, v. V." LIBRARY Michigon 5m. "NW-“v This is to certify that the dissertation entitled AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF THE: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DAILY—NEWSPAPER GATEKEEPER' S PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUNCTION OF THE NEWS MEDIA AND THE GATEKEEPE‘R'S HANDLING OF NEWS presented by Janet A. Bridges has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D- degree in Mass Media cm 44;; Major professor Date May 18, 1987 MCIII-nn Air 4‘ A ‘ F 1 'rr ' ' ' 042771 I.-- .9 .4..__.. M 1- ‘ A~¢¢ ,, lmlllllllflfllllllmllmllrll L )VIESIeJ RETURNING MATERIALS: Place in book drop to LIBRARIES remove this checkout from w your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. 26.9 *rmi‘ in»: MUN 5311 may”??? ib‘flliia $515572;ng IN E Dll AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE “ DAILY-NEWSPAPER GATEKEEPER’S PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUNCTION OF THE NEWS MEDIA AND THE GATEKEEPER’S HANDLING OF NEWS . Janet A. Bridges A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Mass Media Ph.D. Program College of Communication Arts & Sciences 1987 Copyright by JANET A. BRIDGES 1987 ABSTRACT AN EXPLORATORY INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DAILY-NEWSPAPER GATEKEEPER’S PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUNCTION OF THE NEWS MEDIA AND THE GATEKEEPER’S HANDLING OF NEWS By Janet A. Bridges This study was designed to explore the relationship between news media gatekeepers’ perceptions of the function of newspapers _and the gatekeepers’ handling of news items and events. In the first part of the study, a mail questionnaire was completed by 111 managing editors (the processor-gatekeepers) in a national stratified sample of daily newspapers in the United States. The questionnaire asked for responses to statements about 16 possible functions of newspapers and also for open-ended discussion 0f the function of a newspaper both in general and in the local community. Responses to the statements indicated that overall the editors agreed that speed was most important and rejected conscious bias in their professional philosophy. When asked to comment, a strong plurality indicated local service was the function of their own daily, but "information" was the Purpose of newspapers in general. mar bee P01 bu The responses to the function statements identified six managing editors. Two, an interpreter and an advocate, had been identified in earlier studies among the entire population of United States journalists. A reader-oriented businessperson and three versions of the previously identified traditionalist journalist were also identified. The three traditionalists were the traditionalist-analyst, the traditionalist-mechanic and the traditionalist— reader/oriented. In the second part ofthe study, the front pages of a composite week of 101 of the managing editors’ dailies were content analyzed into seven news attributes. The attribute appearing most frequently on the front pages was timeliness, followed by (in order of frequency) prominence, proximity, conflict, magnitude, impact and oddity. The front-page news analysis identified three news—use patterns: hard news, interpreter news and prominence news. The hard-news pattern was primarily conflict and timely stories; the interpreter news was primarily impact and Proximate stories; the prominence news was primarily solitary prominence stories. No overall relationship was found between the reactions to the functions and the news use. But there is the suSgestion that a local-service philosophy is related to imPact news use, as is conflict news use with an adherence t0 "discuss developing national poliCY" as a PrOfeSSional function. A... ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to acknowledge the guidance and support of the members of my committee: Charles Atkin, who directed the project and provided consultation and encouragement; Thomas F. Baldwin and John D. Abel, who have guided me and provided encouragement almost from the time I entered the program; and Frederick Fico, who provided special assistance during the project’s operationalization. Thanks to John Murray, who served on my committee through preliminary examinations. Thanks to Ann Alchin for typing. Special thanks to my sons, Jeffrey and Kevin, who continually encouraged me even though their lives changed abruptly when I entered the program, and especially to my husband, Lamar, who was always there. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES . . LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION Rationale for the Study . . . . . . Limitations of the Study Assumptions . . . . Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The Gatekeeper Studies: The Historical Foundation . . . . . A Profile of the Media News Producers Demographics . . . . . . . Perceptions of the Profession . Perceptions of the Audience or "Client" Summary: The Gatekeeper Profile . . The News Room . . . . . . . . The News Production Process: The Case Studies . . . . . . . Social Control and Autonomy in the Newsroom . . . . . . . Job Satisfaction in the Newsroom Summary: The Newsroom . . . . . Influences on Gatekeeper News Selection . Environmental Influences . . . Organizational Influences Referent Groups . . . . . . . . Personal Characteristics . . . . . . . Summary: Influences on Gatekeeper News Selection . . . The Product: What is News? ( Characteristics of News Summary: The Product . . . . . Significance of the Literature . . . iii Page vi vii 01th :—I O) 15 27 32 32 33 36 41 42 43 43 45 48 51 57 58 58 66 67 CHI. CHAPTER III. THE METHOD . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . Sampling . . . . . Sampling Procedures . Changes in the Sample because of Circulation Problems . Final Sample . . . . Selecting the Composite Week for Each Daily . . . . . Developing and Administering the Questionnaire . . . . . . . . . . Follow- -Up . . . . . . . . . . . . I, , Questionnaire Responses . . Format and Content of the Questionnaire Statements on the Function of a Newspaper . . . . . . Statements for Open- -Ended Comments Other Data The Pretest . . . . . . . . . . Coding . . . . . Coding the Questionnaire *Coding for Content Analysis Measurement . . . . . . . Determining Presence or Absence of the News Attributes Coder Training . . . . . . Coding and Checking . Coding Reliability and Missing Data Developing an Overall Newspaper Profile Score from the Individually Coded News Attributes . . . . . . . . . Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER IV. THE MANAGING EDITORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUNCTION OF NEWSPAPERS Introduction . . . . . . . The Managing Editors . . . . . The Managing Editors’ Perceptions Managing Editor Profiles: Research Question #1 . . . . . . The Profile Factors and the Functions Predictions ~— Individual Functions oPen—ended Responses to Functions: In General and For "Your" Newspaper Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAPTER V. THE FRONT PAGES . . . . . . . . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . The Dailies . . . . . . . . . . The Seven News Attributes iv 4'\ 74 74 75 75 77 79 79 82 83 83 85 85 88 89 89 89 89 89 90 95 97 98 99 103 105 106 120 120 121 125 131 142 147 153 156 160 160 161 164 News—Use Patterns: Research Question #2 The News- -Pattern Factors and the News Attributes . . . . Predictions—-Individua1 News Attributes Summary . . . . . . . . CHAPTER VI. PERCEPTIONS AND NEWS ATTRIBUTES Introduction . . . . . News Attributes and the Functions . . . . Canonical Analysis . . . . . Regression on Individual Variables News Attributes and Responses to Open- Ended Questions . . . . Multivariate Analysis of Variance Univariate Analyses of Variance . . Summary CHAPTER VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Introduction . . Purpose and Scepe of the Study The Gatekeepers’ Perceptions of the Function of Newspapers Summary . . . . . . . . . . , Discussion . . . . News- -Use Patterns of the Gatekeepers Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . Discussion . Relationship between the News- -Use Patterns and the Gatekeepers’ Perceptions of the Function of the News Media Summary Discussion . . . . Suggestions for Further Research Addendum APPENDIX A. THE PRETEST . . . . APPENDIX B. DAILIES IN THE PROJECT APPENDIX C. QUESTIONNAIRE AND CODING FORMS APPENDIX D. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS AND CODER INSTRUCTIONS . . . . . APPENDIX E. OPEN-ENDED RESPONSES BY THE MANAGING EDITORS . . . . BIBLIOGRAPHY a o o o o o o o o a o o 0 0 172 178 178 182 184b 184b 185 186 199 204 204 215 218 224 224 224 225 225 229 232 232 233 236 236 237 247 250 254 269 274 284 298 316 Table 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Table l. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. LIST OF TABLES Issues Selected, by Day of the Week Percents) . Responses to Questionnaire by Follow- Up Attempt . . . . . . . . . . . Pearson Correlation Coefficients between Coders and Missing Data Discrepancies for News Attributes . . . Missing Stories and Area (in Column Inches) for News Attributes . . . . . . . . . . Managing Editors’ Majors in College Demographic Comparison of Current Sample with Giles and Weaver/Wilhoit . . . . . Managing Editors’ Responses to Perceptions of Newspaper Functions . . . . . Responses to Statements about Function of Newspapers -- Detailed Statistics Comparison of Managing Editors’ Perceptions with All Journalists: Indicating "Strongly Agree"/"Extreme1y Important" . Zero—order Correlations: Function Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Factor Loadings by Function (above .25) Variance Among the Functions Accounted for by the Factors (Communalities) . . Factor Loadings by Function (All) Responses to Open-Ended Questions . Space Devoted to News and Nonnews for Front Pages . . . . . . . vi Page 81 84 100 101 123 124 126 128 130 143 145 150 154 162 16. It 1& It 20 2t 22 21 2t 2i 2E 21 2t 21 31 3L Nonnew Mean P to the Propor to New Factor .25) 1 (Varil Fact01 .25) : Rotat Varia Accou (Conn Facto for F Eiger Reduc (DBPE Zero- Funci Stan. Corp (New Elge Redu News Corr Obli Zerc Fun: Sta: COI‘] (C01 Zen and Zer Dim 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. Nonnews Space by Day of the Week . . . . . 163 Mean Percent of Front-Page Space Devoted to the Seven News Attributes . . . . . . . 167 Proportion of Front-Page Space Devoted to News Attributes —— Detailed Statistics . 169 Factor Loadings by News Attribute (above .25) for Full Front Page Newshole (Varimax Rotation) . . . . . . . 175 Factor Loadings by News Attribute (above .25) for Full Front Page (Oblique Rotation) . . . . . . . . . 179 Variance among the News Attributes Accounted for by the Factors (Communalities) . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Factor Loadings by News Attribute (All) for Full Front Page (Oblique Rotation). . . 183 Eigenvalues and Canonical Correlations / Reduction Analysis (News Attributes (Dependent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Zero-Order Correlations: News and Function Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Standardized Canonical Coefficients / Correlations wit Canonical Variables (News Attributes Dependent) . . . . . . . . 192 Eigenvalues and Canonical Correlations / Reduction Analysis (Composite Variables: News Dimensions Dependent) . . . . . . . . 193 Correlations Among Factors after Oblique Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Zero-Order Correlations: News and Function Composite Variables . . . . . . . 195 Standardized Canonical Coefficients / Correlations with Canonical Variables (Composite Variables) . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Zero—Order Correlations: News Attributes and the Composite Function Variables . . . 197 Zero—Order Correlations: Composite News Dimensions and Separate Function Variable . 198 vii 32 33 34 33 3E 31 33 33 41 4L 42 43 Signif Dilens Variab Respon (Group Multiv Analys Depenc Ended Means Dinen: be th: Means Dimen you d in 19 Matri Level Attri Respc sboul Matri Levej Attr‘ Resp. wouL func Matr Leve Comp Vari Ques ANOV shot and 1N0! 8501 and Ana Imp Ana Pro 32. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. Significant Regression Equations for News Dimensions (Functions as Independent Variables) . . . . . . . . . Responses to Open—Ended Questions (Grouped Data) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Multivariate Significance Tests for Analyses of Variance with News Dimensions Dependent and Four Categories of Open- Ended Responses Independent . . . . . . Means and Standard Deviations for News Dimensions by Responses to: What should be the function of a newspaper? Means and Standard Deviations for News Dimensions by Responses to: How would you describe your newspaper’s function in your community? Matrices Used to Determine Significance Levels of Multivariate Analysis of News Attributes as Dependent Variables with Responses to Open—Ended Question: What should be the function of a newspaper? Matrices Used to determine Significance Levels of Multivariate Analysis of News Attributes as Dependent Variables with Responses to Open- Ended Question: How would you describe your newspaper’ 5 function in your community? . . Matrices Used to Determine Significance Levels of Multivariate Analysis of Composite News Dimensions as Dependent Variables with Responses to Open—Ended Questions: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANOVA Results for Open—Ended Responses about General Function of a Newspaper and News Dimensions . . . . . . . . . ANOVA Results for Open—Ended Responses about Function of the Local Newspaper and News Dimensions . . . . . . . . Analysis of Variance Summary Table: Impact and General Function . . . Analysis of Variance Summary Table: Proximity and Community Function 201 205 207 208 210 212 213 214 216 217 219 220 44, Pretes Questi 45, Demogr 44. 45. Pretest Response to Likert—type Questionnaire Items . . . . . . Demographics of Pretest Respondents ix 258 259 Figure News- Gener Perce Theor Gatek Mathe Gatel LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. News—Production Gatekeeping Model . . . . . 68 2. Generic Predicted Model: Gatekeeper Perceptions and News . . . . . . . . . . . 186 3. Theoretical Predicted Model: Gatekeeper Perceptions and News . . . . . . 187 4. Mathematical Predicted Model: Gatekeeper Perceptions and News . . . . . . 