being specifically written for and about African- Americans. All items in the News/Editorial Content section of the questionnaire, as well as the six statements in the News Philosophy section were measured on a five point scale. Respondents were asked to indicate their range of agreement for the statements of News Philosophy by checking one of the following: 5 as strongly agree; 4, agree; 3, neither; 2, disagree; and 1, strongly disagree. The scale of measurement for the News/Editorial section was on a five point scale of importance, with 5 being very important; 4, important; 3, important; 2, unimportant; and 1, very unimportant. The Content Analysis Newspaper sample. Black Press Research Project researchers had previously and purposefully collected 70 African-American newspapers for a large scale content analysis. Examination of these newspapers revealed that 27 of the publishers and editors returned questionnaires. It was determined that May, June, July and August 1989 were the only months for which there were complete editions and consecutive weekly issues for 22 of the newspapers. 45 These 22 newspapers formed the sampling frame from which eight were purposively selected for an analysis of the published news and opinion/editorial items as content. Only eight of the papers were selected because of the constraints of time and money; most important, the intent of this study was to explore the nature of the relationship between news philosophy and editorial content published in African- American newspapers, not to predict or explain that relationship. The purposive selection of eight newspapers also buttresses the underlying framework of research; that is, to ascertain how these newspapers participate in the marketplace of ideas as well as serve the news and informational needs of their readers. These eight newspapers also allow variance to be examined across geography and circulation. Stratification and selection of newspapers. Further examination of these 22 newspapers revealed the majority were located in the southern and southwestern parts of the United States. The majority of these 27 newspapers also had relatively small circulation levels. To counteract the effects of geography and circulation, these 22 newspapers were stratified into, first, four geographic regions and, second, into four circulation levels, as Table 1 on the next page illustrates. 46 Table l.--NewspaErs stratified into four circulation categories 0-91999 10,000-19,999 20,000-49,000 515000 plus Photo News and Image Mobile Beacon & The Connection Precinct Reporter 2.000 Alabama Citizen 25.000 55,000 West Palm Beach. FL 10.000 Teeneck. NJ San Bel-hardino, CA Mobile, AL Arkansas State Press Birmingham Times New Pittsburgh Courier The Post Group 4,000 10,000 30.000 62.496 Little Rock. AR Birmingham. AL Pittsburgh. PA (7 Newspapers) Oakland, CA Coastal Times Bay State Banner The City Sun Philadelphia Tribune 5,0“) 10,500 30,000 108,000 Charleston, SC Dorchester, MA Brooklyn, NY Philadelphia, PA Frost llltutrated Augusta Focus Tri-City Journal 5,0“) 15,000 30,000 Ft. Wow Augm GA CM, IL Savannah Tribune Speaking Out Weekly Houston Defender 6,000 16,000 30,000 Augusta, GA Decatur, AL Houston, TX Talladega Times East St. Louis Monitor Akron Reporter 6.0“) 17,000 35,000 Talladega, AL East St. Louis, IL Akron, OH Inner City News 8.0“) Mobile, Al Stratification by circulation levels helped somewhat to equalize not only the geographic distribution of the newspapers but also to distribute the newspapers across the four circulation categories. Two newspapers from each of the four circulation categories were selected for an analysis of the news and opinion/editorial items published. The selection was guided by whether the particular paper had complete and consecutive weekly editions for the month of May 1989. Care was taken in the selection process to ensure no particular geographic region dominated the sampling frame for the content analysis. The first edition of the May publication cycle was chosen for analysis because these eight newspapers all published on a Thursday; more important, there was a complete first Thursday edition of the Philadelphia Tribune, the sole daily in the group. The following newspapers were selected: Coastal Times, circulation -- 5,000; Frost Illustrated -- 5,000; Bay State Banner -- 10,500; East St. Louis Monitor -- 17,000; The City Sun -- 30,000; Akron Reporter -- 35,000; Precinct Reporter -- 55,000; and, Philadelphia Tribune -- 108,000. 47 Analysis of the news and op-ed sections. The analysis of the content of the eight newspapers selected focused only on the news and opinion/editorial sections. Exclusion of advertising and visual content still meets one of the three requirements for a content analysis: that it be systematic, as well as objective, and contain generality.13° Again, one of the purposes of this study is to search for indications of whether a relationship exists between the news philosophy of African-American publishers and editors and the news and opinion/editorial content of their newspapers. Therefore, the exclusion of retail and classified advertising, as well as such editorial staples as syndicated columnists, comic and editorial cartoons, was justified. Coding framework. The topics of news reporting, and the expression of editorial opinion, provide a set of mutually exclusive categories for classifying reports of events. 131 These topics were incorporated into the coding framework132 (See Appendix 3), which was especially developed for the analysis of the news and opinion/editorial content of the eight African-American newspapers selected. The idea of a theme, however, is distinct from a topic or sub-topic. Although the idea of a theme was discussed in some detail in the research framework, and searched for and assessed in the review of the literature, it was the integral component in the design of the questionnaire. While themes do not normally classify whole items, themes may be thought of as "news angles" for they give perspective and context to news reports and editorials.”3 Thus, the idea of a Black or Afrocentric angle on the news, that is news written for and about Blacks or African-Americans,134 was purposively incorporated into the coding framework. 130Ole R. Holsti, Content Analysis for the Social Science and Humanities (Menlo Park, CA: Addison-West Publishing Company, 1969) , 3, 4. 1“Denis McQuail, Analysis of Newspaper Content -- A Report (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1977), 123. 32The proposed coding frame was adapted from those developed by Dr. Stephen Lacy forhis Ph.D. dissertation, "The Effects of Ownership and Competition on Daily Newspaper Content,” University of Texas at Austin, 1986; and, McQuail in Analysis of Newspaper Content. 133McQuail, Analysis of Newspaper Content, 123. 134Woselcy, op. cit., 4. 48 The analysis of the news and op-ed content of the eight selected newspapers, therefore, has the individual item -- that is, classification of the news items as news, feature, social happenings, etc. and classification of the op-ed item as an editorial or letter to the editor - as the unit of analysis. All items were also analyzed and assessed for locality and theme. Assessment of the item’s geography and Afrocentricity was a check- mark in the appropriate box for Yes or No. The analysis of the content found in the news and opinion/editorial sections of the eight newspapers focused on what type of information was contained in the item, whether the item was written from an Afrocentric perspective, and whether the item was local or non-local in geographic origin. Thus, the length and depth of the item were measured in square inches, as well as assessed for locality and Afrocentricism. Four categories of space were measured as baseline figures for comparison of the newspapers in the circulation categories of small, midsize, medium and large. The four space categories, all in square inches, were: one, Typical Page Size - a measure of the space contained between the top, bottom, left and right margins of a page inside the newspaper; two, Total Available Space -- the amount of space in the newspaper obtained by multiplying the number of pages in the edition by the Typical Page Size; three, Advertising -- defined in the coding framework as “any printed notice which calls attention to the desirable qualities of a product or business” and measured in square inches; and four, Size of Newshole -- determined by subtracting all Advertising found in the newspaper from the amount of Total Available Space in the newspaper. CHAPTER 6 RESULTS General comments on the personal and publication demographics of survey respondents preface the results of the survey, analysis of the news and op-ed content of the eight newspapers, and the correlational analysis of the relationship of news philosophy with news and op—ed content found in the eight newspapers. The seven research questions are answered sequentially in the four sections of the chapter. Results of the national mail survey are detailed in Sections 1 and 2. Section 1 provides a descriptive analysis of the news philosophy of respondents, and details the news philosophy statement respondents selected as most representative of their news philosophy; Section 2 also employs descriptive analysis, but reports how respondents rated the importance of news and op-ed items, stratified by geography and Afrocentricity, in their newspapers. Results of the analysis of the news and op-ed sections of the eight papers content analyzed are described in Sections 3 and 4. Section 3 described the news and op-ed content found in the newspapers; Section 4 concludes the chapter with the results of the rank and correlation from the analysis of news philosophy with (1) what all respondents said they provided as news and op-ed content in their newspapers; (2) what the eight selected newspaper publishers said, and (3) actually published as news and op-ed content in the newspapers. National Mail Survey Personal and Publication Demographics. Fifty-six publishers and editors responded to the questionnaire mailed to the 145 African-American newspapers (see Appendix 3). The response rate was 38.6 percent. Women respondents numbered 18; men, 37. 49 50 one respondent did not report sex. The median age of respondents was 50 years, with 20 years in journalism and 16 years the median time at the newspaper. Six reported they held a master's degree, another six had doctorates, and one respondent reported he had a medical degree. Degrees in journalism are held by nine respondents. Of the 56 respondents, 40 reported they held the title of publisher, seven editor; three respondents reported they held the title of managing editor, with six indicating they held the position of “other.” The publisher, in some cases, also fulfilled more than one job responsibility. The geographic distribution of respondents was dominated by the Southeastern section of the country. As Figure 3 below illustrates, 27 of the 56, or 48 percent, newspapers responding to the survey were located in this region. Figure 3.--Location of Black Newspaper Survey Respondents by Region amass Total Circulation = 212/850 ean Circulation = 21,285 Northeastern Region 9 Newspaper- Total Circulation = 365,000 Mean Circulation = 40,61 1 Western Region 10 Newnpa rs Total Circulation = 421,181 Mean Circulation = 42,118 Southeastern Region pe Total Cirmlation = 308,061 Mean Cirmlation = 14,076 Note: For a more detailed geographic and circulation analysis of the 56 African-American responding to the Black Press Study questionnaire, please see Appendix 3. Newspapers ranged in age from 115 to seven years. The Philadelphia Tribune was the oldest, having started publication in 1884; the Coastal Times was one of the youngest, having started publication in 1983. The past 32 years was a period of growth for some 30 newspapers started during the period; 14 were started during the Civil Rights 51 Movement of the 1960s; 27 of these start-ups are based in the Southeastern region of the country. The mean circulation of the 56 newspapers participating in the survey was 21,659. However, it should be noted that seven of the newspapers included in the aggregate reported circulation greater than 50,000. One of these seven newspapers, The Philadelphia Tribune, published daily with a circulation of more than 100,000. The median circulation of the 56 newspapers was 15,700, and averaged 16 employees; the news-editorial department was staffed by an average of 4.5 employees, half of whom had journalism degrees. Mail Survey Section I News Philosophy Section Results. The first research question asked: Of the six statements from the News Philosophy section in the Survey of the Black Press, which statement draws the most favorable response from African-American newspaper publishers and editors? To obtain an answer to this question, respondents were asked to check the response which most closely reflected their feelings and attitudes about the six statements in the News Philosophy section of the questionnaire. Response categories were on a five point scale, with 5 being strongly agree; 4, agree; 3, neither agree or disagree; 2, disagree; and 1, strongly disagree. The answer was obtained from respondents who checked the response category which most closely reflected their feelings and attitudes about the six statements in the News Philosophy section of the questionnaire. Response categories were on a five point scale, with 5 being strongly agree; 4, agree; 3, neither agree or disagree; 2, disagree; and 1, strongly disagree. Table 2, on the next page, indicates that 98.1 percent of the respondents said they either agree or strongly agree with Statement 5, which stated that the role of their publication was to “report the news in a meaningful context for readers.” When Statement 52 5 is compared with Statement 2, which stated that the role of their publication was to “uphold the Constitution of the United States,” the preference for Statement 5 becomes clear. Slightly more than half, 55.5 percent, of the respondents said they either su'ongly agree or agree with Statement 2. The means and standards of deviation of the six statements of News Philosophy are also shown in Table 2. Statement 5 has a mean of 4.704 and a standard deviation of .500. Table 2.