188 x This stud news media gate news media and events. Specifica] attitudes of function of a 1 are related to Gatekeepe affect the get 1955 Breed was a functiox Buckalew (1965 "EdictoFs 0f gatekeeper t 1(18Dt'1fy Cl‘it More re gatekewer tc CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This study will explore the relationship between the xews media gatekeepers’ perceptions of the function of the )ews media and the gatekeepers’ handling of news items and events. Specifically the study will attempt to assess the attitudes of identified newspaper gatekeepers toward the Function of a newspaper and to ascertain how these attitudes are related to the newspapers’ handling of the news. Rationale for the Stgdy Gatekeeper studies have examined variables which may affect the gatekeeper’s handling of the news. As early as 1955 Breed suggested that socialization of the journalist vas a function of the newsroom and both Dubick (1978) and Buckalew (1969, 1969-70) point to environmental variables as Predictors of news choice. Other gatekeeper researchers (notably White, 1950, and Snider, 1967) have concentrated on gatekeeper thought processes but have been unable to identify criteria used in the gatekeeping selection process. More recent studies have attempted to connect the gatekeePer to his or her perceptions of the journalists’ role in the n' traditionalist activist. categories ea Bowman (1976). of which inco: et a1. cmmtraints a1 The deft Journalistic (Gray and Nil recent study Johnston 10Urnalists 9991181 JourI and working . What they C; the field, w the authors °°nf11Ct-bas consen5u8_or Culberl PreferenCes interested Journalists role in the news process. Culbertson (1983) identified the traditionalist, the idealistic interpreter, and the activist. He expanded the participant and neutral categories earlier identified by Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman (1976). Culbertson used 28 Likert—type items, some of which incorporated the measures developed by Johnstone, et a1. Culbertson’s items included many stylistic constraints and procedural restrictions on the news process. The definitions used by Johnstone, et a1., to determine journalistic roles were expanded by Wilhoit, Gray and Weaver (Gray and Wilhoit, 1983; Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986) in their recent study of journalists and professionalism. Johnstone, et al., had found their participant Journalists was younger and better educated than their neutral journalist, a member of professional associations, and working in a large organization in a large community. What they called "professional age," or length of time in the field, was not a differentiator. Citing other authors, the authors suggested that the participant would have conflict-based news values while the traditionalist would be consensus—oriented. Culbertson actually compared his journalists to preferences for news types: his traditionalists were interested in spot and local news; his interpretive Journalists were more interested in national news and interpretive breadth for spot news; and his activists were interested in stories. Thus th characteristic imposed by the the news appee have examined to an individl just a port SUpplied by examined a choices (Atwo have generall rather than t This stl SanlPle, it e newspaper, a] perceptions ‘ role of the This st in Selectir newspaPer. and regear‘ interested in international news as well as human-interest stories. Thus there is evidence that at least some characteristics of the gatekeeper, whether personal or imposed by the organization, should be expected to influence the news appearing in the newspaper. Several studies which have examined actual gatekeeper output have been restricted to an individual or a small sample, and most have examined just a portion of the gatekeeper’s output -- material supplied by a wire service. Those studies which have examined a larger sample of newspeople and their news choices (Atwood, 1970; Badii and Ward, 1980, for example) have generally relied on a Q-sort, a hypothetical situation rather than the actual output. This study, however, is unique. It used a national sample, it examined the actual output of the gatekeeper’s newspaper, and it compared this output with the gatekeeper’s perceptions of the role of newspapers (and by extension the role of the news media). Limitations of the Study This study did not ask about the gatekeeper’s reasoning in selecting news events and issues for inclusion in the newspaper. This has been the focus of prior investigations, and researchers have found the responses similar and subjective. Many defin stories might the news attri special coding The "play" or number of color headline. Th1 headline will : Although : background an gatekeeper, f Perceptions 0 were examined. organization . percePtion of perceptions C function of HCCurate 8118“ The ESs reSponsible 1 The as: Many definitions (coding categorizations) for the news stories might be appropriate, but for these purposes only the news attributes discussed on page 98, were used. No special coding was used for "play" or position on the page. The "play" or importance of the story was determined by the number of column inches, which also included space for the headline. Thus a story that merits bigger play or a bigger headline will show up with a greater overall area. Although many variables in the gatekeeper’s personal background and in the news organization can affect the gatekeeper, for these purposes only the gatekeeper’s perceptions of the professional function of the newspaper were examined. mm The assumption is made that the gatekeeper in the news organization can be identified, that the gatekeeper has a perception of the function of newspapers, and that this perceptions can be measured. The assumption is made that the questions measure the gatekeeper’s perception of the function of newspapers and that the gatekeeper will provide accurate answers to the questions or statements. The assumption is made that the gatekeeper is responsible for the analyzed news content and that the news attributes identified reflect the content of pages examined. The assumption is made that a linear relationship exists among v n normal, and as interval-1e be large eno analysis is pe be multivariat multicollineai and that relei The foil 1. will mo function response 2. ammo, the Cont Is the 1 news met exists among variables, that the population of gatekeepers is normal, and that any Likert-type responses can be treated as interval-level data. It is assumed that the sample will be large enough for asymptotic analysis if asymptotic analysis is performed and that the distribution of data will be multivariate normal. It is also assumed that no perfect multicollinearity will exist among the predictor variables and that relevant error terms will be uncorrelated. Research Questions The following questions were asked of the data: 1. Will more than one distinctive perception of the function of the news media be identified in the responses of the gatekeepers? 2. Will more than one pattern of news use be identified in the content of the gatekeepers’ daily newspapers? 3. Is the gatekeeper’s perception of the function of the news media related to his or her pattern of news use? W Gatekeeper White (1950) l< industrialized study 17 years subiect. Bot services and t 30th asked t cow with th gatekeeper’s n Breed’s 1 mm contro interview“ 1 Publicationis members, new informal EEth from news“! PubliCation l newsmom, he ““85 (1 He suggested the news f1 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The Gatekeeper Studies: The Historical Foundation Gatekeeper studies seem to have officially begun when White (1950) looked at the behavior of one wire editor in an industrialized midwest city. Snider (1967) replicated the study 17 years later, using the same gatekeeper as the subject. Both authors monitored news coming over the wire services and the copy which was published in the paper. Both asked the gatekeeper to mark each piece of rejected copy with the reason for rejection. They found the gatekeeper’s methods of selection were very subjective. Breed’s (1955) study tried to ascertain the types of social control exercised in newsrooms in the northeast. He interviewed 120 newspeople and learned that even though a publication’s news policy is usually followed by staff members, news policy usually is disseminated through informal methods rather than through specific directives from newspaper publishers. News staffers learn the publication norms through their reference groups in the newsroom, he concluded. Bass (1969) expanded the definition of the gatekeeper. He suggested that gatekeeping took place at two points in the news flow —— "double—action gatekeeping" -— the first when raw news 1' prepare initial (editors and 00} Studies 1‘ grouped into th 1. a desc 2. a desc 3. the re gatekeeper. These ma‘ Provide a m. literature abo followed here. A fourth defining news Because 1 excePt where conducted wit] W differe included “18 A1though immediately r they help Pro and °f the inflame,es t] broader Pica when raw news is sifted through the news gatherers who )repare initial copy and the second when the news processors (editors and copyreaders) prepare the final product. Studies looking at the gatekeeper can roughly be grouped into three major areas: 1. a description of the news producer as an individual 2. a description of the news organization t 3. the relationship between news and influences on the hatekeeper. These major areas are not mutually exclusive, but provide a means of organizing the eclectic body of literature about the gatekeeper. The divisions will be followed here. A fourth category will be the various approaches to defining news -— the gatekeeper’s product. Because this study deals with U.S. daily newspapers, except where noted, the studies cited will be those conducted with the U.S. media. Studies dealing strictly with differences between and among media will not be included unless they focus in some way on the gatekeeper. Although some 'of the variables discussed are not immediately relevant to gatekeeper professional orientation, they help provide a broader picture of the gatekeeper per se and of the organization which includes the gatekeeper, influences the gatekeeper and produces the news. This >roader picture is necessary if findings are to be explained. All Many of t providing not 0 gatekeeper perc These studies a Demographics A series information ab media manageme News (1978) prep“ “eWSPeOPle. 1 Personnel were the United St: 18). The res: coneentratea White, male, Specifically, Spanish or B Doreen Were Percent had and 70 Perce, populatiom Much Of Heaven Res A Profile of the Media News Producers Many of the recent gatekeeper studies are descriptive, providing not only demographics but also descriptions of gatekeeper perceptions of the profession and the audience. These studies are reviewed below. Demographics A series of studies have gathered demographic information about newspeOple both in news processing and in :media management. National Portrait: Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman (1976) prepared a sociological portrait of United States newspeople. They estimated that 69,500 full—time editorial personnel were working in "English language news media in the United States" in 1971 when their data were gathered (p. 18). The researchers found that working newspersons are concentrated in large, urban areas and seem to be young, white, male, middle/upper class, and in the print media. Specifically, less than 4 percent of their sample was of Spanish or Black origin, the median age was 37 years,1 80 percent were male, 58 percent were college graduates,2 62 percent had fathers with at least white—collar employment, and 70 percent worked in communities with 250,000 or more Population. Seventy—five percent Were in the print media. Much of their study was replicated by Wilhoit, Gray and Weaver. Results indicated that the journalist in 1982—83 is still white (95 educated (74 P9“ Forty-six percen 56 percent of th and Weaver ASNE In 1975 paralleled the .1 (launch and De white (94 percei percent), and Eighty-five per Median age was and Weaver, '1 daily IleWSpapg We bachelor’: their broadens held less than Seeiety of h‘ Blacks] Hispal up about g wormrce'w uP less than television he 1932. TraYes found that i] still white (95 percent), male (66 percent), college— educated (74 percent), and even younger (32 years median). Forty-six percent work for a daily newspaper, as compared to 56 percent of the Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman sample (Gray and Weaver ASNE report, 1983, and Weaver and Wilhoit, 1986). In 1975 reporters in Minneapolis and St. Paul paralleled the Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman national sample (Ismach and Dennis, 1978). The reporters were generally white (94 percent), males (80 percent), college-educated (84 percent), and products of an "advantaged" childhood. Eighty—five percent were between the ages of 25 and 44. Median age was 32, the same as that found by Wilhoit, Gray and Weaver. Television reporters were younger than the daily newspaper reporters. The newspaper reporters held more bachelor’s degrees and fewer master’s degrees than their broadcast counterparts, but fewer newspaper reporters held less than a bachelor’s degree. Minorities: Guimary (1984) cites the 1984 American Society of Newspaper Editors report which indicates that Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians and Asian-Americans make uP about 5.8 percent of the "professional newsroom workforce."3 He said that Stone found nonminority men made Up less than 67 percent of the broadcasting workforce, while television news personnel included 14 percent minorities in 1982. Trayes (1979), whose interest was also minorities, found that in 1978 about 1 of every 18 newsroom employees in 25 dailies (re percent). This 40 were Black (1 1n the tea from .2 to 2.7 percent, Black Black photograp said. Photograpl also young (31 hold a bacheli field ten Year t° be in the (1934) sample m are “150 male well educated They “erage. 1984). The fore were also 01 but 14 Defoe: had graduate. Percent had . Percent Said in the Iberi 5 dailies (representing 17 cities) was Black (about 5.7 ercent). This was an increase from 1968 when about one in 0 were Black (about 2.6 percent), he said. In the ten-year period, Black news executives increased rom .2 to 2.7 percent, Black reporters increased 3.8 to 7.7 ercent, Black desk people increased .7 to 2.9 percent, and lack photographers increased 3.7 to 6.4 percent, Trayes aid. Photographers: The daily newspaper photographer is also young (31 years) and male (8 to 1).4 Only 42 percent hold a bachelor’s degree. Sixty percent have been in the field ten years or less and about one—third said they expect to be in the same profession ten years from now. Bethune’s (1984) sample included 426 photographers. Spegialized Reporters: Science reporters on dailies are also male (74 percent), but older (40 years average) and well educated (all but one of 50 held a college degree). They averaged 15 years experience as reporters (Storad, 1984). The foreign correspondents sampled by Pollock (1981) were also older (64 percent over 40) and well educated (all but 14 percent had a college degree or better and 52 percent had graduated from well known institutions).5 Seventy-three Percent had 15 or more years experience in journalism and 98 Percent said they had a familiar or better reading ability in the Iberian languages. [Eighty-four percent said the same about their speaking ability.] males: and Silver (1‘ experience. The 309 overwhelmingly white. Nearl graduates or t over half (53 and over half than 50,000 ci A plural themselves mi However, youn conservative, “Ere more hp. Fowler 3, SurVeved in 1 better educat college degre 13 Tears. Tb Mam lowed at t (publisher/y director' individuals 1982 P°Dulat the Nemen 4 11 Editors: Of the 132 managing editors surveyed by Bow and Silver (1983), 69 percent had more than 10 years experience. The 309 editors surveyed by Giles (1979) were overwhelmingly male (95 percent). Ninety—eight percent were white. Nearly 80 percent of the editors were college graduates or better (45 percent held a four-year degree); over half (53 percent) of his sample were managing editors and over half (53 percent) worked on newspapers with less than 50,000 circulation.6 A plurality of the editors (52 percent) considered (themselves middle-of—the—road on social/political issues. However, young editors (under 36) were more likely to be conservative, while the middle-aged editors (36-45 years) were more likely to be liberal than conservative. Fowler and Smith (1981) found that 170 magazine editors surveyed in 1978 were also male (78 percent), 40 years old, better educated than the general journalist (87 percent held college degrees or better), and averaged media experience of 13 years. These editors represented 211 magazines. Managers: Ogan (1983) went beyond the newsroom and looked at those who actually run the daily newspapers (publisher/general manager, top editor, advertising director, circulation and production managers). These individuals are also primarily male (only 4.5 percent of the 1982 population were women). The men averaged 46 years and the women 44 years of age. Both the men (53 percent) and the women (55 are more likely About half men are narrie years of age. one-third of 1 employer. Ogan, Brm newspaper mana toP-level mana identified was married male i in the Chicag< “UT of whom ( Were from pre. We likely entrePremenri background. The pub] the urban succesSful b‘ Y°unger were mo“ m Mazza (1977) the 9011111111111 and on Small 12 the women (56 percent) hold college degrees, and the women are more likely to work for smaller dailies.7 About half the women (54 percent) and 88 percent of the men are married, and both report to white males about 50 years of age. About half the woman managers and fewer than one—third of the men have spent their careers with the same employer. Ogan, Brown and Weaver (1979) also looked only at newspaper managers and found that about 2.4 percent of the top—level managers are women. The newspaper manager they iidentified was (as in the 1983 study) a white, protestant, imarried male in his late 40s. He held a college degree. Publishers and Directors: Janowitz (1967) found that in the Chicago suburbs in 1949 weekly newspaper publishers—~ many of whom served as editor and other staff persons—— were from predominately lower middle class families and were more likely to have come from a promotional or entrepreneurial background than from a communication background. The publishers resembled their audience in background—— the urban middle class -— and gave "the appearance of successful businessmen . . ." (p. 162). Younger publishers on weeklies and dailies under 8,000 were more mobile than their older counterparts, Stone and Mazza (1977) found. Those publishers who became involved in the community power structure were in smaller communities and on smaller circulation papers with less competition. This tendl affiliated with true for their Although a civic organizat the 148 editc editors indicai of the smalli charity boards small-communit lnteresti 0f the 93 s resigned from anticipated c( 1982). Giles’ . activities ei hours and 28 0f the B Percent indic “Wis and PE lore than edf weSton examine the allocate the directors of l3 This tendency of smaller-community publishers to be affiliated with outside power interests apparently holds true for their editors as well. Although an ASNE survey indicated that involvement in civic organizations is uncommon overall among editors, of the 148 editors surveyed, most of the larger—circulation editors indicated no community affiliation. But about half of the smaller-circulation editors were members of either charity boards or cultural groups. About a third of the small—community editors belonged to service clubs. Interestingly, 14 of the 55 metropolitan editors and 23 :of the 93 smaller-community editors indicated they had resigned from an organization because of either actual or anticipated conflicts of interest ("Smaller town editors," 1982). Giles’ editors did not devote much time to civic activities either. Sixty percent contributed less than 3 hours and 28 percent contributed 3 to 5 hours per week. 0f the Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin (1982) newspeople, 35 percent indicated they were "involved with a variety of groups and people in the community." (Their sample involved more than editors.) Weston (1978) also moved outside the newsroom to examine the backgrounds of those who choose the editors and allocate the resources: 193 members of the boards of directors of ten larger newspaper groups, two news magazine corporations, mg. The broadc better educatio print directors media are sir corporate Amer: prestige. 0f the Marquis’ M media and 55 f 0f whom was in The dire colleges. Prj‘ perceht), whit Percent), cor Percent)_ This Si CWPorate An Donohew (1965 States t0 i( five individi 10m and were most of and bankers. shared their corporations, the three major networks, and The New York 11.1112- The broadcast directors were younger and had more and better education and more experience outside media than the print directors. Even so, the backgrounds of corporate media are similar to the backgrounds of the rest of corporate America in age, sex, and educational level and prestige. of the 145 directors Weston was able to locate in ‘Marquis’ Who’s Who in America, average age was 59 for print media and 55 for broadcast media. Nine were women, only one of whom was in the broadcast industry. The directors were generally educated at elite colleges. Print directors were generally from the media (62 percent), while broadcast directors were from the media (32 percent), corporations and banks (38 percent) and law (27 percent). This similarity of high-level media personnel to corporate America was reinforced by an early study by Donohew (1965). He asked newspaper publishers in three states to identify by occupation and political affiliation five individuals in their home communities whose opinion on local and national issues they respected most. Merchants were most often cited, followed by lawyers, public officials and bankers. The publishers generally chose individuals who shared their political affiliations. And Hart the century, industrial leac leaders, he : backgrounds. Thus the educated, whit becoming more aggregate. He the specialize older and mori Em Johnston distinct typ Perceived "i researchers 1 percePtions , Bowman foun Using a list (disc,18sed c "whole‘trutt ““8 media ““5 with s. aet1Ve Styl 15 And Hart (1976) said that as far back as the turn of the century, newspaper leaders were more similar to industrial leaders than to the general public. Newspaper leaders, he said, were elites in education and family backgrounds. Thus the news industry seems to be dominated by well educated, white males (although gender and race seem to be becoming more diverse), who are young at least in the aggregate. However, as could be expected in any industry, the specialized and higher—level positions are occupied by older and more elite individuals. ‘Perceptions of the Profession Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman were able to identify two distinct types of journalists, based on the journalist’s perceived "image of professional responsibility." Other researchers have also grouped the journalist by his or her Perceptions of the field or the journalist’s ethics. Professional Responsibility; Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman found a "participant" and a "neutral" journalist.a Using a list of eight possible functions of news media (discussed on p. 89), the authors said their participant, a "whole-truth" journalist, perceived "the obligation of the news media to seek out all relevant news and to prepare the news with sufficient care and sufficient depth that all relevant information is presented." This they see as an active style. This view restricted view the-truth" jour "the media shov verified, and ( does not reflet 122-3). This As noted that education newsperson’s Participant—ne in this stur Professional °F8anizat10n "Professional Janowitz reinterpretat findings. F and‘he Partj Janowitz 13W6r~type I COUl‘troOm th the UnrepreS The rat Janowit «fundamefltal some extent, v t This view of journalism contrasts with the more restricted view of the neutral journalist, the "nothing-but— the-truth" journalist. The neutral journalist’s image is: "the media should transmit only news which can be factually verified, and only that which is presented in a manner which does not reflect the personal values of the newswriter" (p. 122—3). This they see as a passive style. As noted on page 2, Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman found that education and training were the best predictors of a newsperson’s attitude toward the role of the press on a participant—neutral dimension. The participant journalist in this study was younger, better educated, a member of professional associations, and working in a large organization in a large community. What they called "professional age" was not a good predictor.9 Janowitz (1975) changes the terminology in a reinterpretation of the Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman findings. He calls the neutral journalist a "gatekeeper" and the participant journalist an "advocate." Janowitz feels the advocate journalist would prefer a lawyer-type role with the client being the audience and the courtroom the mass media. The advocate’s audience would be the unrepresented in society. The gatekeeper Janowitz sees as a processor. Janowitz suggests that because the advocate was not "fundamentally dissatisfied," the advocate must be able "to some extent" to pursue that role in his or her work. Weaver and salaries in t interpretive i journalist, Sll autonomy, has feedback from interpretive a Supervise politics, and are more 11] journalist, "disseminator Weaver Journalist -_ less likely t authority, f be located it Thus or Persona1 Cb °rient8tion. Weaver j°urnalistsl exclusiVely A1thou Tharrels Wi Corr“pond, chroniclErs l7 Weaver and Wilhoit found that journalists with higher salaries in the print media were more likely to be interpretive in their orientation. The interpretive journalist, similar to the participant, is one who values autonomy, has a higher educational level10 and receives feedback from news sources. Reporters are more likely to be interpretive and/or adversarial than editors. Supervisory and editorial authority, conservative politics, and location in the South or North Central regions are more likely to be characteristics of the neutral journalist, which Weaver and Wilhoit call the l"disseminator." Weaver and Wilhoit also identified a third type of journalist -- the adversarial journalist. This person was less likely to be conservative or in a position of editorial authority. The adversarial journalist was also unlikely to be located in the North Central region (p. 112—124). Thus organizational considerations are as important as personal characteristics in defining the journalist’s orientation. Weaver and Wilhoit also confirmed a pluralism among the journalists. Only 2 percent of their sample adhered exclusively to one orientation. Although he is identifying the same divisions, Pollock quarrels with the terminology. Pollock’s Latin American correspondents are divided into (1) examiners and (2) chroniclers.11 Pollock "providing con problems" and would be the i In contra ("appeal to a -- news is ("accuracy a: compares to h Overall, examiners. examiner was having editj examiners 81, BS indicatin, Those (implied to . his C°DCIusi master’s deg Probably in Thus We are identii orientatiOn and P°llock ArEyri l8 Pollock sees the examiners as emphasizing guidance: "providing contextual analysis and interpretation of complex problems" and presenting alternatives or choices. These would be the interpreters of other studies. In contrast, Pollock’s chroniclers emphasize breadth ("appeal to a wide audience and attention to unusual events" -- news is the "exception"), speed and reliability ("accuracy and careful attribution"). Chronicling he compares to historical chronology. Overall, 59 percent of Pollock’s correspondents were examiners. Even so, the attribute most predictive of the examiner was being a full-time reporter (as contrasted with having editing' or‘ managerial responsibilities). The examiners also had many siblings, which Pollock interprets as indicating a backgrOund with "early group experience." Those likely to be Opposed to the examiner function (implied to be chroniclers, although Pollock does not state his conclusions in these terms) have more experience, fewer master’s degrees, more work in a team setting, and are probably in their 405. Thus Weaver and Wilhoit, Johnstone, et al., and Pollock are identifying education as predictive of professional orientation and to a lesser degree both Johnstone, et a1. and Pollock identified age, but in different ways. Argyris (1974) identified three types of journalists on the newspaper he studiedze l) the traditionalist, 2) the reporter/reseal labels reflect The tradi' neutralist) Ar inverted-pyram facts. The re looks for nor Argyris as "c game" in a trends. Th: imposing thei BY cont Obligated to fEEIS the inf Culberts dimension _. mOdel; tYpe: “e"speople. traditionali and thOSe interested i Spot “ms. in human ini Culber. news, less spot news l9 reporter/researcher, and 3) the reporter/activist. These labels reflect the reporters’ attitudes toward their job. The traditionalist (similar to the Johnstone, et al., neutralist) Argyris found is craft-oriented, following the inverted—pyramid style of writing and adhering strictly to facts. The reporter/researcher (similar to the participant) looks for more interpretive information and is seen by Argyris as "closest to being identified with the academic game" in a scholarly approach to examining events and trends. The reporter/researchers have no interest in imposing their own views on the audience. By contrast, the reporter/activist does not feel obligated to report both sides of a story if the activist feels the information reported can affect change. Culbertson, (1983), who also .identifies the third dimension -- activism -— looked at the other end of the model: types of news emphasized by the three types of newspeople. He found (as mentioned on page 2) that the traditionalists leaned toward spot news with local emphasis, and those who saw their role as interpretive were more interested in national news and interpretive breadth for spot news. “(The interpreter journalist was less interested in human interest material. Culbertson’s activists were interested in international news, less linterested in local news and less interested in spot news. Culbertsor participant. ' in an organi traditionalist Merrill ( the same as personal obser the journali scientific jet journalist, l involved, int‘ traditions co approach —— t senses" and 2 Asking g °f their r01. 