--Ratings and means for New Philosophy statements esponses on tatements News Philosophy Statement 5 4 3 2 1 Total 76 0' Number (and Percent) The role of my publication is to... 1. provideaquality editorial product. 26 14 8 5 3 56 3.92 1213a (46.4) (25) (14.3) (8.9) (5.4) (100) 2. uphold Constitution of the United l6 14 16 4 4 54 3.873 1.072b States. (29.6) (25.9) (28.6) (7.4) (7.4) (100) 3. [resent truth, regardless of who gets 17 23 8 5 2 55 3.630 1.2026 hurt. (30.4) (41.8) (14.5) (9.1) (3.6) (100) 4. reportnews objectively. 24 24 5 2 -— 55 4.273 .781b (43.6) (43.6) (9.1) (3.6) (—) (100) 5. reportnews in ameaningful context 39 14 l - -- 54 4.704 .5006 for mders. (72.2) (25.9) (1.9) (—) (--) (100) 6. Because we are a Black publieation, 28 19 4 2 1 54 4.315 .9070 news coverage should be targeted to (51.9) (35.2) (7 .4) (3.7) (1.9) (100) attract a Black or minority readership. Categorical responses for the statements were 5 for strongly agree; 4, agree; 3, neither agree nor disagree; 2, disagree; and 1, strongly disagree. a56 valid eases are represented; b55 eases; c54 cases. Section 2 News/Editorial Content Section Results. The second research question asked, Of the 14 statements in the News/Editorial Content section of the questionnaire, which statement 53 draws the most favorable response from African-American newspaper publishers and editors when they describe the news and op-ed content of their newspapers? To obtain an answer to this question, respondents were asked to rate the importance of news and op-ed content in their newspapers. Responses were also set on a five point scale, with 5 denoting very important; 4, important; 3, somewhat important; 2, unimportant; and 1, very unimportant. Two themes are embedded within each of the 14 statements that compose the News/Editorial Content section of the questionnaire. One theme involves the perspective of the news; that is, whether an Afrocentric or Black perspective on the item was important as a news values; the other theme involves geography; that is, if the content of a news or Op—ed item was local or non-local was also an important value for the item’s inclusion in the newspaper. Thus, the categorical results of the descriptive analysis of how respondents rated the importance of the 14 statements are presented within the contexts of Afrocentricity and geography. For example, Table 3 on the next page shows the item of News about Local Black Issues, drew unanimous agreement, when the response categories of very important -- 46 respondents or 92 percent -- and important - four respondents or eight percent, are combined. The table also illustrates that responses to the same statements framed within the geographic context of non-locality were not as favorbaly rated For example, the category of news about Non-local Black Issues drew a combined response of 66.6 percent in the very important and important categories as compared with 100 percent when the item was framed in a local geographic context. The news content item of Information for Black Youth was also rated high with 98 percent of the respondents indicating this categorization of news as very important or important. That an item is local in its geographic theme is also an important value when the item is categorized as Opinion/Editorial (Op-ed) Content. Table 3 also shows that 54 Editorials about Local Black Issues are more favorably rated, 84.3 percent, than Editorials about Non-local Black Issues, 17.6 percent. Table 3.--Ratings and mean responses for News/Editorial Content items, stratified by eo h Responses on Newman (Tontent Items Publishers & Editors who 5 4 3 2 1 Total i O responded that... Numba (Percent) Local Items News about local Black issues 46 4 — — —- 50 4.920 ,274b (92.0) (8.0) (-) (-) (—) (100) In—deptb analysis of local Black 39 9 2 -- - 50 4.740 .527b issues (78.0) (18.0) (4.0) (--) (--) (100) Information about local social 20 22 8 — 1 51 4.176 .8243 happenings (39.2) (43.1) (15.7) (--) (2.0) (100) News about local 17 18 14 1 — so 4.020 .845b sports (34.0) (36.0) (28.0) (2) (-) (100) Feaurres about local Black people 40 11 —- — —- 51 4.784 .415a (78.4) (21.6) (--) (--) (--) (100) information for Black Youth 42 9 2 — — 53 4.755 .5151) (79.2) (17.0) (3.8) (—) (-—) (1W) Letters to the editor 32 16 6 -— - . 54 4.784 .461‘1 (59.3) (29.6) (1 1.1) — - (1M) Edita'ials about local Black 43 7 — 1 -— 51 4.471 .703‘1 issues (84.3) (13.7) (-—) (2.0) (—) (11D) Non-local Items News about non-local Black issues 9 25 14 3 --- 51 4.804 .5303 (17.6) (49.0) (27.5) (5.9) (--) (100) In-depth analysis of non-local 8 25 16 2 --- 51 3,784 .8088 Black issues (15.7) (49.0) (31.4) (3.9) (--) (100) Infor. about non-local social 4 12 19 13 2 51 3,765 .764b happenings (8 .0) (24.0) (38.0) (26.0) (4.0) (100) News about non-local sports 2 13 30 5 1 51 3,060 .998“ (3.9) (25.5) (58.8) (9.8) (2.0) (100) Features about non-local Black 8 25 17 4 -- 54 3,196 .7498 people (14.8) (46.3) (31.5) (7.4) (m) (100) 54 Editorials about non-local Black 9 26 14 2 -- 51 3,647 .7963 issues (17.6) (51.0) (27.5) (3.9) (--) (100) Categorical responses for the ratings were 5 for very important; 4, important; 3, somewhat important; 2, unimportant; 1, very unimportant. ‘ = 54 valid cases; b = 53 valid cases. 55 Finally, a comparison of mean responses of the ratings of importance for News/Editorial Content items confirms the assessment that items with a local geographic perspective is preferred over those with a non-local perspective. For example, Table 6 below indicates that the mean response of the rating of importance about News about Non- local Black Issues is 3.784, as compared with a mean response of 4.920 on the importance of News about Local Black Issues. A comparison of the mean responses of Local and Non-local Editorials about Black Issues indicates further than African-American publishers and editors rate editorials about local Black issues as very important; editorials about non-local Black issues are rated as important. Research question 3 asked: How do African-American newspaper publishers and editors rate the importance of news and op—ed items in their newspapers? The answer is two-fold for (1) those news and op-ed items framed within a local geographical context and (2) classified as written for and about Black issues or people, i.e., from an Afrocentric perspective, enjoyed a very important or important rating. Table 3 clearly demonstrates that those news and op-ed items with a local geographic focus and Afrocentric theme garnered ratings of very important. The items of Local News about Black issues, Editorials about Local Black Issues, In-depth Analysis of Local Black Issues, and Features about Local Black People were all rated substantially higher than the correspondent categorical item framed in a non-local geographic context. Content Analysis of Selected Black Newspapers Section 3 Research questions four, five and six, all formulated to engender description of the actual news and op-ed content published in African-American newspapers, are provided in this section. Although the procedures to code the news and op-ed sections of the eight newspapers selected for the content analysis are described fully in Appendix 3, it should be noted here that three characteristics were specifically incorporated into the design of the coding framework. 56 These components were: one, geography -- the questionnaire asked about the relative importance of local or non-local news and op—ed items, and the construction of the content analysis incorporated these distinctions into the coding framework; two, Afrocentricity —- that is, whether a news or op-ed items was written from a Black perspective for and about Black topics or issues particularly important to African-American newspaper readers was also incorporated into the coding framework; and three, the specificity of the items, or types, of news and op-ed items searched for in the content analysis were consu'ucted for juxtaposition with those in the News/Editorial section of the questionnaire. Thus, the coding framework maintained the research variables in the study -- the predictor variables of news philosophy, and the two criterion variables of (1) the news and op-ed content these publishers and editors said they provided in their newspapers and (2) the actual news and op-ed content found in their respective newspapers. Categorical assumptions for coding fi'amework. The coding framework developed for the content analysis of the eight purposively selected newspapers was predicated on the assumption that the six specific items in the News section, and the two specific items in the Editorial section from the survey had to be the same in the coding framework. This congruence was necessary for the correlational test of the research variables. Although many other content analysesl35 of newspapers have many more specific items included in the categories of news and op-ed content, the coding framework developed for this study sought information only on these six specific types of news items and two specific types of op-ed items published in the selected newspapers. Obituaries were added as a seventh item in the News category because the item occurred with a great deal of frequency in the pilot test of the coding framework. It was, therefore, thought best to make obituaries a distinct type of news, rather than classifying it in a category where it seemingly belonged -- Features on Local Black People. 135McQuail, Analysis of Newspaper Content -- A Report; and, Paul J. Deutschmann, News-page Content of Twelve Metropolitan Dailies (Cincinnati. Ohio: Scripps-Howard Research. 1959). 57 Coding framework pretest and intercoder reliability. The items of News coders searched for in the pilot test of the content analysis were: Hard. Feature, In-depth Analysis, Social Happenings, Sports, Information for Black Youth, and Obituaries. Items such as headlines, by-lines, pictures and accompanying captions, and all white space found within the newshole were measured but classified as Other in the News category. The two items of Editorial were Letters to the Editor and the actual Editorial, or Opinion of newspaper management. Syndicated columns, editorial cartoons, comics and all other items generally found in the op—ed section were measured but classified as Other in the op-ed section of the coding framework. Thus, the analysis unit for the measurement of cOntent was the item itself for this study; again, only those items found in the news and op-ed sections of the eight newspapers were assessed, analyzed, and recorded. While advertising and visual content was measured and recorded, neither was relevant to the content analysis. The actual item itself, be it news or op-ed, enjoyed the substantive focus of the content analysis. All items were measured in square inches. Although each newspaper varied in size, the decision not to report the item in column inches, or as a ratio of how the selected newspapers allocated space for news and op-ed, was made so that each newspaper in its circulation category and geographic region, irrespective of size, could be examined as a singular phenomenon. The only comparison offered is the difference between the amount and frequency of news and op—ed items in the eight newspapers across four circulation levels. The coding framework, coding definitions, and coding analysis sheets were all pre- tested in an analysis of the news and op-ed section of the Chicago Daily Defender published August 3-8, 1992. The percentage of intercoder agreement135 ranged from 97 percent for classification of Hard items in the analysis of the News section to 100 percent for Letters to the Editor in the analysis of the Editorial section of all issues of this 136wmiam A. Scott, “Reliability of Content Analysis: The Case of Nominal Scale Coding,” Public Opinion Quarterly 19 (Fall 1955) : 321-323. 58 newspaper. Various disagreements on the designation, and subsequent classification, of an item were used to clarify the coding framework, refine the categorical definitions, and the method of measurement. Five different issues of the Defender were analyzed to refine the coding framework. Only after intercoder reliability was increased to, and maintained at, 95 percent was the actual content analysis of the eight newspapers in the study initiated. The results, which answer research questions four, five and six, reported here are based on an analysis conducted by the researcher, who analyzed all of the News/Editorial Content found in the eight newspapers. News and op-ed content analysis results. Research question 4 asked, What is the percent of space allocated to the coverage of news and the expression of opinion in African- American newspapers? Table 4 below illustrates that the space allocations for the coverage of news and the expression of opinion, albeit an Editorial or as a Letter to the Editor, ranged from a high of 63 percent for the Bay State Banner to a low of 27 percent for the Frost Illustrated. The allocation of space for opinion-editorial in the newspaper ranged from a high of 27 percent for the Frost Illustrated to a low of 8 percent for the East St. Louis Monitor. Table 4. - News and op-ed space allocations in newspafirs, May 1989 Newspaper Space Allocations B.State Precinct Coastal Akron E. St.L. Phila. City Frost Banner Regrter Times Regan Monitor Tribune Sun Illustrated News/Advertising .63 .57 .51 .42 .37 .32 .28 .27 Ratio Page Size 160.73 273.28 284.31 320.93 273.00 270.93 132.84 131.91 No. of Pages 32 30 12 12 20 24 32 20 AvailableSpaoe 5143.36 8198.44 3411.72 3847.50 5400.00 6502.32 4250.88 2638.35 inNewspaper Advertising 3238.74 4658.58 1729.00 1621.77 1993.27 2105.41 1189.58 699.47 NewsboleSize 1904.62 351288168232 2225.73 3466.73 4396.91 3061.30 1938.88 Numberof 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 4 Masts SizeofOp-ed 160.73 273.28 284.31 320.93 273.00 541.86 265.68 527.64 Section Op-edSectionas .08 .08 .17 .14 .08 .12 .09 .27 Percentof Newshole Note: All spaoemwsurementsare in square inches. 