0f their "advocacy" trEditional When t the FEportex Were 4 Percl Up 65 PBrce Percfint, reportErs p Dunn’s statehOUSe 20 Culbertson’s interpreter was similar to Johnstone’s participant. The interpreter had less experience and worked in an organization with a larger staff size than the traditionalist. Merrill (1974) arrives at a dichotomy that is basically the same as the neutral-participant grouping. He uses personal observation and philosophical discussion to label the* journalist as "scientific" or "artistic." The scientific journalist is the neutral, disinterested, aloof journalist, while the "artistic" is the participant, the involved, intuitive journalist. He suggests that these two traditions could be combined into an effective "factuality" approach -- the artist/scientist who sees with "heightened senses" and analyzes with "keen intellect" (p. 156). Asking about actual functions rather than perceptions of their role, Ismach and Dennis found that only 2 percent of their Minnesota sample identified themselves as "advocacy" reporters. The rest divided evenly between traditional and interpretive reporters. When the reporters stated their preference, however, the reporters preferring to function in an advocacy role were 4 percent. Those preferring the interpretive role made up 65 percent and the traditionalist preference was only 29 percent. As with the Johnstone, et al., sample, younger reporters preferred the nontraditional role. Dunn’s (1969) unstructured interviews with 21 statehouse correspondents in Wisconsin uncovered four reportorial r0 1, a corresponds to studies; 2. a the people,' interpreter/p: 3. a the adversary (Dunn compar government" a the “investi studies.13); 4. a "1 Parallel Mg. news analysi further his be Either ac "hue Argyri FiCO ( role Conce] Indiana. l smesI on identified Iowa Study reperters, 21 reportorial roles:12 I. a "neutral information transmitter," which corresponds to the neutral and/or traditionalist of other studies; 2. a "translator and interpreter of government to the people," which corresponds to the recognized interpreter/participant; 3. a "representative of the public," which could be the adversary of Wilhoit and Weaver yet seems less harsh (Dunn compares this role to Cohen’s "press as critic of government" and the actual activities seem to fit more with the "investigate government claims" item of more recent studies.13); and 4. a "participant in policy making," which could only parallel Argyris’ activist. (Although this reporter may use news analysis and columns as well as personal contacts to further his or her views, Dunn implies that the reporter may be either actively or inadvertently fulfilling this role while Argyris implies the role is consciously chosen.) Fico (1985) used the Dunn differentiators to assess role concepts in statehouse reporters in Michigan and Indiana. The items were used to make four of six Guttman Scales, one for each of the four reportorial roles identified by Dunn. Two other scales used items from an Iowa study which measured perceived concerns of the reporters’ editors. rm Fico was each construct analytic tech} reporters with to replicate translator, th also able tc concerns of ti Factor a1 concepts were number of ite author repor Indiana repor the Michigar ngPS) he 1; Priorities, 4 “*0 Profiles and the othe Clear on the and their gr A difi Parallels t] Asking they “Quid “e“spaper’ interEsted staff meflbe 22 Fico was attempting to validate the applicability of each construct in different settings and with different analytic techniques. Comparing data from 25 Indiana reporters with data from 25 Michigan reporters, he was able to replicate three of the reportorial role scales: the translator, the representative and the participant. He was also able to replicate one scale dealing with perceived concerns of the editor. Factor analyses, however, indicated that the role self- concepts were different for each group of reporters. The number of items actually analyzed is not clear, but the author reports 16 items loaded on five factors for the ilndiana reporters and 14 items loaded on three factors for the Michigan reporters. Three of the factors (for both groups) he labels public-service orientation, organizational priorities, and activist-reporter orientation. of the other two profiles, he labels one the traditionalist orientation and the other is unnamed. Although a general orientation is clear on the three factors common to both groups, the items and their groupings are not identical. A different type of grouping by Cherry (1985) still parallels the idealist—traditionalist grouping: Asking 734 editors and staffers14 how much interest they would have if different groups "graded" their daily newspaper, she found consensus in that all would be interested in grades from readers and their own editorial staff members.15 But diffe "finance" and included advei included jour publishers and Cherry fo champion (in (interested ir neither). The ch: environment ( years younger local volunta three or nor did not. PUblishc Promoters. tended to be editors beca Her gen °°1138gues ( C“Chision I'SOurCe of HoweVerl b' labeled "c1 Cherry: 8 Co EEEQQP 23 But differences were found in those interested in "finance" and in what she calls the "ideal." Finance included advertisers and potential investors. Ideal included journalism school faculties and students, other publishers and politicians. Cherry found 1) a promoter (interested in both), 2) a champion (interested in the ideal), 3) a merchant (interested in finance), and 4) a loner (interested in neither). The champion was less happy with the newsroom environment (as was Culbertson’s activist), at least 20 years yOunger than the rest and a member of fewer than three local voluntary organizations. The merchants belonged to three or more local volunteer organizations, but the loner did not. Publishers in her sample tended to be merchants and promoters. Editors tended to be loners and staff people tended to be champions. In the larger markets, however, editors became merchants. Her consensus findings of interest in editorial staff colleagues (and readers) indicates that Breed’s 30-year~old conclusion still holds. Breed said that newspeople’s "source of rewards" are their colleagues and superiors. However, breed discounted interest in readers, whom he labeled "clients" of the newspersons —— a contradiction of Cherry’s consensus. Perceptions of the Field: Although age and sex were not definitive found that perceived litt likely to hav the future of felt readers market penetra more likely 1 and to be on . Those jo image, were tended to be medium or 1 Shared the v, ThOSe progress‘ive Choice also ; The-Y were newspapers. conditions a study includ some from tr M. his C°1leag, SamDle Stud spent the g 24 not definitive, Burgoon, Bernstein, Burgoon and Atkin (1984) found that younger, job—dissatisfied individuals who perceived little expectation for upward mobility are more "pessimism and gloom" about likely to have perceptions of the future of the newspaper industry. These individuals felt readers would be turning to broadcast news and that market penetration would decrease. These pessimists were more likely to have been in one location longer than others and to be on other than a medium-sized paper. Those journalists who felt newspapers had a good public image, were influential and inspired public confidence tended to be younger, male, in supervisory positions on a medium or larger paper. They also perceived that they shared the values of a satisfied public. Those journalists who felt newspapers were making progressive change and that people read the newspaper by choice also anticipated a lifelong career in the field. They were more likely to be older, females from small newspapers. These individuals perceived good working conditions and good communication in their newsrooms. The study included over 1600 journalists, most from dailies but some from television newsrooms.16 Ethics: Grouping by perceptions of ethics, Black and his colleagues (1980) found the largest group in their 54— sample study was the "most ethical." These individuals had Spent the greatest amount of time in the field, held a degree in journal dogmatism scale. Another dis‘ a manipulator-jo story," but inte manipulator was likely to be fem highest on the r A third 1 ethics. Thi professional ex advanced degree group was also Regardless doEmatism seal. national mean Weaver 8: Who have been less likely tr reportihg may with higher 5 Say the Na Situations we Setting or; in 25 degree in journalism and were "fairly" open-minded on a dogmatism scale. Another distinct group identified by Black, et al, was a manipulator-journalist. This person was out to "get the story," but intended no harm to innocent third parties. The manipulator was either still in or just out of school, more likely to be female, to have a graduate degree, and to score highest on the dogmatism scale. A third group, the smallest, espoused situational ethics. This group was primarily male, had limited professional experience, and was more likely to have an advanced degree in journalism. 0n the dogmatism scale, this group was also "fairly" open—minded. Regardless of their relationship to each other on the dogmatism scale, only 12 of the 54 sample were above the national mean for dogmatism. Weaver & Wilhoit found that older journalists, those who have been in the field longer and those in radio were less likely to say that seven controversial practices in reporting may be justified. Those in larger organizations, with higher salaries and with a union, were more likely to say the practices were justified.17 The seven reporting Situations were as follows: [saying may be justified] getting employed in a firm or organization to gain inside information 67 percent using con gove auth badgering get making us as l witi paying pr inft claiming agreeing and (9.127-134). In gen professional traditional, Precision anl searches f0 Events. 0 Journalist 5 Those a better Edur emPloved 1h YoungerI Ei‘ rePortehs r Those PasitiVe 0n y°“nEEr 8hr flexible e1 26 using confidential business or government documents without authorization 55 percent badgering unwilling informants to get a story 47 percent making use of personal documents such as letters and photographs without permission 28 percent paying people for confidential information 27 percent claiming to be somebody else 20 percent agreeing to protect confidentiality and not doing so 5 percent (p. 127-134). In general, then, two distinct traditions of professional responsibility seem to be most evident: (l) a traditional, neutral journalist who adheres to textbook precision and (2) a participant, interpretive journalist who searches for meaning beyond the "mirror" reflection of events. Other stronger deviations from the traditional journalist seem to be in a minority. Those who prefer the nontraditional role seem to be better educated than their traditional counterparts and employed in the larger organizations. They seem to be younger, either in age or experience, and will probably be reporters rather than editors. Those in larger organizations seem to have a more Positive outlook about the field itself, while those who are Younger and also in the larger organizations may have more flexible ethical standards. W A differe on journalists studies measur or she is writ sorts, hypothv interview dat: News Ag ntempting to news resemble asked both he Q-sort 54 hyp twice: Once thought the < The ma h°m°geneous Poorest Sel new8peoPle. Prominence a Perceived b) StPFies, Culber- Called a " audience p distinctiOD he labeled of the au( 27 Perceptions of the Audience or "Client" A different type of research expands Breed’s comments on journalists’ dismissal of the audience/client. These studies measure the newsperson’s perception of the person he or she is writing for and take the form of comparative Q— sorts, hypothetical situations, experimental comparisons and interview data. News Agreement: Atwood and Culbertson were both attempting to determine whether newspeoples’ perceptions of 1news resembled the audience’s perceptions. Atwood (1970) asked both newspeople and subscribers to their newspapers to 1Q-sort 54 hypothetical news stories. Each group sorted twice: once as they preferred the stories and once as they thought the other group would sort the stories. The newspeople and the subscribers were fairly homogeneous in their news selections, he found, but the poorest selectors of audience preference were the desk newspeople. However, newspeople preferred more stories with prominence as an attribute than the subscribers and were perceived by their subscribers as preferring these types of stories. Culbertson (1975-76) attempted to formulate what he called a "coorientation" measure of editor preferences and audience preferences of neWS content. He used these distinctions in his gatekeeper study (1983) to assess what he labeled the "congruency" between the editor’s perception 0f the audience and the editor’s own story preferences. He included 8 t1 ("projected news the editor seleC —- and (2) "fr stories that fol preferences. "congruency" - preferences cor Using a 1 (local, state, (spot, invest journalists or showed low . Preferences a their hypoth What he labs With larger large‘Paper cosmoPMitar from their with the J iournmsti ILagi asked dour: lheir Perc felind that readers Wt 28 'ncluded a third measure, probable news selection ("projected news play") to assess (l) "autonomy" —- whether the editor selected stories that followed his own preference -- and (2) "followership" -- whether the editor selected stories that followed his or her perceptions of audience preferences. He also attempted to determine (3) "congruency" -- how closely the editor and audience preferences corresponded (p. 7—8). Using a percentage allocation of both story "location" (local, state, national or international) and story type (spot, investigative, or human interest), he found that journalists on newspapers with an interpretive orientation showed low congruency with their perception of audience preferences and high autonomy from these preferences in their hypothetical selection patterns. High autonomy and what he labeled autonomy/followership were also associated with larger newspapers. He concluded that "predictably, large-paper staffers viewed their publications as cosmopolitan in function and themselves as somewhat removed from their audiences" (p. 23). He also noted a parallel with the Johnstone, et al., conclusion that nontraditional journalistic values are more prevalent in larger cities. Image_of Reader: Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin (1982) asked journalists what they believed their audience read and their perceptions about specific audience preferences. They found that these newspaper journalists believed that their readers were more interested in hard than soft news, in shorter than and in what activities, en Comparing authors conc underestimate and stories at news categor‘ interest: in schools, and About he that they be] and accurate television n. Althoug was "useful ReSearch was news values features, implication rPsearoh ex if hem-10M % PeroeptiOm inmost, . and We” Flegel an 29 shorter than in-depth stories, in breaking than trend news, and in what they called "news of record" (e.g., court activities, engagements, etc.). Comparing their results to audience-research data, the authors concluded that: "Newspeople substantially underestimate audience interest in national government news and stories about environment and energy. Four other hard— news categories were slightly under—rated for audience interest: international news, economic news, education and schools, and science." About half of their sampled journalists also indicated that they believed readers trust the newspaper to be fair and accurate and that their newspaper was trusted more than television news.18 Although 60 percent of the journalists felt research was "useful," only half~ considered research accurate. Research was not perceived as being useful for determining news values but was felt to be useful for decisions about features, format and layout, and advertisers. The implication is that the journalists associate the term research exclusively with audience research. No other type if mentioned. Influence of Audience: Comparing reporters’ perceptions of the influence of news values, reader interest, reporter opinion, editor opinion, reader opinion and advertiser opinion on reporting and feature writing, Flegel and Chaffee (1971) found that when the views of 1“ editors and re the reporters opinions. When act‘ examined, st both reporter the conserve judgments had content. Also cor Shulman (195‘ anticipated demolishing fantaSiZed u Both ti and who had Who Were . sPPPortive Pool 8 1. Wr Writer of images of C 2' R! with the k Were not c 3. “bad‘n 3O editors and readers were perceived to differ from their own, the reporters were influenced most strongly by their own opinions. When actual stories on the two papers studied were examined, stories from the liberal paper correlated with both reporter Opinions and editor Opinions of content. On the conservative paper, perceived editors’ and readers’ judgments had ’low or negative correlations with the story content. Also comparing perceptions with actual output, Pool and Shulman (1959) learned that their classroom student writers anticipated either winning favor from the reader or demolishing the reader through verbal aggression —- real or T fantasized "deference and power,‘ they said (p. 157). Both the students who were writing a "good-news" story and who had images of critical associates and the students who were writing a "badsnews" story and had images of supportive associates were more likely to distort the facts. Pool and Shulman found that: 1. writing "good" news tended to elicit images in the writer of supportive associates while "bad" news elicited images of critics. 