59 Table 5 below shows the data derived from the content analysis is by frequency and amount (in square inches). The number of news items, and the amount of space in the newshole allocated to news content, ranged from a high of 116 items that occupied 1,398.05 square inches in the East St. Louis Monitor to a low of 28 items that occupied 618.20 square inches in the Coastal Times. The Frost Illustrated allocated 258.31 square inches for 19 Hard news items, while the City Sun allocated 223.30 square inches for publication of four In-depth News Analysis items. Table 5 also shows that in the categories of Features, Social Happenings, Sports, Information for Black Youth and Obituaries, the newspapers with the most items and the amount of space allocated, respectively were: City Sun, 46 Feature items occupying 1067.73 square inches; Bay State Banner, 29 Social Happenings items -- 160.73 square inches; Precinct Reporter, nine Sports items - 169.24 square inches; Akron Reporter, seven Information for Black Youth items -- 238.85 square inches; and, East St. Louis Monitor, 36 Obituaries -- 229.52 square inches. Table 5. -- Amount ( uare inches) and rcent of news and 0 -ed items, Ma 1989 Newspaper Items of News& E. St. Louis Precinct Phil. Bay State Akron Frost Coastal City Op-ed Content Monitor Reporter Tribune Banner Reporter Illustrated Times Sun Number of Items iSquare Inches) News Section Number of 116 68 57 50 43 42 28 27 News Items Sq, Inches of 1398.05 1402.85 1486.87 732.16 1486.87 681.87 618.20 1251.5 News Items 2 News Item Type Had 7 4 8 10 3 19 5 -- 93.74 93.25 92.09 163.88 56.85 258.31 124.48 «- Featmcs 43 46 30 8 12 7 12 12 713.70 1067.73 781.74 273.2 270.40 169.78 321.51 929.47 In-depth Analy. -- -- 2 2 -- 1 2 4 --- -- 95.23 105.03 --- 29.65 95.23 223.30 Social Happs. 23 9 7 29 18 2 5 10 226.15 72.63 97.07 160.73 259.65 77.95 17.66 47.19 Sports 6 9 6 1 3 m 1 1 100.19 169.24 286.81 29.29 36.75 .. 28.68 51.56 Infor Blk Youth 1 -- 1 ~- 7 4 3 -- 34.75 --- 37.03 -- 238.85 111.93 30.64 -- Obits 36 --- 3 -- -- 9 -- -- 229.52 --- 36.13 m -- 34.23 -- --- 60 Table 5 (continued) ewspaper Items of News& E. St. Louis Precinct Phil. Bay State Akron Frost Coastal City Op-ed Content Monitor Reporter Tribune Barrier Reporter Illustrated Times Sun Number of Items 4% Inches) Op-ed Section Number of Op-ed 2 0 3 3 1 4 m 1 Items "- Sq, InchesofOp- 109.41 0.00 63.02 70.51 27.30 109.59 -- 224.89 ed Items .. Op-ed Item Type Editaials l --- -- 1 -- 1 -- 1 44.91 «- -.. 44.53 -- 18.81 224.89 Letters to editor 1 -- 3 2 l 3 -- - 64.50 -- 63.02 25.98 27.30 90.78 «- -- Finally, for the number and amount of Editorial Content items, the Frost Illustrated published and allocated the most space for this content category - four items, three of which were Letters to the Editor, occupied 109.59 square inches in the Op—ed section of the newspaper. Research question 5 asked, Of the space allocated to the coverage of news and the expression of opinion and editorials, how many of the news and op-ed items are local in geographic focus, and have a Black or Afrocentric theme? Table 6 illustrates that the frequency of local news items ranged from a high of 47, or 94 percent, for the Bay State Banner to a low of 14, or 33 percent, for the Frost Illustrated. Table 6.--Fr_efluencies of news and oEd items stratified by geogaphy and Afrocentricity News&Oped Stratified Coastal Frost Bay State E. St. Lo. City Akron Precinct Phil. by Geography and Times Ilhtstrated Barrier Monitor Sun Reporter Reporter Tribune Afrocentricity No. News Items 28 42 50 116 27 43 68 57 Low 18 14 47 as 12 28 49 40 Non-local 10 28 3 31 15 15 19 17 Black “meme 13 20 48 so 25 39 F1 23 No Black Theme 15 22 2 36 2 4 51 34 No. Editorial Items 0 4 3 2 3 1 0 3 Low 0 3 3 r 3 1 o 2 NW1“ 0 2 o 1 o o 0 1 Black Theme 0 4 3 2 3 1 0 3 No Black Theme 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Percent News Items Low .64 .33 .94 .73 .44 .65 .72 .70 New“ .46 .67 .06 .27 .56 .35 .28 .30 Black'lhane .46 .48 .96 .69 .93 .91 .25 .40 No BlackTheme .54 .52 .04 .31 .07 .09 .75 .60 61 Table 6 (continued) News&0ped Stratified Coastal Frost Bay State E. St. Lo. City Akron Precinct Phil. by Geography and Times Illustrated Barrier Monitor Sun Reporter Reporter Tribune Afrocentricity Percent Editorial Item, 0.00 0.75 1.00 0.50 1.00 1.00 0.00 0.67 Loml 0.00 0.25 1.00 0.50 1.00 1.00 0.00 0.33 Non-local 0.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 0.00 1.00 BMW 0.00 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 No BlackTherne Table 6 also shows that those items assessed as having a Black, or Afrocentric, theme, the range encompassed a high of 93 percent, or 25 of 27 news items, for the City Sun to a low of 25 percent, or 17 of 68 items, for the Precinct Reporter. The description is tempered by the total number of news items published in the newspapers; for example, the Bay State Banner published 50 items that were classified as News, while the East St. Louis Monitor published 116 items classified as News. The range for Editorial items, defined as Editorials and Letters of the editor, encompassed a high of 100 percent local for the Akron Reporter, City Sun, and Bay State Banner to a low of 50 percent for the East St. Louis Monitor. For those editorial items assessed as having a Black theme, the following newspapers scored 100 percent: Frost Illustrated, Bay State Banner, East St. Louis Monitor, City Sun, Akron Reporter, and Philadelphia Tribune. Research question 6 asked, Does the news philosophy, or purpose, of African- American newspaper publishers and editors and the amount of space allocated to news and op-ed content in their newspapers vary with circulation? The answer is graphically i illustrated in two tables. In Table 7, shown on the next page, newspapers were stratified across four circulation levels to illustrate the mean responses and rank order of the statements by respondents stratified in four circulation categories. 62 Table 7--Means of News Philosophy Statements Stratified Across 4 Circulation levels 5 —O— 1. ReportNewslnMeanlnghl M Carnattcrleaden ,9 2. 309011140qu 3. TnetNewsToAuna mm 4. mm Wheat: 5. MM \\ § m-Q-m 6. Uphold US Constitution Small Midsize Moditlll large Cirullation Categories NotezlntheSmallCategory - c'rculation.000m0-009999 - tllaewerel7newmhlidsize - 0101110019999 - 16: Medium - 020000049000 - 16mm: - 0500(X)plus.6. Table 7 clearly shows that News Philosophy Statement 5, that of reporting the news in a meaningful context for readers, was the primary choice of respondents regardless of the circulation level. The mean response on the statement across the four circulation levels was, respectively: small, 4.59; midsize, 4.73; medium, 4.75; and, large 4.83. Because this rank ordering revealed that Statement 5 was such a strong prefenence for respondents as an expression of news philosophy, the statement was then cross- tabulated by the four circulation levels for further analysis. Table 8 below shows that of the 17 newspapers in Circulation Category 1 - 0—9,999 - 16, or 94 percent, either strongly agree or agree with the statement that the role of the newspaper was to provide news in a meaningful context for readers. All 15 newspapers in Circulation Category 2 - 10,000-19,999 -- agreed with the statement. A unanimous response was also indicated for the newspapers in Circulation Category 3 and 4, newspapers ranging from 20,000—49,000 and 50,000-120,000, 63 respectively. Column totals for strongly agree and agree response categories also indicate that preference does not vary by circulation; despite different levels of the newspaper, 39 of the 54, or 72.2 percent, respondents strongly agree with the statement. Table 8.-Survey resanses to Statement 5 cross-tabulated by four circulation levels ll'Clt tron V8 News Philosophy Circulation Circulation Circulation Circulation Row Totals Statement 5 Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 and Format 0-9,999 10,000-19,999 20,000-49,000 50,000-120,000 Strongly Disagree 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Disagree 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Neither l 0 0 0 1 1.9 Agree 5 4 4 1 14 25.9 Strongly Agree 1 1 1 1 12 5 39 72.2 Column Total 17 15 16 6 54 m 31.5 27.8 29.6 11.1 100 The content analysis completes the answer to the research question - does the amount of space allocated to news and op-ed opinion vary with circulation? Again, news philosophy Statement 5 is also used to determine how these eight newspapers actually allocated space for news and op-ed content. Although the number of newspapers content analyzed was small, the stratification of circulation into four categories was maintained. Table 9 below illustrates that within three of the four circulation categories, there is a slight difference only in the intensity of the rating - either strongly agree or agree - for Statement 5. Table 9.--News items as a Ercent of newshole space; newspaErs stratified by circulation Circulation Level 1 Statement Newshole Sq. Inches Percent Oped Sq.Inches Percart Small 5 Size News Items News Size Op-ed Op-ed 0-9999 Items Coastal Times 5 1682.32 618.20 36.74 284.31 0.00 0.00 Frost Illustrated 4 1938.88 681.87 35.13 527.64 109.59 20.76 Circulation Level 2 Midsize 10,000-19,999 BayState Banner 5 1904.62 732.16 38.44 160.73 70.51 43.86 East St. Louis Monitor 4 3466.73 1398.05 40.32 273.00 109.41 40.07 64 Table 9 continued) Circulation Level 3 Statement Newshole Sq.Inches Percent (bed Sq.Inches Percem Medium 5 Size Newsltems News Size Oped Wu! 20,000-49,000 Items The City Sun 4 3061.30 1251.52 40.88 265.68 224.89 84.64 Akron Reporter 5 2225.73 862.50 38.75 320.63 27.30 8.51 Circulation Level 4 Large 50,000 plus PrecinctReporter 5 3512.88 1402.85 39.93 273.00 0.00 0.00 PhiladeM’ Tribune 5 4396.91 1486.87 33.81 541.86 63.02 11.63 The difference in the rating of the statement, for example, in the small circulation category was one; or, strongly agree for the Coastal Times, agree for the Frost Illustrated. Space allocated for news and op-ed content was not much different either with a difference of less than 2 percent; the Coastal Times allocated 36.74 percent of the newshole for news, while the Frost Illustrated allocated 35.12 percent for a difference of 1.62 percent. A comparison of the Precinct Reporter and the Philadelphia Tribune, newspapers in the large circulation level, showed no difference in how statement was rated. However, there was substantial difference in the amount of space allocated for news for the two newspapers. The Precinct Reporter allocated 39.93 percent of the newshole for news, while the Philadelphia Tribune allocated 33.81 percent for a difference of 6.12 percent. Section 4 Correlational Analysis. Research question 7 asked, What is the level of association and significance between the purpose of African-American newspaper publishers and editors, as they define it, and the news and op—ed content they rated as important and actually publish in their newspapers? Three primary concepts are explored: the news philosophy of African-American newspaper publishers and editors; the news and op-ed content these publishers and editors rated as important for publication in their newspapers; and, the actual new and op-ed content published in eight African-American newspapers. The Spearman’s rho nonparametric statistical rank ordering was used in estimating the relationship between these two constructs. Table 10 below presents the correlations between the six predictor variables of news philosophy and the 14 criterion variables of 65 news and op-ed content from the survey. It should be remembered that the criterion variables all have geographic (local as well as on-local) and Afrocentric themes. Also, the superscripts * and ** are used to indicate significance levels and facilitate interpretation of the coefficients. Coefficients so marked indicate a genuine, though weak, association between these variables. Table 10.-The Association Between News/Editorial Content Items and Statements of New Philosthy from Mail Survey (N=49: ew rtorral ontent Items orre ' ns wi Pre 'ctors Local geographic and Afiocentric themes 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lbnews: Local black news .1970 .1990 .2065 .1087 .0265 .1825 Flbpeop: Features on loan black People .1534 -.0038 .3320“ .1787 .0745 .1624 Idnlbiss: ln-depth analysis on local black issues .1656 -.0193 .2179 .1037 .2171 .2333 Sochapp: Low social happenings .2695 .3068 -.0158 .1774 .0386 .1559 Lsnofls local sports .1356 .1817 .0581 -.0014 -.0319 .1343 Youthnew. Information for local Black youth -.0089 -.0780 .2884 .2183 .1493 .2212 Ledsbiss: Editorials on local black issues .0573 .1146 .2858 .1373 .0400 3255* Letters: letters-to-the—editor -.0001 .0358 .1831 .2250 .1341 2672 Non-local geographic and Afiocentric themes 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nlbnews: Non-local black news .1350 .3079 .0391 .0799 .2379 .1058 Fnlbpeo: Features on non- local black People .0739 .4231“I -.0248 .3460" .3222"I .3194“ Nlidbiss: In-depth analysis of non-10ml black issues .1663 .4653“ .0081 .2668 .3097 .0897 leoch: Non-local social happenings .1843 .5498" -.0129 .2190 .3691“ .1842 leport: Non-local sports -.0168 .4082" -.1188 .0414 .1493 .1676 Nlesbiss: Editorials on non-local black issues .1370 .4071"I .2355 .2641 .3534‘ .1642 News philosophy statements -- The role of Black newspaper is to Predictors 1. Target BemuseweareaBlack publication, news coveragesbouldbetargetedtoattractaBlack or minority readership. 2. Uphold uphold Constitution of the United States. 3. Context present news in meaningful context for readers. 4. Present present truth, regardless of who gets hurt. 5. Quality provide quality editorial product. 6. Object report the news objectively. p- .01, or less, two-tail; "p: .001, or less, two-tail 66 News philosophy is seen to be positively, and statistically significant, linked to 12 of the 84 comparisons with ratings of news and op—ed content respondents rated as important for their newspapers from the survey. The strongest statistically significant association (r = .5498) is with a measure of news philosophy expressed as the role of the newspaper is to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the publication of non- local black social happenings as news content. The weakest relationship (r = .3194), also significant and positive, is with the measure of news philosophy expressed as reporting the news objectively and the publication of features on non-local black people. Table 11 below illuminates the relationship of news philosophy with the actual local and non-local news and op-ed content published in the eight newspapers analyzed. Of the 60 comparisons of the actual local geographic content items with Afrocentric themes and statements of news philosophy illustrated in the table, only 22 are positive while 38 are negative; none are statistically significant. Table 1 1.--The Association Between Local and Non-Local News/Editorial Content Items Published In Black News a ers and Statements of News Philoso h (N=8) News/Editorial Content Items Published Corremns my; Fremctors Local geographic and Afrocentric themes 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hardlocl: localhardnews items -.1162 .2219 -.0213 -.0336 -.1778 -.0132 Featlocl: Features on local Black people .1700 -.4592 -.0553 -.5773 .1927 -.2569 Canaloca: In-depth analysis of local news events .4426 .1281 -.1980 -.0341 .5350 -.1087 Hapslocl: Inmlsocialhappenings .3944 .5216 .6461 .3521 .3193 .4725 Sportloc: Localsports news .1162 -.5177 -.1063 -.6388 .2765 -.2831 Youthloc: Information for local Black youth -.1777 .2331 -.1734 .0137 -.4967 -.0940 Obitloc: Obituaries on local Black people -.5809 -.0149 -.3465 -.5827 -.6291 -.5706 Copedloc: Op-editemslocalin geographic context .1301 -.0151 —.3730 -.0979 .2433 -.1696 Editlocl: Editorialsonlocalcommunity events -.1491 .0690 -.0727 .2070 -.0676 .1351 Letslocl: Letters-to-editors frornlocalrenders -.1234 .0143 -.4292 -.3286 -.0560 -.3847 67 Table 11 (continued) News/Editorial Content Items Published orre ' ns with Pre 'ctors Non-local geographic and Afrocentric themes 1 2 3 4 5 6 oc: Hard news non-local in geographic context .2281 ~2310 -.3478 -.2112 .0323 -.0646 Feanrloc: Feanrres on non-local Black people -.0570 -.2244 .0835 -.5148 -.l486 -.1357 Canaloca: ln-depth news amlysis of non-local news events .4426 .1281 -.1980 -.0341 .5350 -.1087 Hapsnloc: Non-local social happenings -.4880 -.2711 -.3810 -.1807 -.1769 -.4424 Sportnlo: Non-local sports events .1743 .2488 .4961 .0000 -.0132 .2173 Youthnlo: Information for Black youth non-local in .2928 .3614 .2857 .4518 .3539 .3539 geographic context Obitnlcl: . . . . . . Non-local obituaries on Black people Copednlc: Op-ed items non-local in geographic context -.3703 -.3357 -.7529 -.3571 -.0909 -.5456 Editnloc: Editorials non-local in geographic context -.7454 .0690 -.0727 -.2760 -.6082 -.4730 Letsnloc: Letters-to-editors from non-10ml readers .0667 -.1234 -.5205 -.2469 .1813 -.3022 News philosophy statements -- The role of Black newspaper is to 1. Target Because we are a Black publication, news coverage should be targeted to attract a Black or minority readership. 2. Uphold uphold Constitution of the United States. 3. Context present news in meaningful context for readers. 4. Present present truth, regardless of who gets hurt. 5. Quality provide quality editorial product. 6. Object report the news objectively. *p2 .01, or less, two-tail; **p= .001, or less, two-tail; “.” is printed if a coefficient cannot be computed Also, when the statements of news philosophy are correlated with the actual non— local news and op—ed items found in the newspapers, the 60 comparisons in that section of the table reveals 19 are positive and 34 negative; no relationship exists between the predictor variable of news philosophy expressed as presenting the truth and news content that is non-local reporting on sports events, while the relationship between the criterion variable of non-local obituaries on Black people and all predictor variables of news philosophy could not be computed. CHAPTER 7 DISCUSSION and FUTURE STUDY Introduction. The results the mail survey of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors to determine their news philosophy, how they rated the importance of news and op-ed content of their newspapers, and the descriptive analysis of the actual news and op-ed content found in eight selected newspapers generally matched the expectations of the study. It should be remembered that the nature of the study was exploratory. The study sought to (1), describe the news philosophy of present-day Black newspaper publishers and editors; (2), describe how these newspaper entrepreneurs rated the importance of news and op-ed content in their newspapers; and, (3), correlate the variables of news philosophy and news and op-content items from the relevant survey sections with the actual news and op—ed items found in eight purposively selected newspapers. The variable of interest, indeed the nexus on which the various components of the research framework converge, is that of news philosophy; however, this predictor variable, while the substantive focus of the study, can not be used to make generalizations that the results of the analyses of the survey sections and the content of the selected ' newspapers exist within the general populations of African-American newspaper publishers and editors or that of African-American newspapers. News philosophy as a categorical construct. The statements in the News Philosophy section of the questionnaire, while primarily conceptualized to represent three of the four normative theories of the press, were also concerned with how to simultaneously conceptualize both the purpose of present-day Black newspaper enterprises and their 68 69 Afiican or Afro-American, enjoyed primacy. Statement 1 , for example, is a constitutive definition of the marketing concept, i.e., where the notion that production of a quality product is the purpose of the newspaper; if the newspaper truly served the needs and wants of consumers, for example, the financial benefits derived from such a consumer centered effort automatically engender profit. Statement 2 was conceptualized to be representative of Authoritarian Press Theory where the chief purposes of the press were “to support and advance the policies of government in power; and to service the state.”137 Statement 3 was conceptualized to be representative of libertarian Press Theory where the primary purpose of the press is “to inform, entertain, sell - but chiefly to help discover truth, and to check on government.”138 Statement 4 was also conceptualized to be representative of Libertarian Press Theory. Here the chief purpose of the newspaper is akin to Statement 3 but with more emphasis on the self-correcting notion that pursuit of truth pursued in a free market of ideas is the primary purpose of the newspaper enterprise. Statement 5, consequently, was conceptualized to be representative of Social Responsibility Press Theory where the chief purpose of the newspaper is “to inform, entertain, sell -- but chiefly to raise conflict to the plane of discussion.”139 Statement 6 was also conceptualized to be a mission statement, as was Statement 1; however, Statement 6 differed from that of Statement 1 in that it engendered to blend the concepts of Afrocentricity and geography as specific attributes of the newspaper product with those that narrowly focused the newspaper enterprise directly on, and centered around, a niche of the market for news and information and a particular type of consumer, respectively. Of course, the concept of Afrocentricity is an important ingredient in this statement for not only do the newspaper enterprise and consumer share the characteristics 137sreben. et al., op. cit., 7. 1381bid., 7. 1391ma.. 7. 70 of race and culture but also determines the perspective from which the news is written and how that information is assessed as meaningful for the consumer. DISCUSSION News philosophy as purpose. The intent of this discussion is to focus on the components of the research framework as important factors in both the formulation of news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editor and the particular pattern of news and op-ed content found in contemporary African-American newspapers. The discussion will also focus on what the correlational analysis of the research variables means for future research. The salience of news philosophy. The news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors enjoyed the substantive focus of this study. Indeed, the construct of news philosophy was the linchpin upon which the entire descriptive model and research framework was based. The finding that 72.2 percent of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement of news philosophy that the role of their newspaper was to publish news in a meaningful context for readers indicates that future research can be conducted within the normative theories of the press used for this study; the other 17.8 percent agreed with the statement, thus giving unanimous agreement with this tenet of Social Responsibility Press Theory. Such pronounced salience of agreement on this statement of news philosophy, and the 22 positive correlations of news philosophy statements with the news and op-ed content items rated by the respondents, suggest that the relationship for this study explored does exist. The number of positive correlations, especially those significant at the .01 and .001 levels, is so large that the association of the predictor variables of news philosophy statements on the criterion variables of news and op-ed content could not easily have occurred as a result of random forces alone. 7 l The relationship, therefore, may be casual. “0 That the relationship reversed itself in the testing of news philosophy as a predictor on the actual news and op-ed content published in Black newspapers may be because the sample size was so small, and not randomized, that there was not enough information to detect the relationship. The relationship of news philosophy with news and op-ed content. Previous empirical research on The African-American Press focused on the type of content published in these newspapers, not on whether there was a causal, even predictable, relationship of the news philosophy of an individual newspaper publisher or editor with the content found in those sections of the newspaper devoted to news and the expression of opinion. Because this researcher had no idea what the investigation of that presumed relationship would yield, a description of past news phiIOSOphy of past African-American newspaper publishers and editors was formulated to gain an understanding of the news philosophy their present-day counterparts might reasonably espouse. Therefore, the first task was to search the social and intellectual history of The African-American Press for indications of emergent, or dominant, tendencies of philosophy, or purpose, Black newspaper publishers and editors had expressed over time. The second task was to categorize those strains of news philosophy espoused by these past African-American newspaper publishers and editors within a normative framework, one constructed quite purposively from the primary components of the four theories of the press. Finally, the third task was to define specific types of news and opinion-editorial items published in Black newspapers within the categories of news and Opinion. The news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors is, of course, predicated on a past that was dedicated, on one hand, to a quest for inclusion of African-Americans within the democratic social, political, and economic 140Lawrence B. Mohr, Understanding Significance Testing (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1990) : 74. 