2. Reporting the facts when the images were congruent with the kind of news was more accurate than when the images were not congruent with the kind of news. 3. "Good" news was more accurately reported than "bad." During t civil rights perceptions 01 The repor for their pee of newsroom p Reader S the reader/gs editors cor circulation. He sugg with high 1 targeted as reader age), high readers to maintah interest bu increased, gTOUp that associated Probably bu Altho for audie nontraditi (who may judgment 1 preferenc 31 During the years of racial turmoil in this country, civil rights sources and reporters had poor or dim perceptions of their audience, Gieber (1960) found. The reporters (from five California newspapers) wrote for their peers or their superiors and were very much aware of newsroom policy concerning civil rights. Reader Study Use: Meyer (1978) doesn’t really examine the reader/gatekeeper relationship but instead suggests ways editors could use reader—interest studies to boost circulation. He suggested pushing those topics which are associated with high interest but low readership for groups which are targeted as potential readers (e.g., those entering the high reader age). Topics associated with both high interest and high readership are probably being covered adequately enough to maintain circulation. Topics associated with low interest but high readership should be maintained or even increased, because they may indicate a special interest group that includes potential readers. He said a topic associated with both low interest and low readership should probably be ignored. Although not extensive, similarities with and concern for audience news preferences are in evidence, but the nontraditional as well as the more experienced journalists (who may not be nontraditional) seem to rely on their own Judgment rather than on perceptions of their audience’s preferences. There seems to be some pride in an independent approach to m mixed reactiox and an econom innar1;__1h§ The port white man wi have come frc those who 5 denographica' American ind Most jo neutral or interpretive Journalists be fringe I BUdience a: indePendenc Journalists willing to An en Nieves fr production 32 approach to news production, at least in larger papers, and mixed reaction to research that could have both a service and an economic benefit. Summary: The Gatekeeper Profile The portrait of the journalist, then, would be a young, white man with a college education. This young man would have come from at least a middle—class background. Yet those who supervise this young journalist appear to be demographically similar to those who supervise in other American industries. Most journalists will fit into one of two camps: the neutral or strictly fact camp and the participant or interpretive camp. Other more extreme views of the function journalists should perform are in the industry but seem to be fringe minorities. The journalists are aware of their audience and its needs but tend to maintain their independence when producing news. The interpretive journalists and those on the larger papers seem even less willing to let the audience determine the news. The News Room An entirely different approach to gatekeeper research moves from individual-level characteristics to the organization itself.19 These studies look at the news production system. w Several White and Snit rather than 0 seem to con availability by newsroom 1: One of (1980). E) California d: news process thus structu the bureaucr events (for Officials “ resPonsibilj dOCuments at contem and Spent On in for the Leg relies on o TuChma ”athOIitE that he“ i learned ti institutio deadlineS] 33 The News Production Process: The Case Studies Several detailed case studies, completed after the White and Snider research, have focused on a specific medium rather than on one individual within the medium. They all seem to conclude that news is determined by reporter availability and that reporter availability is established by newsroom procedures. One of the most recent case studies is Fishman’s (1980). Examining the news gathering process at a California daily, he concludes that the restrictions of the news process structure the beat reporter’s activities and thus structure the content of the news. The reporter and the bureaucrat source, he said, rely on official accounts of events (for example, crime and court news) and presume that officials will be knowledgeable about their areas of responsibility. This reliance on officials and their documents absolves the news medium of responsibility for content and isaves newsgathering time that might have been spent on investigative work. His conclusions do not account for the legal protection "privilege" provides a reporter who relies on official documents and sources. Tuchman’s (1978) participant observation study of a metropolitan television station and newspaper also concluded that news is structured by the gathering process. She learned that coverage of news events is dictated by institutional conveniences of time constraints [i.e., deadlines] and staffing ability and by a procedure that situates rep systematically gathering reir said. She fr eliminate cor represented b: an end. Gans (1 national medi and 11%. He those individ Who are hot reporter __ determines n5 affairs Port: section of E on a set of these Value respousible individllalis like TUChman efficiency c daily 0r "enduring" ‘ themselws. Sigal Ne W 34 situates reporters at a central site to search systematically for news. These conventions of news gathering reinforce coverage of the establishment,20 she said. She felt that the newsgathering procedures tended to eliminate coverage of issues unless these issues are represented by an event that has a beginning, a middle and an end. Gans (1979) became a participant observer at four national media organizations: CBS News, NBC News, Newsweek and Time. He said sources most often cited in the news are those individuals who have proved credible in the past and who' are both geographically and socially near to the reporter —- again, the finding that access to sources determines news. His content analysis of the domestic affairs portions of CBS newscasts and the national affairs section of Newsweek found a viewpoint of the country based on a set of what he calls "enduring values." He relates these values to progressivism and defines them as: responsible capitalism, small-town pastoralism, moderate individualism, ethnocentrism and altruistic democracy. He, like Tuchman and Fishman, relates the news content to the efficiency of the news process that is required to maintain daily or weekly news production. But he attributes these "enduring" values to the backgrounds of the journalists themselves. Sigal (1973) examined procedures and policies on The ng York Times and the Washington Post. He said that when covering natior heavily depends] by virtue of t‘ tendency wittl 1 smaller study hueraction bet competition be reporter and t] Si£81 notes t Nacement and On newsworthi department (1, regarding Plac His Conclusio- departmenta1 their departm Protect their The cor sources, by ‘ Pretty much °r€anization bBCause of newerOm prr news and D1 SOUI‘Ce Ser acceSSib-lli covering national and international news, reporters are heavily dependent on official sources who become newsworthy by virtue of their positions. Fishman had noted this same tendency with local events, as did Whitney (1981) with his smaller study of a news bureau and radio station. Interaction between the reporter and the source becomes competition between the source’s manipulation of the reporter and the reporter’s need for access to exclusivity. Sigal notes that even within the news medium itself, story placement and play are political rather than based strictly on newsworthiness. He learned (as did Tuchman) that department desk editors are lobbyists for their staffs regarding placement and length of stories in each edition. His conclusion parallels that of Argyris,21 who said that departmental managers are relatively autonomous both within their departments and at the same level and that managers protect their own interests. The consensus seems to be that certain types of sources, by virtue of their positions or activities, are Pretty much guaranteed news. Certain individuals or organizations are almost guaranteed space or coverage because of their prominence or function. In addition, the newsroom procedures foster dependence on select sources of news and newer sources are not always given a hearing. The source serves as a third gatekeeper by virtue of accessibility, expanding Bass’ distinction to three. Beyond tl gatekeeper r- distinction, a are news polic autonomy do jc Socialize observation or new reporters mm through c reporters war they would be for a posi4 SOUtheastern However (1984) indic the evfiluati in 29 Penns} that employ half of th newsPaper d Almost 90 I Most ‘ Fowle editors th invo1Ved DubliCati< 36 Social Control and Autonomy in the Newsroom Beyond the process itself, a separate topic of gatekeeper research, building perhaps on the Bass distinction, asks who makes the decision about content. How are news policies transmitted in the newsroom and how much autonomy do journalists have or even desire? Socialigation: Sigelman’s (1973) participant observation concluded, as had Breed, that socialization of new reporters was through contact with veterans on the staff and through changes made in submitted stories. Because reporters were "self—recruited" when they applied for jobs, they would be aware of the newspaper’s biases when applying for a position, he said. Sigelman did his study at two southeastern city dailies with opposite political biases. However, a more recent study by Fowler and Shipman (1984) indicates that at least some formality is involved in the evaluation process. The majority of newspaper managers in 29 Pennsylvania dailies with circulation over 30,000 said that employees are evaluated on a regular basis. Almost half of these managers indicated that they critique their newspaper daily and an additional 20 percent do so weekly. Almost 90 percent held regular staff meetings. Most communication to staffers was interpersonal. Fowler and Smith found that 74 percent of the magazine editors they surveyed said they were always or usually involved in nine routine editorial functions on their publications. Being certain that the editorial matter meets their own "pe variation in ed And Gieber California new: reporting raci: source is anot Baily an broadcasting t mganizational individuals i1 Breed h Conclusions transmitted t newsroom 0011 Staff are ev: °F8anization to make deci Organiz decigion ab. Mm two tYpes much freedc he or She much freed. the stOry 37 their own "personal standards" accounted for most of the variation in editorial involvement of this group. And Gieber learned that at least one of the five California newspapers he studied had a written policy about reporting racial turmoil. [Gieber also noted that the source is another gatekeeper.] Baily and Lichty (1972) learned that decisions about broadcasting the Tet Execution films on NBC were based on organizational norms rather than on recommendations from individuals involved with the story. Breed has been supported, then, as far as his conclusions that organizational norms exist and are transmitted to new and lower-level staff members. But the newsroom communication process is not entirely informal. Staff are evaluated, as they are in any other business organization, and supervisory personnel have the authority to make decisions about the news -— their product. Organizational restraints on newswork suggest a separate area of gatekeeper research: who makes the decision about news ~- autonomy in the newsroom. Autonomy: Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman had measured two types of autonomy: l) story-selection autonomy: how much freedom the individual had in determining the stories he or she would be working on and 2) content autonomy: how much freedom the individual had to decide which aspects of the story would be emphasized. They leari Hwy had free only 46 perce Hmir stories freedom to se] The reset journalism is status within one is more 1 (p. 87). Burgoon, their sample orBanize th their FOle management. Dimmic} Sla“ski and reporters, assOCiated °°mPared j broadcast I Howev, greatest P the field of exPerie PolitiCs ‘ PEPOrtErS 38 They learned that although 76 percent of reporters said they had freedom to decide the emphasis in a news story, only 46 percent make their own assignments; 32 percent said their stories are g3: edited; and 60 percent said they have freedom to select the stories they are working on. The researchers concluded that professional autonomy in journalism is related to length of time in the field and status within the organization but "is also something which one is more likely to realize in a small news organization" (p. 87). Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin reported that 71 percent of their sample agreed they had extensive freedom to plan and organize their work. Sixty-four percent disagreed that their role was to leave decisions and planning to management. Dimmick and Coit (1982) reanalyzed the Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman data on autonomy. Looking only at reporters, they found that lower levels of autonomy were associated with left—leaning politics, when these were compared in isolation. This was especially true of broadcast reporters. However, when examined with other variables, the greatest predictor of autonomy was years of experience in the field (as Johnstone, Slawksi and Bowman learned). Years of experience had a negative correlation with left~leaning politics and this relationship was significant for broadcast reporters. Type of 1 authors inter! have more Constraints 0 selection the Norton, and reporters agreement ove Joseph editors des actually wa newsPapers, than was Preferred w] but manage deCisions deCisions o As might be Power regal With found tele than “EWSP Willing tr were news] Thus televlSio Pub] \ 39 Type of industry was also a consistent predictor. The authors interpret this finding to mean that print reporters have more autonomy than electronic—media reporters. Constraints on autonomy seem to be imposed more on story selection than on story content. Norton, Windhauser and Boone (1985) found that editors and reporters on Mississippi dailieszz were substantially in agreement over handling of 17 hypothetical news situations. Joseph (1982) compared what reporters and managing editors desired for a decision-making style and what actually was the style. On a national sample of daily newspapers, the editors wanted less reporter participation than was practiced in their organization. Reporters preferred what Joseph termed a "management-consult—reporter but management—make~decision system." Tasks requiring decisions ranged from salary and budget allocations to decisions on how much time to cover a story was appropriate. As might be expected, reporters wanted more decision—making power regarding time and length for stories. With television reporters and editors, Joseph (1983) found television news reporters wanted even more autonomy than newspaper reporters and television managers were more willing to share their authority in work-related areas than were newspaper editors. Thus the print reporters have more autonomy but the television reporters want more. Publisher Involvement: Even when reporters perceive they have autonc originate is anotl percent of the direct to the pub other individual direct line was a California (Benn Bowers (19 activity of pub] Publishers in 1‘ in news decis circulation new their newsrooms Publisher: decisionS Whic also “Ctive, b activities rat However, neWSpaper’ th StOrY. ACCC mmlishers W: Donohew involvemBut medicfir e is Publisher Publishers 40 they have autonomy, deciding where newspaper decisions originate is another issue. Trayes (1978) found that 31 percent of the 208 managing editors be surveyed reported direct to the publisher while 57 percent had at least one other individual between them and the publisher. This direct line was also true for 48 of 68 managing editors in California (Bennett, 1985). Bowers (1967) asked 613 managing editors about the activity of publishers in news decisions. He found that publishers in larger circulation newspapers were less active in news decisions than were publishers in smaller circulation newspapers. About one-fourth were inactive in their newsrooms. Publishers were perceived as most active in news decisions which might affect newspaper revenue. They were also active, but less so, in news involving their personal activities rather than in news involving social issues.23 However, when news was geographically close to the newspaper, the publisher became more involved -- the local story, According to the managing editors, activity by the publishers was more often direct than implied. Donohew (1967) added more credence to the publisher— involvement perception when he learned that news coverage of medicare issues was more favorable when the paper’s publisher favored medicare and supported it editorially. Publishers more favorable to medicare were on papers with larger circulation, in urban communities with more white collar worker The populatic more doctors were less 31 dailies in K: As the reporter ge experience i publisher be in apparent smaller pa; might be e definition "regUIar or even the pa W J05 se to autonomu Wilhoit for they had ml satisfacti ass°°iated (although Barrett < satisfied was fourt] 41 collar workers and fewer individuals on old-age assistance. The population had fewer with incomes of $3000 or less and more doctors per 1000 than communities where the newspapers were less supportive of medicare. He examined 17 afternoon dailies in Kentucky in 1962. As the organization gets larger, the autonomy of the reporter gets smaller unless that reporter has a lot of experience in the field. Yet the interference from the publisher becomes more removed in the larger organization. An apparent contradiction that autonomy is greater on the smaller papers and with individuals with more experience might be explained by Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman’s definition of reporters: those who do reporting on a "regular or occasional basis." This could be the editor or even the publisher of a small daily. Job Satisfaction in the Newsroom Job satisfaction seems to be related, at least in part, to autonomy. Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman and Weaver and Wilhoit found that the more satisfied journalists perceived they had more autonomy in their work. Bethune learned that satisfaction among photographers was most frequently associated with having a voice in the use of their work (although satisfaction increased with age and income), and Barrett (1984) found supervisory women managers more satisfied than nonsupervisory. Self—direction/independence was fourth of these women’s criteria for a new job. aw Eighty-s Bowman sample satisfied wi‘ sample, that Those w al.) respec editors they perceived t tended to h: values. The We satisfied g was doing rElated con Satisfied autonomy it autonomy w thEy SOCi tradition: W The organiZat StFUCtur, reasons. .___.u_.. _M‘L.. _ 42 Eighty—seven percent of the Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman sample said they were either fairly satisfied or very satisfied with their present job. 0f the Weaver and Wilhoit sample, that number was 84 percent. Those who were most satisfied in 1971 (Johnstone, et al.) respected "the organizations they work for and the editors they report to" (p. 149). The more satisfied perceived that they had more autonomy in their work and tended to have neutral rather than participant professional values. The Weaver and Wilhoit journalists who were the most satisfied gave higher ratings to the job their organization was doing informing the public and received frequent work— related communication from their supervisors. The more satisfied journalists also perceived that they had more autonomy in their stories. Older journalists were dissatisfied if they felt autonomy was important, if they were on uniOn staffs and if they socialized mainly with other journalists. The adversarial older journalist was less satisfied while the traditional journalist was more satisfied. Summary: The Newsroom The research is suggesting that at least in the larger organizations the newsroom environment is as highly structured as any production organization and for the same reasons. The product therefore becomes somewhat iA‘i A" A A . homogeneous, though the I For t1 freedom to 1 be related ‘ 1} A numbl on news sel influences reviewed be which are environment Personal ch W Envirc i“fluences The studi. PUbliCatio] which affe, Mggkg when he co broadcast large Citi Cities an depended c homogeneous, leaning toward caution and stability, even though the product is somewhat intangible -- news. For the workforce, job satisfaction increases with freedom to make decisions in the work place and appears to be related to a traditional professional orientation. Influences on Gatekeeper News Selection A number of studies have focused on specific influences on news selection patterns and have tried to relate these influences to specific output. These studies, which are reviewed below, can be roughly grouped into four categories which are similar to the descriptive studies: 1) environmental, 2) organizational, 3) referent groups, and 4) personal characteristics. Environmental Influences Environmental influences may be considered those influences outside the boundaries of the news organization. The studies here have isolated market size, frequency of publication, and competition as environmental variables which affect the news. Market Size: Buckalew looked at a series of variables when he completed several studies of gatekeeping in the broadcast industry. He found (1974) that radio editors in large cities used more wire copy than those in smaller Cities and that use of wire-service—originated stories depended on the size of the market and the local angle in the story. With 12 t he labeled 6 community siz process. In a size of com! stories, he s more stories market editor Freguenc equate to smt in their con the local co Janowit Donohue, 01j in Minneso‘ Projects. initiative" Loam news °rganf DUBick (1. dealing wi DuBic Staff wit} ~ analog« analyze audienCe 44 With 12 television editors (1969—70) he found that what he labeled environmental variables (primarily market or community size) predicted the difference in the decision process. In another study of television editors (1969), size of community also predicted differences in handling stories, he said. Editors in the smaller markets selected more stories with a local orientation, while the larger market editors chose more timely stories.24 Frequency of Publication: Weekly papers (which would equate to small markets) studied by Janowitz were consensual in their content, publishing controversy only when defending the local community against encroachments. Janowitz’s findings contrast with later work by Donohue, Olien and Tichenor (1985) who found weekly editors in Minnesota were publicizing controversy about local projects. The editors had said they should "take initiative" in reporting controversy. Competition: Attempting to relate diversity within the news organization to diversity in the local environment, DuBick (1978) said the gatekeeping process is a means of dealing with uncertainty in the external environment.25 DuBick equated diversity within the news organization staff with an attempt to cover a broader source base of news -- analogous to the case study approaches. He does not analyze the news itself. Staff diversity related to audience diversity only when the newspaper was in a competitive environment, he found. This environment included sub findings to attempting to audience, wh only on a few Diversit also related Even w consistent organization internal str 013m The 1 Structures publlShEd e Production collcludes 1 is the , deadlines, Roshc (Page 33). Dunwc organizatj Stories 45 included suburban newspapers. DuBick interprets these findings to suggest that only the competitive papers are attempting to provide news for all or most segments of the audience, while the noncompetitive newspapers "concentrate only on a few" (p. 430). Diversity of the advertising base and the sources were also related to staff diversity. Even with these limited studies, then, there is consistent evidence that the environment outside the organization affects both the organizational output and the internal structure, as it would in any business. Organizational Influences The case studies suggested that organizational structures have a major effect on the type of news that is published each day. The studies here examine the effect of production restraints, notably deadlines and beats. Deadlines: Roshco’s (1975) theoretical examination concludes that, because of the reporting process, timeliness is the dominant news value. The more frequent the deadlines, he says, the more fragmentary the content.26 Roshco’s discussion of attribution parallels Fishman’s (Page 33). Dunwoody’s (1979) study of science writers related organizational constraints to the actual output —- news stories written from an American Association for the Advancement of Science conference. She found that reporters .. “Hi“ I who had fewe media competi greater indi attended the conferences 1 of multiple 1 Using m: restrictions covering the in their st statehouse r stories 315 interview 5: groups. Wire servic 55. McElre evidence t1 for 8 comp: Satisfacto tenumls a C0nditi°ns MCElr deadhne I in intel who had fewer deadlines, who felt less pressure from inter- media competition, and who were in print media "exercised" greater individual control over story selections. They attended the meeting itself rather than relying on the press conferences for news and had greater story depth through use of multiple rather than single sources. Using medium type to represent deadlines and space restrictions, Fico (1985) found that wire Service reporters covering the Michigan statehouse used fewer sources overall in their stories than either local newspaper reporters or statehouse newspaper bureau reporters. These wire service stories also -included fewer types of sources and fewer interview sources than either of the newspaper reporter groups. Number of stories analyzed for each group were: wire service, 151; local newspaper, 36; statehouse bureau, 55. McElrath’s (1980) work with students seems to find some evidence that more time is needed to select lead material for a complex story, but the additional time results in less satisfactory decisions on a simple story. His results are tenuous at best, since only two of his five experimental conditions had differences. McElrath cites Grey’s (1966) findings that suggest deadline pressures tend to make reporters more conservative in interpreting news and more dependent on peer reinforcement of their news judgment. However he observed reporters, deadlines. reporter’s 1 covering th: figgtg: reinforced (1983). Lo group, they percent of Eight— the COPY c in the broa from press- The 81 reporters’ attributed however, t1 than avera, exPerience MBdiu \ technical the othEr These 47 However, although Grey does suggest that the reporter he observed for a day was conservative and influenced other reporters, he does not attribute these behaviors to deadlines. If anything, he attributes the behavior to the reporter’s background. The man held a law degree and was covering the U.S. Supreme Court. Beats: The beat/organizational dependency is reinforced by a larger case study by Lacy and Matustik (1983). Looking at four suburban dailies owned by the same group, they found that 45 percent of the story ideas and 47 percent of the copy produced were attributed to eight beats. Eight—six percent of the story ideas and 81 percent of the copy came from organizational (meaning "institutional" in the broad sense) sources, and 25 percent of the copy came from press-release ideas. The authors found a negative relationship between the reporters’ professional age and the amount of content attributed to organizational sources. They cautioned, however, that this particular group of reporters was younger than average (27 years) and had an average of only 28 months experience. Medium Technology: Altheide and Snow (1979) suggest a technical influence on news. They indicate that news is selected and shaped to fit the television format rather than the other way around.27 These studies lend reinforcement, rather than new information, to the organization as the structuring instrument of available and Referent Gror Dimmick journalists gatekeeper d suggested by two or more referent r: Primarily w De_sc_a 0f the re that young: national p' have info Participat for those 10C8ted 1, cities. administr Howe Atkin ne‘ rest of friends Out of the 48 instrument of news. Beats and deadlines shorten the time available and limit the sources for news. Referent Groups Dimmick (1974) suggested that referent groups (other journalists and other news organizations) help the gatekeeper decide what is news. This is the same influence suggested by Breed. Although studies that compare news in two or more different publications are probably testing the referent relationship, the studies reviewed below deal primarily with the influence of wire services. Descriptive Referents: Without looking at the result of the relationships, Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman found that younger journalists in larger news organizations with national prominence (located in larger cities) are likely to have informal contact with other journalists. Formal participation in journalistic organizations is more likely for those who have been in the field longer and who are located in smaller, less prominent organizations in smaller cities. These individuals are more likely to have administrative responsibilities. However less than half of the Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin newspeople said they socialized frequently with the rest of the staff, and more than half felt that their friends were not associated with the business at all. Outside their newsroom, this same sample had 25 percent of the editors and supervisors reading three newspapers and the same pert newspeople national new magazines a national nee Only 1] friendships They divide: not related related to editors (o friendships Therei organizatic Effects of Bi£§_ news Selec the Wire s Studies in Giebe Wisconsin Press Wer seleCtion ProcesSin Gieber fc their 81 __...._a c 7 ,7 -74..