72 systems of America. The legacy of slavery and disenfranchisement of those Blacks otherwise free pointed to The Social Conflict Model as a viable framework of interpretation of the social and political environments, while the First Amendment most certainly enabled further description of the tools one class of Blacks - those free and literate -- used to address the issues of equality and enfranchisement. The past influences the present; for example, while the issues articulated by The Black Press in the intellectual marketplace have changed from slavery to freedom to integration to affirmative action, The Black Press is also nonetheless a commercial enterprise - one concerned with the very practical and pragmatic realities of making a profit. Thus, one key aspect of the news philosophy of past Black newspaper publishers and editors was to be the “fighting press,” as P.B. Young stated, a Black newspaper publisher in the 19403;141 another key aspect of this philosophy was to develop a mission, or purpose, that would place Black newspapers at a competitive advantage within the commercial marketplace of information and news by serving the needs of a readership primarily composed of Blacks. Egrectations and findings. Seven findings were expected to emerge from the analyses of the mail survey and news and op-ed content of the eight newspapers selected for study within the constructed framework of research . Generally, the relationship of news philosophy with that of news and op-ed content published in Black newspapers was found to exist. In some instances, it was positive and statistically significant. For example, in answer to the first research question of which statement of news philosophy draws the most favorable response, it was expected that African-American newspaper publishers and editors would respond more favorably to Statement 5 -- one that set the purpose of the newspaper as “to report the news in a meaningful context for readers.” It was also expected that, because these publications have as their primary purpose the reporting and publishing of news and information for and about a Black 141Mydm1. op. cit., 908. 73 readership, present-day Black newspaper publishers and editors would also show a strong preference for Statement 6. This statement of news philosophy reasoned that “because we are a Black publication, news coverage should be targeted to attract a Black or minority readership.” The study found, in fact, that the statements ranked 1 and 2 in order of preference. Statement 5 drew the most favorable response from those present-day publishers and editors who participated in the mail survey. It was also expected that Statement 6 would be favored as well. The percentages and mean responses for Statement 5 and Statement 6 were 72.2 percent (39 of 54) and 51.9 percent (28 of 56), respectively; the mean responses on the statements were 4.704 and 4.315 for the statements, respectively. Embedded in Statement 5, of course, is one of the six tenets of Social Responsibility press theory ; thus, the idea that the newspaper’s task is to inform the public so as to make it capable of participating in public affairs is taken very seriously by these publishers and editors. The content analysis of the eight purposively selected newspapers revealed also that 5 of the 8 publishers and editors, or 62.5 percent, preferred Statement 5. Interestingly, the remainder of 37.5 percent, 3 of the 8, chose Statement 4, which expressed news philosophy as the role of the publication was to “report the news objectively.” Thus, those news and 0p-ed items with strong local geographic and Afrocentric themes was expected to be rated as very important." The answer to this second research question found that the predominance of all news and op—ed statement items was local, in geographic context and written from an Afrocentric perspective -- for and about Blacks. Indeed, one of the more interesting findings of the categorical analysis of the ratings for news and 0p-ed items from the survey and the content analysis of congruent items was the very important rating for Information for Black Youth as a news content 'Again, responses were on a five point scale with 5 being very important; 4, important; 3, somewhat important; 2, unimportant; and 1, very unimportant. 74 item, and the large amount of space allocated to the item by the publishers and editors of the newspapers content analyzed. The mean response for the item from the survey was 4.784, third in the rank ordering of the seven news items classified with a local geographic context and with an Afrocentric theme. Five of the eight newspapers content analyzed published items that were assessed and categorized as Information for Black youth. Several newspapers, in fact, allocated a significant proportion of the newshole to such items. The Frost Illustrated of Akron, Ohio, for example, devoted 10 percent of its total pages, two of 20 pages, to such information. Headlines and stories were: “Drugs: The plague across the land,” a story written by a Black 6th grader on the drug use and abuse problem in Black communities; “Career project brought journalist to class,” another story by another black 6th grader, who interviewed a black reporter of the newspaper for a Career Awareness Project; “Youths say they are showing positive talent in local pageant,” a story by a staff writer on a black beauty pageant at the Fort Wayne Black Expo; “Talent factory showcase regional this year,” a feature story on the 12-year old master of ceremonies for a local community talent show with a news peg about a 66 year-old Black vaudeville star; and, “Mrs. Indy contestant ready for the world, this time,” a feature story on a local community resident who was one of three African-American women and one of 73 participants in the Mrs. Indiana Pageant. The Philadelphia Tribune, the oldest -- and only -- newspaper published daily, also allocated considerable space to Information to Black youth. The items were published in the regular section of the newspaper, as well as a special, pull-out section called "The learning Key.” The section enabled West Philadelphia High School students to tell “Why education is my prerogative;” featured elementary school poets in a two-page layout headlined “Catching Up With Good Writing;” and, an advice column for Black youth written by a staffer under the pseudonym of KeeWee. This section was a special 75 supplement of eight pages; it would have represent 20 percent of the newshole had it been counted as part of the regular newspaper. Thus, the expectation that these publishers and editors would rate the importance of news and op—ed content in their newspapers as very important, the third research question, was confirmed. The mean response of the categorical items from the survey, within a local geographic context and with an Afrocentric theme, was 4.59 (very important) as compared with a mean response of 3.54 (somewhat important) for the same items with a non-local and Afrocentric theme. Research question four, which asked for the percent of space allocated to news and the expression of opinion, specifically sought to determine how space in Black newspapers was allocated for these two content categories. It was expected that the percent of space allocated to the coverage of news and op-ed would be substantial. The study found that the news to advertising ratio in the newspapers studied ranged from .63 to .27. Perhaps, a more meaningful way to interpret this figure would be that some newspapers, here the Bay State Banner, enjoyed more advertising support in the commercial marketplace than others, here the Frost Illustrated. Of course, the vagaries of page size and the number of pages in an edition directly affected the ratio computation. Afi-ocentricity and geography reflected in News/Editorial Content. An Afrocentric perspective on news and op-ed content was also an important consideration in all of the newspapers. For example, the Frost Illustrated published not only in-depth analysis items on the topic of abortion but also framed the topic to make it especially relevant to its readership. One article put the topic in historical context, detailing the contributions of Black women to the suffrage movement -- beginning with Ida B. Wells and Susan B. Anthony in the early 19005 to Faye Wattleton and Gloria Steinem of the 19608. Research question five, which asked how many of the news and op-ed items published in the space allocated to the coverage of news and the expression of opinion and editorials were local and had an Afrocentric theme, was expected to produce four results: 76 (1) those news and op-ed items with strong local and Afrocentric themes would enjoy a mid-range response from respondents; (2) the importance of such items would be rated minimally as important; (3), the amount of space within the newshole allocated to both news and op-ed items would be substantial; and, (4) that the number of news and op-ed items not having a local geographic angle and without an Afrocentric perspective would be minimal, if any at all. Generally, these expectations were met or exceeded. The Coastal Times, published in Charleston, North Carolina, for example, had very strong local coverage. All news stories on the front page were local and written for and about Blacks: “Day programs for pregnant teens in jeopardy;” “Local youngster appears in Days of Our Lives;” “NAACP regional charted five goals for its Fair Share Program;” and, “Delta Sigma Theta recognizes the achievements of others.” Although the paper did not publish an official editorial, the importance of an Afrocentric perspective for the newspaper was attested by the columnists featured: William Raspberry, Carl Rowan and Ben Chavis -- all African-Americans. The importance of news and op—ed items being local and written from a Black perspective was rated at 4.920 by survey respondents. From the content analysis, it was determined that 64 percent of the newshole was devoted to such items by The Coastal Times. Other newspapers, most notably the City Sun, Bay State Banner, and Precinct Reporter also had similarly high percentages of the news items with the characteristics of localness and Afrocentricity. The respective percentages were 44, 94, and 72 percent. Finally, as expected the number of items non-local and without an Afrocentric perspective was minimal. The Bay State Banner published just two (of 50) items that were assessed as not having an Afrocentric theme; three of the 50 items were non-local. This lack of non-local items without an Afrocentric perspective generally applied to the eight newspapers content analyzed. In any case, the expectation that the number of news and OM items not having a Black or Afrocentric theme would be minimal, the fifth research question, was confirmed 77 by the content analysis. Here the number of news items in these newspapers ranged from a high of 116 to a low of 27. The percent of these items without a Black or Afrocentric theme, consequently, ranged from .31 to .07 for the newspapers, respectively the Bay State Banner and City Sun. Thus, a conclusion that these eight African-American newspaper publishers and editors take their role, or purpose, of providing the news in a meaningful context for Black or minority readers very important would be sound. This, of course, buttresses the conclusion that the news philosophy of present-day Black newspaper publishers and editors is one of Social Responsibility. Research question six, that of whether the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors and the amount of space allocated to news and op-ed content in their newspapers varied with circulation, was expected to show that news philosophy would be a consistent predictor on the criterion variables of news and op-ed content when circulation was used as a control variable to negate unwanted influences. The study found that circulation was an extraneous variable in the determination of whether the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors was reflected in the news and op-ed content of Black newspapers. Neither the news philosophy nor the amount of space devoted to news and op-ed content in the selected newspaper varied between the four circulation levels. Again, Statement 5 (see Tables 9 and 10) was the primary choice by respondents to express news philosophy; when the eight newspapers were stratified across the four circulation levels, the percent of space in the newshole allocated to news and op-ed content for the two newspapers in the small circulation category was 36.74 and 35.12; midsize, 38.44 and 40.32; medium, 40.88 and 38.75; and, large, 39.93 and 33.81. The seventh research question, the correlational test for the levels of association and significance between news philosophy and news and op—ed content, was expected to show a strong, positive correlation between the predictor variables of news philosophy and the criterion variables of news and op-ed content these newspaper publishers said they provided and actually published in their newspapers. The study found that while there 78 was a strong, positive level of association between the research variables on the questionnaire items, that relationship was not reflected in news and op-ed content published in Black newspapers. For example, the correlational test of news philosophy Statement 5, presenting the news in a meaningful context for readers, and the survey item of news content as Features about local Black people was found to be positive at .3320 and significant at the .01 level. The relationship of news philosophy Statement 2, that of upholding the US Constitution, with the survey news item of Non-local social happenings was the strongest, positive correlation at .5498, and also statistically significant at the at the .001 level or less in a two-tail test. In the content analysis, these same relationships reversed themselves in a negative direction and were not significant at any level. For example, where the correlational test of the predictor variable of news philosophy expressed as presenting the news in a meaningful context for readers, Statement 5, and the survey item of news content as Features about local Black people was found to be positive and significant, the correlational test of the content actually published in the selected Black newspapers was negative at .0553 and not significant at any level. The relationship of news philosophy Statement 2, that of upholding the US Constitution, with the content news item of Non- Iocal social happenings was negative at .2711. Thus, where the coefficient of determination for the relationship of the news philosophy statement of putting the news in a meaningful context for readers and the news content item of Features about local black people helps explain 11 percent of the variation in the categorical rating of these survey items, the same can not be said of the item’s actual publication in the newspaper. Also, the coefficient of determination of Statement 2 with the survey item of Non-local social happenings helps to explain 30 percent of the variation in these survey items, again nothing can be explained about the actual publication of the item in the newspaper. Validity and reliability of News Philosophy. Quite obviously, validity and reliability of 79 the conceptual statements of News Philosophy are important considerations that must be discussed because, although the nature of this study was exploratory and descriptive, the questions of whether this study measured what it sought and was that measurement accurate must be addressed. The answer is a qualified yes and no. Yes because the Likert scale was used to set a common range of responses for each of the six statements in the News Philosophy section. The range of response varied not only from strongly agree to su'ongly disagree, with l connoting su'ongly agree and demarcated through 5, which quantified su'ongly disagree. but also demarcated the preference on a five point scale. Thus, the assessment of how respondents selected the statement that most closely resembled their news philosophy was reliable. However, the construct of News Philosophy presented a more fundamental problem. That problem involved validity, particularly face validity. Here the results obtained from the categorical analysis of News Philosophy can be challenged on the grounds of face validity because the statements do not to represent the real attributes of the three particular types of press theory. Also, no evidence of concurrent validity was obtained in the pre-test of the survey insu'ument; and finally, correlational measures of the different attributes of news philoSOphy were not performed to determine construct validity. Coding reliability and validity. There are three possible sources of error in the analysis of the news and op-ed content of the newspapers selected for this study. They are sampling error, measurement error, and allocation of the items to the categories devised for the coding framework. The method of purposive sampling allowed the researcher to fully explore whether the various nuances of Afrocentricity and geography were indeed characteristics of the news philosophy of Black newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content of Black newspapers. The absence of randomness and control, essential 80 characteristics of an experiment, were thus deliberate choices made for the implementation of this study. However, much attention and immense effort were devoted to the development of the coding framework and a way to assess, categorize, and measure the items of interest for this study. This was especially so because the researcher sought to ascertain, as much as possible that data collected for another purpose would allow, whether the content 4 published in Black newspapers was in fact associated with the news philosophy of Black publishers and editors. Thus, the coding framework, and the maintenance of the categories for news and op—ed content, enjoyed primacy. This was so because the themes of Afrocentricity and geography had to be incorporated into the coding framework as well. 1 While that would seem to be a relatively easy matter, it is in fact rather difficult for coders must have both a great deal of familiarity with the Black community and be versed enough in the news to recognize people, places and things important to Black newspaper readers. This was one of the problems addressed, and resolved, in the several revisions of the coding framework. Allocation of the items to their respective categories of news or op- ed content was assured by training coders on what should be expected in an items to be considered news, feature, etc. Measurement error was minimal as coders used identical instrument to measure the space desired. FUTURE STUDY This study advances the research on The African-American Press. This contribution made to the literature on both the news philosophy of present-day African-American newspaper publishers and editors and the news and op-ed content published in contemporary African- American newspapers also helps to identify many fruitful areas of research for both mass media and mass communication scholars. This study sought to both propose a model and to lay a foundation for later research. The framework of research developed for this study points to at least three areas of future study: how does the discourse in African-American newspaper continue to 8 1 positively contribute to the marketplace of ideas; does the discourse found in African- American newspaper mitigate the effects of racism; and, of course, why do Blacks read African-American newspapers. Implications of study for fitture research. Many other factors, most notably advertising and certainly readers, can be argued as being far more casual on not only the amount but type of such content. However, the research questions for this study were answered; the implication of the study, i.e., whether news philosophy is a reliable predictor of the news and op-ed content of a newspaper remains to be answered. The hypothesis that there is a relationship between the news philosophy of a publishers and editor and the news and op- ed content published in a newspaper remains open for researchers. Thus, future research can be conducted to not only test the assumptions of the model but also to develop a method to discern in an experimental study whether news philosophy predicts and explains the particular pattern of content found in Black newspapers. There are, of course, examples of such studies. Van Dijk, for example, in two studies142 on both news as discourse and racism and the press postulated several hypotheses that can be tested within the proposed framework in an experimental study. McQuai1143 too has conducted an experimental nation-wide content analysis of newspapers in Britain; the method of the study can be applied to Black newspapers, both in determining the appropriate size of the sample, and randomization of the newspapers. And, finally: so few national surveys have been conducted on Blacks144 to measure their preferences for Black media that a national Black readership study of the uses and gratifications of Black newspapers most certainly should be of interest to future researchers. These studies, of course, can be encompassed within the framework of The Social Conflict Model. The Marketplace of Ideas, the bridge from the macro considerations of the 142See, for example, both News As Discourse and Racism and the Press by Tuen A. van Dijk. 143McQuail, The Analysis of Newspaper Content, op. cit. 144A. Wade Smith, op. cit. 82 Social Conflict Model to that of the micro-level of the messages communicated by these entrepreneurs in Lasswell’s Model of Communication, also offers much for future research in the matter of both free press and free speech by the African-American Press and African- American newspaper publishers and editors. Though Wasburn145 has written an excellent book on the extraordinary measures the federal government took against The Black Press to stifle dissent during the years between the two world wars, much still remains to be done. There remains a large gap in the literature on The Black Press has contributed, both past and present. Conclusion. This thesis began by saying that it was significant because it was the first since Penn’s monumental work in 1891 that wedded quantitative and qualitative research on The Black Press. The thesis also began by saying that it bridged the gap between the news philosophy of past African-American newspaper publishers and editors and those of the present. The best way to conclude this study is to do as Penn did in 1891: ask Black publishers and editors to express in their own words what research should be conducted on The Black Press in the future. Said Mignon Clybum, associate publisher of the Coastal Times: “Though it may be to expansive, some formalized studies on what potential readers want.” Added Brian Townsend, publisher of the Precinct Reporter: “It seems to me that the value of the Black Press is ignored. Whether Black journalists work for the Black Press or newspapers of general circulation, they should understand the historical significance of the Black Press and its continuing endeavors to serve minority readers.” 145Patrick 8. Washbum, A Question of Sedition: The Federal Government ’s Investigation of the Black Press During World War II (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986). APPENDIX 1 BlackPressQuestionnaire Publication Demographics ............................................................... 85 Personal Demographics .................................................................. 86 Readership ................................................................................ 87 News/Editorial Content .................................................................. 87 The Future Of Black Journalism ........................................................ 88 83 34 This questionnaire is designed to gather information and, more importantly, to ascertain your thoughts about the Black Press. Please complete all of the questions in each of the sections as best you can. Thank you. PUBLICATION DEMOGRAPHICS The questions in this section are designed to gather basic information about your publication. 1. How would you characterize your publication? Newspaper Cl Newsmagazine a Newsletter Cl Other El ) (Please specify 2. What is the circulation of your publication? 3. What percentage of your circulation falls rnto the following categories? Percent totals should equal 1 00 percent. Subscription __ Free Delivery Newsstand Sales 2m - Total percent 4. What is the total number of people employed by your newspaper?— 5 . How many people are employed in the editorial department?— 6. How many news editorial personnel have journalism degrees?— 7 . Does your publication have advertising support from such national companies as Sears, GM, and General Foods? Yes a No D 8 . Does your publication have advertising support from local or area department stores, grocery chains, etc? Yes a No D 9. About what percent of your advertising support comes from national and local/area advertisers? National . Local/Area 10. How many of the following types of newspapers are there in your circulation area? Please the total number all that a. 0. Weekly ' newspapers ude twice-m B 11. In what year was your publication founded? 85 PERSONAL DEMOGRAPHICS The questions in this section are designed to gather some information about you and the nature of your work. . What is your sex? Male Cl Female Cl . What rs your age?— What rs your job title. ? Regardless of your title, which of the following best describes the job(s) you perform? (Check all that apply.) Publisher 0 Editor Cl Managing Editor 0 Asst. Managing Editor [3 Reporter [:1 Photographer D Other (Please specify) How many years have you worked rn journalism? How many years have you worked for your present publication?. How many years have you worked rn your present position? Do you have marketing or business responsibilities at your publication? Yes 0 Non Please circle the last year of schooling you completed: Grade:7 8 910 ll 12 College: l3 14 15 16 Graduate School: MAW or W 10. If you graduated from college, give your degree(s) and major(s) . aw- PPSP‘S‘ NEWS PHILOSOPHY This section of the survey is intended to gather information on how your publication handles the news. Please check the response which most closely reflects your feelings or attitudes for each question. 1. The role of my publication is to provide a quality editorial product, even if it means losing money. Strongly Agree D Agree C] Neither Agree or Disagree D Disagree D Suongly Disagree El 2. The role of my publication is to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Su'ongly Agree C] Agree C] Neither Agree or Disagree D Disagree C] Strongly Disagree Cl 3. The role of my publication is to present the truth, regardless of who gets hurt. Strongly Agree [3 Agree D Neither Agree or Disagree C] Disagree CI Strongly Disagree 0 4. The role my publication is to report the news objectively. Strongly Agree C] Agree C] Neither Agree or Disagree 0 Disagree L] Strongly Disagree Cl 5 . The role of my publication is to report the news in a meaningful context for readers. Strongly Agree Cl Agree C] Neither Agree or Disagree D Disagree C] Strongly Disagree C] 6. Because we are a Black publication, news coverage should be targeted to atuact a Black or minority readership. Strongly Agree C] Agree D Neither Agree or Disagree 0 Disagree C] Strongly Disagree E] 86 READERSHIP This section of the survey is designed to gather a profile of your readership. Please answer each question and each section of the question. 