-. 49 the same percentage reading two. Three—fourths of all the newspeople read their own newspaper; 25 percent watch national news six days a week; they read an average of six magazines a month. Those in the field longer watch more national news. Only 11 percent of Giles’ editors said their close friendships outside the office were with other newspeople. They divided fairly closely between friendships with persons not related to the job (37 percent) and a mix of persons not related to the job and other newspeople (39 percent). Older editors (over 45) were more likely to report that their friendships were with persons unrelated to their jobs. Therefore, at least exposure to other news organizations and newspeople is probable, even though the effects of this exposure have not been documented. Wire Service Influences: A series of studies relating news selection patterns to the news distribution patterns of the wire services is probably the most coherent group of studies in the literature. Gieber (1956) found that 16 "telegraph" editors in Wisconsin whose newspapers subscribed only to the Associated Press were heavily dependent on the AP budget for their news selection. The editors were primarily concerned with processing or mechanical problems rather than content. Gieber found that the editors had little or no contact with their audience. The editors said newspaper policy was unimportant in their story selection. Gold an in 24 Iowa t Associated frequency 0' concluded t AP distribu Lindle in the Utat determine 1 Lindley f: autonomous the AP bu many Commu much conte Community Lieb. Preferenc UDited p Participa found dis in indiv: washingt favored 8180 Pre I Gold and Simmons (1965) looked at the same relationship in 24 Iowa dailies. Informally comparing rank orderings of Associated Press wire copy used by the dailies and the frequency of the content appearances on the AP wire, they concluded that use of news among the dailies parallelled the AP distribution patterns. Lindley (1974) examined the influences on wire editors in the Utah/Idaho/Spokane circuit of the Associated Press to determine reasons these individuals rejected wire stories. Lindley found that the 10 wire editors were relatively autonomous in their decision making, that they did not use the AP budget as a guide, and that they did not belong to many community organizations and, therefore, did not have much contact with community groups —- and by extension, with community opinion. Liebes (1966) had looked at a different perspective, preferences for wire copy from the Associated Press and the United Press International. Using a combination of participant observation and mail queries to 28 editors, he found distinct preferences for one wire service or the other in individual news areas. The AP was considered best for Washington news and international reporting while UPI was favored for White House and Soviet Union coverage. UPI was also preferred for Latin American and Caribbean news. As wi' concerned composing because of the preferr considered service bU( automation A no examined 4 Stations. categories Categories "uncritic: Thes wire serv PrOductio orgaanEt Pe ~—£§22el_ Ind indiVidu studies as they 3°“rna1i 51 As with the Gieber study, these editors were also concerned about mechanical problems. For example, the composing room of one newspaper preferred one service because of its tape and therefore early stories were from the preferred wire service. Decisions regarding copy use considered newspaper policy, personal preferences, the wire service budgets, the service sending the story first, and automation and space limitations. A more recent study by Whitney and Becker (1982) examined 46 wire editors on Ohio newspapers and television stations. Their findings were that within seven subject categories, these editors selected proportionally from the categories of stories sent across the wires, accepting "uncritically" the patterns of wire transmission. These studies suggest that reliance on the referent wire service is extensive and has held over the years. The production and mechanical considerations emphasize again the organizational restraints on news selection. Personal Characteristics Individuals still make up any organization and individuals have different characteristics. A number of studies have tried to evaluate some of these characteristics as they influence the news process. Some have dealt with journalists and others have focused on students. The characterist orientation, characterist 2222333 tried to gatekeepers high confl rated as Journalist. (Age : Pollock le were more rePorting He also 1 than olde: Covering Also that impe Principaj editor t- StorieS than del The the 8e? lower m thEir n 52 characteristics include demographics, professional orientation, prior attitudes and psychological characteristics. Demographics (Gender): Using a Q-sort, Whitlow (1977) tried to identify rejection patterns for male and female gatekeepers in six newspapers. She found that a story with high conflict as a news attribute was most consistently rated as publishable, regardless of the sex of the journalist. (Age and Experience): With his foreign correspondents, Pollock learned that correspondents with less experience were more likely to examine policy assumptions in their reporting than were those with more "regional experience." He also found that younger reporters" were got more likely than older reporters to provide a "watchdog" function while covering officials. Also using news attributes, Badii and Ward (1980) found that impact and conflict stories were used more than known principal stories. However, their Q-sort identified two editor types: 1) the editor who used more of the conflict stories and 2) the editor who used more immediate-reward than delayed-reward stories. The authors indicated that no demographics explained the selection patterns, but their "type 1" editor had a lower median age and fewer years on the job (median) than their "type 2" editor. Clyde 8 found that tc and lower-? principal. their editor the same cit news values. (Cultu: Process for found that consensual and educal Concluded for the d group -_ EurOPean/I With who selec are 53 Clyde and Buckalew (1969) also used a Q-sort. They found that top-level editors selected timeliness in stories and lower—level editors stressed conflict and known principal. The researchers found strong consensus among their editors (15 from two dailies and 3 from television in the same city) for conflict, proximity and timeliness as news values. (Cultural Background): Looking at 73 newspeople who process foreign news for the London TimgsJ Peterson (1979) found that those who did not select news according to consensual criteria were more likely to be stringers born and educated outside of Europe and North America. She concluded that the stringers’ cultural background accounted for the differences between this group and the consensual group -- the home office staff, staff correspondents, and European/North American stringers.28 Without empirical data, Altschull suggested that those who select and process the news have value judgments which are a product of their own "socialization and acculturation." Thus, he says, the generalized account, or news, that filters through to an audience reflects these biases. These conclusions parallel the Gans findings, see p. 34. Professional Orientation: Culbertson (1983) learned that his "traditional" journalist had an orientation toward spot news and local stories, while his "interpretive" journalist preferred more national and interpretive news (See p. 2). Stark a Johnstone, S in a jourr participant, Evalua' campus, th ground) had comprehensi The high p2 news" for] Format was Prior had little Wrote abox the stud. tended to meet him to avoid Whei Journali attitude students overcom] Th sheets Views. 54 Stark and Soloski (1977) applied at least a form of the Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman functions to divide students in a journalism class into three groups: 1. high participant, 2. low participant and 3. neutral. Evaluating stories about a controversial speech on campus, they found that the low participants (the middle ground) had stories that were more accurate, fairer, more comprehensive and more objective than the other two groups. The high participant students had more stories of the "non- news" format: interpretive, featurish, editorials, etc. Format was not specified in the experiment. Prior Attitudes: Students’ attitudes toward a source had little impact on the news stories and editorials they wrote about the source, Drew (1975) found. However, when the students expected to meet the source, their stories tended to be more negative than when they did not expect to meet him or her, even though the students in general tended to avoid negative information in their stories. When Kerrick, Anderson and Swales (1964) tested journalism students to learn if either the students’ attitudes or a stated publication policy affected the students’ writing, they concluded that the students overcompensated for their own views. The students tended to neutralize unfavorable fact sheets regardless of either their or the publication’s views. But when the students were personally opposed to v 4 . . _'l '"fi'l‘ , ' either the wrote stor opposing opposition At 16 Greenberg study ten: write an an unfavo students stress. As i to "neutr But rate and Students material material stress. It Greenber write ft eXercis daily '1 Protes 55 either the subject or the newspaper’s stated policy, they wrote stories or editorials much more supportive of the opposing view than did those students who were not in opposition. At least on the surface, these findings are similar to Greenberg and Tannenbaum’s (1962). The students in their study tended to pull in supporting arguments when asked to write an assessment about a topic which had been covered in an unfavorable report. The topic was obtrusive for these students and its unfavorable nature was intended to induce stress. As in the Kerrick, et al., study, the students tended to "neutralize" the material and did so directly. But Greenberg and Tannenbaum found a much higher error rate and greater time required for productivity when the students were writing under stress. They found the written material was less readable and constructed differently than material written by students who had not been placed under stress. It is hard to compare these two studies because the Greenberg and Tannenbaum students had not been directed to write for publication and the Kerrick, et al., topic was unobtrusive. Psychological Characteristics: In a simulated exercise, Madden (1971) found that editors on a Philadelphia daily who were higher authoritarian played down all "protest" stories. The stories were structured to show the a-d protesters i: lower author different po Madden’ authoritaria entire group Madden’ measure for seems to authoritaria Surlin authoritaria to the stude 1. on 2. on 3' o Journalist. He foun philosophies and high fat responsibilj Students. agreement ethical/Phi] broadCast st Profes: finds 8 def 56 protesters in both favorable and unfavorable lights. The lower authoritarian editors showed more sensitivity to the different portrayals of the protesters. negative median for Madden’s 28 editors had a authoritarianism (suggesting low authoritarianism for the entire group). Madden’s findings and the Black, et al., (see p. 24) measure for dogmatism indicate that the journalistic profile seems to include both low dogmatism and low authoritarianism. Surlin (1976) surveyed 167 journalism students for both authoritarianism and fatalism and then compared these traits to the students’ reactions to three statements: on interest in communication theory 1. 