1. How would you generally describe your readership, in terms of the following categories? Please note: Percent totals should 100 earn: 46 LOCATION live in the: 'CO ucatron 2. Most of our readership votes in local elections. Strongly Agree C] Agree C] Neither Agree or Disagree C] Disagree [3 Strongly Disagree C] 3. Most of our readership votes in national elections? Suongly Agree 0 Agree C] Neither Agree or Disagree [3 Disagree C] Suongly Disagree [3 4. Most of our readership is socially active in community-oriented programs. Strongly Agree Cl Agree [3 Neither Agree or Disagree 0 Disagree C] Strongly Disagree [3 NEWS/EDITORIAL CONTENT This section of the survey is designed to provide information about the content of your publication. We are interested in news, information, opinions and advertising content you believe is important to your readership. Please check your response to each item listed below. News about local Black issues. Very important CI Important [3 Somewhat Important CI Unimportant D Very unimportant E] News about Black issues outside of the local community. Very important C] Important CI Somewhat Important Cl Unimportant C] Very unimportant C] letters to the editor. Very important Cl Important C] Somewhat Important C] Unimportant C] Very unimportant C] 87 Editorials about local Black issues. Very importantDImportantCl SomewhatlmportantDUnimportantCIVery unimportantC] In-depth analysis of local Black issues. Very important D Important C] Somewhat Important C] Unimportant C] Very unimportant CI In-depth analysis of non-local Black issues. Very importantDImprxtantDSomewhatImportantDUnimportantDVery unimportantE] Information about social happenings in the community. Very important C] Important D Somewhat Important 0 Unimportant D Very unimportant D Editorials about non-local Black issues. Very important D Important 0 Somewhat Important 0 Unimportant [3 Very unimportant Cl Information about non-local social happenings. Very important 0 Important Cl Somewhat Important D Unimportant Cl Very unimportant E] News about local sports. Very importantDImportantDSomewhatImportantDUnimportantDVery rmimportantD News about non-local sports. Very important [3 Important CI Somewhat Important 0 Unimportant [3 Very unimportant D Features about local Black people. Very importantDImportantDSomewhatImportantDUnimportantDVery unimportant!) Features about non-local Black people. Very important CI Important 0 Somewhat Important 0 Unimportant C] Very unimportant D Classified advertising. Very important Cl Important Cl Somewhat Important C] Unimportant CI Very unimportant [3 Retail advertising, both national and local. Very important C] Important [3 Somewhat Important [3 Unimportant [3 Very unimportant D Information for Black youth. Very important D Important 0 Somewhat Important C] Unimportant Cl Very unimportant D THE FUTURE OF BLACK JOURNALISM This section of the questionnaire is designed to gather your impressions about the future of Black publications and the issues that could affect their survival. Please check your response to each category. 1. How likely is it that your publication will be in business in the next 10 years? Very likely C] Likely Cl Not Sure CI Unlikely [3 Very Unlikely C] 2. The following reasons are often cited to explain why Black publications fail. Please check your response for each reason cited. Lack of reader support. Strongly Agree 0 Agree C] Neither Agree or Disagree EJ Disagree Cl Suongly Disagree Cl 88 Lack of advertising support. Strongly AgreeD Agree 0 NeitherAgreeorDisagreeD DisagreeDSuongiy Disagree [3 Community is not large enough to support a Black publication. Suongly AgreeD Agree 0 NeitherAgreeorDisagreeC] DisagreeDSuonglyDisagree [3 Competition from other minority publications. Strongly AgreeD Agree [3 NeitherAgreeorDisagreeD DisagreeClSnongly Disagree D Competition from general circulation newspapers. Suongly Agree Cl Agree 0 Neither Agree or Disagree D Disagree D Suongly Disagree C] Not enough starting capital. Strongly Agree Cl Agree [3 Neither Agree or Disagree 0 Disagree C] Strongly Disagree D Increasing cost of newsprint. Strongly AgreeC] Agree C] Neither AgreeorDisagreeCJ DisagreeDStrongly Disagree [3 Increasing cost of hiring editorial personnel. Strongly Agree D Agree Cl Neither Agree or Disagree C] Disagree C] Strongly Disagree D 3 . How likely will the general circulation newspaper(s) in your circulation area improve their coverage of the Black community. Very likely C] Likely Cl Not Sure D Unlikely 0 Very Unlikely C] 4. If general circulation newspaper(s) improve their coverage of your community, how likely is that to erode your circulation? Very likely a Likely a Not Sure D Unlikely a Very Unlikely a 5. How important is training Black students in journalism to the successful future of Black journalism? Very important C] Important 0 Somewhat Important!) Unimportant 0 Very unimportant D 6. Please use the space below to describe issues of importance that Black publications will encounter during the next 10 years. 7. Please use the space below to clarify your responses to questions in this survey. 8. Please use the space below to list specific areas of Black journalism you would like to see studied. . APPENDIX 2 CODING FRAMEWORK FOR CONTENT ANALYSIS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 91 CATEGORICAL DEFINITIONS ............................................. 92 1. SIZE OF TYPICAL PAGE IN NEWSPAPER ................. 92 2. AVAILABLE SPACE WITHIN THE NEWSPAPER. ........ 92 3. ADVERTISING .................................................... 93 4. SIZE OF NEWSHOLE ............................................ 93 5. Size of Op-ed Section .............................................. 93 NEWS AND OP-ED CATEGORICAL DEFINITIONS ................... 94 Size of News and Op-Ed Item. ....................................... 94 NEWS ............................................................................ 94 NEWS ITEM CATEGORICAL DEFINITIONS ............................ 94 1. Hard News .......................................................... 94 2. Features .............................................................. 95 3. In-depth Analysis ................................................... 95 4. Social Happenings ................................................. 95 5. Sports ................................................................ 95 6. Information For Black Youth ..................................... 95 7. Obituraries ........................................................... 96 8. Other News Items .................................................. 96 GEOGRAPHY .................................................................. 96 Local ..................................................................... 96 Non-Local ............................................................... 97 BLACK ISSUE ................................................................. 97 OPINION-EDITORIAL (Op-Ed) .............................................. 97 1. Editorial .............................................................. 97 2. Letters to editor ..................................................... 97 3. Other Op-ed Content ............................................... 97 SPACE MEASUREMENT GUIDELINES .................................. 98 89 90 INTRODUCTION This is a study of the news and editorial/opinion content found in the Coastal Times, Frost Illmtrated, Bay State Banner, Monitor, The City Sun, Precinct Reporter, Akron Reporter, and Philadelphia Tribune. The purpose of this content analysis is to compare the results of the actual news and op- ed content found in these eight African-American newspapers with the responses their respective publishers and editors gave to statements from the “News Philosophy” and “News/Editorial Content” sections of a national Survey of the Black Press conducted in Fall 1989 and Winter 1990. Thus, the content analysis focuses singly on the news and op-ed sections of the newspapers. While advertising and visual content must be accounted for, neither are the primary focus of this content analysis. Within the categories of News and Opinion- Editorial (Op-Ed), articles in these sections must be first assessed for their type. Each news and op-ed items must then be additionally assessed for two characteristics: (1) whether the article’s geographic focus is local or non-local ; and, (2) whether the theme of the article is written from a Black or Afrocentric perspective. Five categories of space must first be measured in this content analysis. Those categories are: (1) Size of a Typical Page in the newspaper; (2) the amount of all Available Space Within the Newspaper; (3) the amount of Advertising in the newspaper; (4) the Size of the Newshole; and, (5) the Size of the Op-ed section. Finally, each News or Oped item must also be measured. Each item must also be numbered. The page on which the item is published should be recorded on the appropriate coding sheet. To maintain consistency in the numbering scheme, coders should begin numbering items from the upper left hand comer of the page, then vertically across the page. The numbering scheme should closely resemble the way one normally reads a newspaper page -- left to right, or vertically across the page and so on. Each newspaper has an identification number. Write the ID number, and the name of the newspaper, in the appropriate blanks on the coding sheets. The ID number, the name of the newspaper, and the date of publication, must be included on all coding sheets. The Newspaper ID and Newspaper Name should be recorded in the blank spaces provided as -- Newspaper ID and Newspaper Name. The names of the newspapers, their respective identification numbers (as well as the place of publication), are referenced in Table 1 below. Tbae l.--News.a. urvey ID Nuew _ Newspaper rs Selecd Content Anal sis ty, “tate 025 Precinct Reporter San Bernadino, CA 074 East St. Louis Monitor East St. Louis, IL 075 Frost Illustrated Ft. Wayne, IN 089 Bay State Banner Dorchester, MA 112 The City Sun Brooklyn,NY 127 Akron Reporter Akron, OH 1 36 Philadelphia Trihune PTuIadelphia, PA I42 Coastal Times Charleston, SC 91 CATEGORICAL DEFINITIONS Again, there are four categories of space which must be measured in each newspaper. Definitions, and an explanation of the method of measurement, for each of the four space categories follow. All measurements are recorded in square inches. 1. SIZE OF TYPICAL PAGE IN NEWSPAPER The size of a typical page in the newspaper is determined by multiplying the length measurement times the width measurement. The margins on the left and right and top and bottom of the page form the perimeters for the space that must be measured. Coders should use a page inside of the newspaper for this measurement, ! not page one or the page devoted to opinion] editorials as a typical page. 5 Measurement of the length and width margins, and their multiplication, will yield a figure '- expressed in square inches. (Please note: A more precise explanation of length and width t can be found in the next category). This measurement should be recorded in the blank - space -- Size of Typical Page. 2. AVAILABLE SPACE WITHIN THE. NEWSPAPER Space included in this category will be all of the space in the newspaper available for the display of written or visual information. (Advertising inserts, or other special or separate editorial inserts not part of the regular newspapers are not to be analyzed). Essentially, the amount of available space in the newspaper can be obtained by measuring the length and width of a typical page within the newspaper times the number of pages published in the particular newspaper edition being coded. Again, measurement of the length and width of a Typical Page inside of the newspaper, not page one, forms the basis for obtaining the available space within the newspaper. Multiple this measurement by the number of pages in the newspaper: Length x Width (Size of Typical Page) (in the edition of newspaper) — -Total Available Space For example, the measurement of Total Available Space in the Akron Reporter would be conducted this way: A. A typical page, say page 3, within the newspaper would first be chosen for measurement. Then determine the length and width of the respective margins, using the following definitions: Length of page -- is defined as being the horizontal (up and down) measurement of all space found between the top and bottom margins. Width of page -- is defined as being the vertical (across) measurement of all space found within the left and right margins of the page. In order words, measure all of the space included within the margins on the top, bottom, right and left margins on the page. 92 B . The length and width of a typical page inside of the newspaper multiplied by the number of pages contained in the newspaper will yield the Total Available Space in the newspaper. Please note: Excluded from the measurement of Total Available Space is the dateline, page number and newspaper logo. These items will typically be found outside of the margins for a particular newspaper. This figure should be recorded in the blank space -- Available Space in Newspaper. 3. ADVERTISING Advertising is defined as any printed notice which calls attention to the desirable qualities of a product or business so as to arouse a desire to buy the product or patronize a business. While all advertising in a newspaper is to be measured, advertising is not to be included in the Other sub-category of News and Op-ed. Each advertisement, therefore, must be individually measured. All advertisements must be totaled; this sum will yield the amount of advertising in the newspaper. The amount should be entered in the blank space -- Advertising. 4. SIZE OF NEWSHOLE The newshole is defined as that space in the newspaper that is devoted to the publication of editorial content -- news or op-ed items. The size of the newshole will be determined by subtracting the amount of Advertising from the amount of Available Space Within the Newspaper. Included are all photographs, graphs, tables and copy with such news values as social, political and economic progress, disaster, prominence, conflict, proximity, impact, human interest and timeliness. Obituaries, indexes, headlines and white space found within this category should be counted as Newshole Space. Weather stories are also to be included, if they are in story form and are not just a list of conditions. The Size of Newshole is determined by subtracting all of the advertising found in the newspaper from the Total Available Space in the newspaper. The Size of Newshole should be recorded on the first page of the News Coding Sheet. For example: Total Available Space in Newspaper with - AlLAdxenisinanundinNewsnaner subtracted will = Size of Newshole The difference between Total Available Space and the sum of the amount of all Advertising found in the newspaper should be entered in the black space - Size of Newsh ole. 5. Size of Op-ed Section The size of the op—ed section will be determined by measuring the space allocated to the expression of the official stance of the newspaper and the opinions of others, including the newspaper’s own columnists, syndicated columnists, etc. The Op-ed section is that space which acts as a forum for issue-oriented information that is clearly not news or advertising. Generally, the editorial and op—ed pages are marked as such. A useful guideline for measuring the Op-ed section will be that if the majority of the items on the page in this section can be classified as the expression of the official stance of the newspaper, or the 93 expression of the opinion of others, the page itself should be considered an opinion- editorial page. Therefore, the size of the page becomes the amount of space allocated to Op~Ed content. This figure should be recorded on the coding sheet in the space -- Size of Op-Ed Section. NEWS AND OP-ED CATEGORICAL DEFINITIONS The following definitions are explanations of the various categories in the News and Opinion-Editorial sections of the newspaper coders must, assess, measure and analyze. The various News Categories on the News Coding Sheet will be explained first, followed by an explanation of the various categories on the Op-ed Coding Sheet. Size of News and Op-Ed Item. The size of the news or op-ed item is determined by measuring the length and width of the amount of space the item occupies within a column or across several columns. Headlines and by-lines are excluded from this measurement. Also, any white space found within the story should be excluded from the measurement, as well as any visual content accompanying the story. The amount of copy devoted to the news or op-ed item should be reported in square inches: length times width of the item will equal square inches (L x W =xx square inches). If the item occupies more than one column, the space the item occupies should be measured as length times width for the square inches for each column. The subtotals of the various measurements should then be added for the total of square inches the item occupies as news or op-ed content in the newspaper. If the item jumps, or continues, onto another page in the newspaper, measurement of the item should follow the procedure just outlined. The classification of the item’s type should be the same as its initial classification. However, the item’s jump to another page should be counted as a new item for that particular page. NEWS News is defined as a report, i.e., a text or in the newspaper, in which new information is given about recent events. Therefore, news is any type of new information conveyed by words that is not advertising and information that is not on clearly marked pages with editorial material (editorials, editorial columns, letters to the editors, etc.). The News section of a newspaper is distinct from the Op-ed section (this distinction is explained latter). The News Category conceptualized for this content analysis is composed of seven distinct types of items -- or stories. The seven news items are: Hard News; Features; In-Depth Analysis; Social Happenings; Sports; Information for Black Youth; and, Obituaries. NEWS ITEM CATEGORICAL DEFINITIONS A detailed explanation of the procedure, and the definitions of the terms construed for the content analysis, follows. 1 . Hard News Copy which involves conflict, whether physical or ideological, disastrous or violent, should be assessed as being hard news. The impact is either wide spread or very intense to 94 a small number of people. The events or issues involved are timely - the occurrence will be the day before. Business trend stories, stories about scientific changes and other such trend stories are not included unless the element of conflict is involved. The following stories qualify as hard news: crimes against people or property, accidents, fires, riots, political controversies, stories about meetings in which governmental bodies pass ordinances or legislation (advance meeting stories may sometimes qualify as being hard news stories), death stories (not the same as obituaries) and war. This list is not necessarily inclusive of all hard news stories that qualify. 2 . Features Copy which emphasizes people or information, rather than events or issues, is characterized as feature material. Content to be included 1n this category will include, for example, information or news of appointments, promotion and achievements 1n business, politics or public life. 3 . In-depth Analysis In-depth stories are series of stories, news analysis, investigative stories or stories that have a page or more of space, including photographs (photographs are not to be counted as part of the space). Articles marked as news analysis that appear on editorial or op-ed pages are to be treated as columns. The term “insight” is sometimes used in place of “analysis”. This includes syndicated columns about social, political and economic trends. 4 . Social Happenings Coverage of social happenings includes any article dealing with social activities. This includes, but is not limited to, weddings, club meetings, PTA meetings, announcements of future events, and obituaries. Material about entertainment and the arts, as well as copy about school activities should be included. School board meetings and decisions can generally be included in the Hard News category. The Social Happenings category excludes stories about school sports; such stories go in the sports category. 5 . Sports Coverage of sports includes copy about sports events or sports personalities. This includes public school, college and university, professional, and recreational sports. Statistical tables (baseball or football standings, racing results and the like) should be recorded in the Other category. 6. INFORMATION FOR BLACK YOUTH Items in this category should be of particular interest to youths -- anyone under the age of 18. These stories will have an angle or focus where the interests of youth are a strong consideration for why the story is written. The appeal of these items will be more for children than adults. Examples how “Little Billy” can construct an ant farm or how high school or college students can find a summer job or how grammar school students can prepare for high school, etc. Each item assessed for its treatment or content must also be further assessed, using the definition above, for whether the treatment or content or the story is such that the primary focus of the item is clearly intended for Black Youths. 95 7.0bituraries Obituaries are items about the deaths of people. There are generally two types of obit items: those written as news, and those paid for by readers. Paid obits should be treated as advertising. The other type of obit should be treated as news and classified as one of the six types of news. 8. Other News Items This is a “catch-all” category. Possible items which could be treated as News, but which should be included in this category are: financial, scientific, and all international news, other than that originating from or having a specific reference to Africa. Items originating or having a specific reference to Africa should be analyzed and classified in one of the other six sub-categories of NEWS. Consumer oriented news and columns also should be analyzed and classified in one of the three categories for news treatment. Visual content, by-lines, and white space will dominate the Other News Items category. All pictures, and accompanying captions, should be assigned to this sub category. Included in this sub-category are such items as television/radio listings, comic strip panels, puzzles, weather forecasts, lottery results, indexes and all filler items (boxes of information which seemingly have no connection with any of the other items on the page). Also included in this category are: gossip columns, features specifically directed at adults and arts and entertainment guides. Individual page totals for the Other News Items categories should be recorded on the coding sheet. This figure should equal the Size of Typical Page in the newspaper minus the particular News Items types on the individual page. GEOGRAPHY Newspapers generally designate their markets or geographical areas they focus on for news and information. The specific term is Newspaper Designated Market are can sometimes be found in the advertising section of the newspaper. If it is, this designation should be used determine the geographic focus of an item -- whether it should be local and non-local coverage. Each item assessed for its treatment or content must also be assessed for its geographic focus -- whether it is local or non-local. Definitions for local and non-local follow. Local Copy about the city in which the newspaper is located should be considered local. The presence of a paragraph or two about the impact of a state, national or international event within the Newspaper Designated Market, or the newspaper's primary area of coverage, makes the story local. Copy which specifically refers to the county in which the newspaper is located should be considered local. This will include news about events or issues concerning the county, or in which the newspaper is located or events and issues in other towns and cities located in the same county or counties with the newspaper being coded. If the city limits are in two counties, or if the limits are contiguous with county borders, both counties will be counted as being home counties for the newspaper. Copy included in the city category is not included here. 96 Non-Local Copy written about state, national and international matters without an emlanation of its impact within the Newspaper Designated Market, or the newspaper's primary area of coverage, should be treated as non-local. BLACK ISSUE All of the items, whether in the News or Op-ed section of the newspaper must be assessed for a news angle or theme. Black issue, therefore, becomes where the interests of Black people are clearly the reason why the story is being written. Another useful guideline is that the story is clearly written for Afi'ican-American readers. Such stories will probably concentrate on ideological or political conflict between race; more probably, a story with a Black Issue perspective will report on the progress or success of African-Americans in areas that are traditionally considered to be the domain of whites only (such as higher education or corporate America). Some possible topical themes are bigotry, segregation, integration, diversity, multi- culturalism; or, Black-on-Black crime, voter registration drives among Blacks, etc. The assessment involves no more than a simple Yes or No evaluation by the coder; the coder should simply check the appropriate column on the coding sheet. OPINION-EDITORIAL (Op-Ed) There are only two distinct types of items coders must search for in the analysis of the Op- Ed section. Generally, content in this category will be strongly opinionated; that is, opinion expressed here will have one point of view. The op/ed section in the newspaper can generally be found at the mid-point in the paper. The op/ed page is traditionally found in the upper-left hand section of the editorial page. The two items coders must assess, analyze and measure are Editorials and letters-to- the-editor. The following definitions should be used to assess and categorize these items. 1 . Editorial Items here express the opinion of the editors and/or publisher of the newspapers. Editorials will represent the official stand of the newspaper organization. 2 . Letters to editor are labeled as such. 3. Other Op-ed Content Possible items which should be included in this category are: topical cartoons, comic and strip cartoons, fiction, puzzles, competitions and offers; also, publication particulars, weather forecasts, etc. Other Editorial Items will be dominated syndicated columnists, people-on-the-street interviews, and editorial cartoons. Each item found in the OP-ED SECTION of the newspaper must also be assessed and analyzed for its geographic coverage and whether the topic of the op/ed item specifically addresses an issue that primarily concerns Black readers. This assessment, as with those items found in the News Section of the newspaper, involves no more than a Yes or No evaluation by the coder. Individual page totals for the Other OP/ED Items category should be recorded on the OP/Ed coding sheet. This figure should equal the Size of Typical Page in the newspaper minus the particular OP/Ed items on the individual page. 97 SPACE MEASUREMENT GUIDELINES There are four separate sheets used in the content analysis: (1) Coding Sheet for News Content; (2) Summary Sheet for News Content; (3) Coding Sheet for Op-ed Content; and, (4) Summary Sheet for Op-ed Content. Information gathered in the analysis of the news and op—ed sections of the newspapers in this study should first be totaled on the appropriate coding sheet. These totals should then be transferred to the appropriate summary sheet. Convert all measurements into square inches. Again, the measurement of the item size will exclude headlines, by-lines (staff and wire) and pulled quotes in larger type. Also excluded are all graphs, pictures and captions accompanying the story. Carry measurements to a quarter of an inch when measuring the newspapers. 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