2. on ethical and philosophical aspects of the field 3. on social responsibilities to the public of the journalist. favorable feelings about ethical and He found less philosophical aspects of the field in the high authoritarian agreement with social and high fatalistic students and less the more fatalistic responsibility to the public in students. The print journalism students were more in agreement with communication theory interest and the advertising and ethical/philosophical aspects than were broadcast students. seems the only study which although the studies Professional orientation finds a definite affect on the news, #1453 finding stud- credence to t of textbook students may First, the co pressures are (Brunsman, 19 newspaper ope communicatior Fund data the entered the only 27 pen This Jumped dOUFnalists.: Peterso seem to I‘Ein W The mos news Selecti organization methanical: reporter/wri Per50m been strOHg: that Profes: Bowman haVe Choice finding student neutralization of unfavorable news lend credence to those who call the neutral journalist a product of textbook journalism. These studies conducted with students may not even be relevant to the "real world." First, the constraints imposed are hypothetical and newsroom pressures are not a factor. Second, newspaper fund data (Brunsman, 1986) indicate that only 22 percent of the 1985 newspaper openings were filled with 1985 journalism/mass communication graduates. Johnstone, et al., cite Newspaper Fund data that show only 25 percent of journalism students entered the news media in the early 705. Their sample had only 27 percent of the newspeople who studied journalism. This jumped to 37 percent for the Weaver and Wilhoit journalists.29 Peterson’s conclusions about the influence of culture seem to reinforce those who indicate that news biases exist. Summary: Influences on Gatekeeper News Selection The most strongly documented influences on gatekeeper news selection are external and those imposed by the news organization. Most of these imposed influences are mechanical: time, space restrictions, and location of the reporter/writer. Personal characteristics affecting the news have not been strongly identified, although there is some evidence that professional orientation (which Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman have linked to demographics) is related to news choice. Many of the studies examining personal characterist than with pr Gieber have an inde points the personal and A lack news is wt making proce unprocessed rEduction me Even r: Should be gatekEEPer’, W Schram 0f reward delaYed and Immedi PleaSure of more ”88115 later in t} Immedz‘ disaster/a' 58 characteristics have been conducted with students rather than with professionals. The Product: What is News? Gieber (1964) wrote 20 years ago that "News does not have an independent existence." He was making the same points that other gatekeeper researchers have made: personal and organizational influences shape the news. A lack of agreement by newspeople on the definition of news is what 'lead Dimmick to suggest that the decision- making processes gatekeepers use in dealing with raw or unprocessed potential news can be explained by uncertainty reduction methods. Even researchers are not in agreement about how news should be defined. Their attempts to categorize the gatekeeper’s product are briefly discussed in this section. Characteristics of News Schramm (1949) felt news can be divided into the type of reward it has for the reader. His categories are (l) delayed and (2) immediate reward. Immediate reward Schramm saw as news lthat provides the pleasure of vicarious experience. Delayed reward news is more realistic, providing information that will be useful later in the reader’s life. Immediate—reward content would be crime, corruption, disaster/accidents, sports, human interest and social news. Delayed rewa: education, 5: Schramm positively associated w Subject subject-matt differentiat selection representatj At the assessing 1 his catego; Cultural, p Stories EVa His ca 1955) and based on gr included (1 (3) PeoPle OUr nation nations. only EXEMined. Gold attempt t ND: 59 Delayed reward content would be public affairs, economics, education, social problems, science and health news. Schramm found that reading delayed-reward news was positively associated with education and negatively associated with reading immediate—reward news. Subject Categories: Many researchers have used subject-matter categories in readership studies30 and to differentiate between or among publications or to identify selection patterns. The studies listed below are representative of those in the literature. At the extreme would be Bush’s (1960) 47 categories for assessing reader interest. Intended to be comprehensive, his categories (and definitions) included the various cultural, political, economic, judicial and human interest stories available. His categories included Communism (a major issue in 1955) and human sex relations. Some of the categories were based on groupings. For example, "personality" groupings included (1) people well known, (2) people not well known, (3) people in groups and (4) Hollywood. His "reference groups" category included (1) our community/our region, (2) our nation, (3) our allies, (4) our enemies and (5) other nations. Only 40 of the categories appeared in the 27 dailies he examined. Gold and Simmons identified 13 categories in their attempt to differentiate AP copy in Iowa dailies (see p. 50): econom: sports offici crime accide foreig societ Asking stories, l categories labor accid crime human Even be aPPlie 1ittle he] M definitiol EXCIUSivej national . Culb and human Tuch 1“ her di the time 60 ; economic activity religion, education, science i sports weather official acts of national politics government crime and vice local politics accidents, disasters arts foreign affairs miscellaneous society and family Asking Ohio editors to select from "decks" or possible stories, Whitney and Becker (1982) had reduced their categories to seven (see p. 51): labor . national accidents/disaster political crime/vice international human interest Even though the subject categories are useful and can be applied to almost any news publication, they provide little help in defining the characteristics of news. Location/Scheduling/Sources: Another attempt at news definition, similar to the subject categories, relies almost exclusively on the location of the news: local, state, national and international. Culbertson used these definitions and also used spot and human interest categories in his research (see p. 2). Tuchman (1973) expanded the "spot" news characteristic in her discussion. She identified five categories, based on the time or scheduling of the event being covered: (1) SC developing Soft I type of new the story either uns: is prescht predictabl. unexpected Tuchm the variab to Dimmick Bucka originatio He identif BUth informatic those wh« Selection Vehicle, subject c seve deal with 61 (1) soft news, (2) hard news, (3) spot hard news, (4) developing hard news, and (5) continuing hard news. Soft news she describes as a nonscheduled event. This type of news allows maximum flexibility in determining when the story will be covered and published. Hard news may be either unscheduled or prescheduled, but continuing hard news is prescheduled —— events are announced and/or reasonably predictable. Spot and developing hard news occur unexpectedly and are thus unscheduled. Tuchman said these categories impose order and reduce the variability of the raw material of news, a use similar to Dimmick’s uncertainty discussion. Buckalew (1974) with radio editors used source of origination of the story to differentiate news (see p.43). He identified: wire beat tip own information/background press release own knowledge/files/futures reporter Buckalew’s technique would provide the type of information sought by Lacy and Matustik (see p. 50) and those who investigate the newsroom influences on source selection. Tuchman’s categorization is a good explanatory vehicle, and Culbertson’s distinction is a different type of subject categorization.31 Several other researchers, however, have attempted to deal with attributes of news itself. Esra classifier his own < (or situa‘ for the audience.‘ He 5: (meaning a was becom: JournaliS' Bree indicated His mediation Galt they felt made the reader: 62 News Attributes: Breed (1956), who said prior news classification schemes were based on sources, came up with his own definition: News is "the report of a recent event (or situation) judged by newsmen to be worthy of publication for the interest and/or information of the members of their audience." He said the news would be "mediated by an association" (meaning an institution -— either formal or informal) and was becoming "increasingly interpretive." The style was journalistic. Breed’s essay identified 12 characteristics of news and indicated that news must have the following 10: recency availability interestingness salability simplicity superficiality accuracy prudence objectivity significance His other two characteristics were stylization and mediation. Galtung and Ruge (1970) identified 12 news values that they felt were critical for foreign news because the values made the foreign news meaningful and proximate for the reader: 1. frequency or time span (must coincide with newsgathering deadlines) 2. threshold, absolute intensity and intensity increase (size and magnitude) 3. u noticed) 4. m (meaningful 5. c outcomes or 6. 1 (emphasize: framework; 7. pseudo-eve 8. lesser ev unusual or 9. 10. 11. 12. The ; PortraYal A Se “9W5 dime least def Atwc definitic magnitudE See p. 2! 63 3. unambiguity (clearer news is more likely to be noticed) 4. meaningfulness, cultural proximity and relevance (meaningful to the audience) 5. consonance, predictability and demand (expected outcomes or events are more likely to be noticed) 6. unexpectedness, unpredictability, scarcity (emphasizes oddity, rarity within the audience’s cultural framework; not a paradox with #5) 7. continuity (will stay in the news; opportunity for pseudo-event) 8. composition (media will try to balance content; lesser events may stay in the news because topics are unusual or different) 9. reference to elite nations 10. reference to elite people 11. reference to persons 12. reference to something negative.32 The authors suggest that these criteria hinder accurate portrayal of developing countries and foster stereotypes. A series of studies have built on "facet" ratings or news dimensions that appear to have been developed, or at least defined, by Ward. Atwood used seven dimensions. He used Ward’s four definitions of (1) oddity, (2) conflict, (3) impact and (4) magnitude in his comparison of editors and their audience, see p. 27. Atwood also included prominence as a fifth dimension timeliness When fiVe The At 1. ( than . an od: has a day t1 1earn« cultu 2. group with can b must by on 3. which now c effec be dz 4. even' or wl expe Sign It d of r 299) Burg they of i live imp, Cop, Nor: unk hum 0th ta} when five dimension and held two other dimensions constant: timeliness and (2) proximity. The Atwood/Ward definitions are: l. Oddity: "An action or event that is rarer than just the unusual (murder is unusual, but not an oddity). Generally, an action or event that has a 'twist’--that is abnormal from the day-to— day turn of events...or opposite from what we have learned to expect, and, thus, predict in our culture and in our time." 2. Conflict: "Any open clash between persons, groups, animals or things or involving a clash with any of these four against nature. The clash can be either verbal or physical. The conflict must be obvious, with distinct 'movement against’ by one or both opposing forces." 3. Impact: "Any physical or non-physical event which has an impact on a large number of readers now or, in the near future. ‘Impact’ is used with effect and/or consequence in mind. The Impact can be damaging or enhancing." 4. Magnitude: "Any physical or non-physical event in which a large number of persons attended, or which involves large amounts of gains, losses, expenditures or accomplishments. Magnitude is significant from .the quantitative point of View. It does not represent an effect on a large number of readers as does the Impact element above." (p. 299) (1) Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin identified five categories they asked journalists to define news. These parallel of the seven Atwood/Ward categories or dimensions:33 1. Consequence [similar to "impact"]: affect lives of readers, educate/inform readers, important to reader’s lifestyle or ability to cope, ‘should know’ news, watchdog/surveillance, moral/social importance, affect status quo. 2. Interest [similar to "oddity"]: unknown/unusual or aberrant facts, entertaining, human interest/emotion arousing/contact with others, interest to editorial staff, people would talk about it, social norms/styles, good writing. 3. happ 4. gove othe 5. PEOP cove Four the same Their fiv were labe known pri Clyd used by B l. conc many Phys stor forc Per: know socf abOI are: I‘BCI OF‘ Bec BUCkalew Vis Etc .0!- 65 3. Timeliness: new happenings, current happenings, new angles on events, new trends. 4. Proximity: local events other than government/politics, local government/politics, other local impacts, local trends/issues. 5. Prominence: people famous for 'hard news,’ people famous for 'soft news,’ other media coverage, famous events. Four of the Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin dimensions were the same as those used by Clyde and Buckalew (see p.53). I Their five news dimensions —— or news "elements,' as they were labeled -- were (1) high impact, (2) conflict, (3) known principal, (4) proximity and (5) timely. Clyde and Buckalew’s definitions, however, were those used by Buckalew (1969—70): 1. Significance: High Impact items were those concerning matters likely to have an effect on many members of the audience. 2. Normality: Conflict items involved verbal or physical open clashes between principals of the story or between the principals and natural forces. 3. Prominence: Known Principal items involved persons or institutions, or issues, that were well known through past publicity or position in the society and/or community. 4. Proximity: Proximate items were stories about people or events in the station’s coverage area. 5. Timeliness: Timely items were stories about recent happenings, updated stories with new leads, or fresh stories never used by any of the media. Because he was dealing with television editors, Buckalew added "visual" as a dimension: 6. Visual: Video items involved stories with visual materials such as film, videotape, slides, etc. These descriptio and Ward three dime 1. "neither" 2. "normal" 3. principal Badi dimension Categorie Stories 5 the eleme Oven known pr: P- 52). The as attri the subj the news (PFOxime are oddi Summar Re to Cate 66 These series of definitions seem to cover the description or possible description of news elements. Badii and Ward (1980) factor-analyzed a Q-sort and confirmed the three dimensions of news identified earlier by Ward: 1. significance: including impact, magnitude and "neither" 2. normality: including oddity, conflict and "normal" 3. prominence: including known and unknown principals. Badii and Ward were unable to clearly define a fourth dimension based on Schramm’s immediate and delayed reward categories. They defined their four dimensions by the stories selected for the Q-sort. Faculty determined whether the elements existed in the stories. Overall, Badii and Ward found conflict, impact and known principal stories were preferred by their editors (see p. 52). There seems to be some consensus that news will include as attributes at least conflict, impact and prominence of the subject. That the news -- or at least the accounts of the news -— will be timely and will be of local interest (proximate) seems to be a given. Other dimensions appearing are oddity and magnitude. Summary: The Product Researchers have used at least five different schemes to categorize news content of the media: 53' 4. 5. Altt the new: selectinl attributr consensu: can be a: Eve diverse, diversit SamPles. Eve “ at 1 strUCtur h°m°3eni °°ntrove The "1th dei ProdnCe] with Sp, than t] 67 1. subject of the story 2. location of the story 3. time of the story 4. source of the story 5. attributes or news elements of the story. Although all are useful classification schemes, only the news attributes identify any type of rationale for selecting within the other four categorizations. The attribute definitions are complementary and somewhat consensual. The attributes are also universal, in that they can be applied without regional or institutional biases. Significance of the Literature Even though the gatekeeping literature is extensive and diverse, summary statements are difficult because of the diversity of the populations studied and the often meager samples. Even so, the picture emerges of a news environment that —- at least in the larger organizations —— is a highly structured production process that results in a fairly homogenized product that is somewhat intangible and often controversial. The news organization resembles a business in structure with defined roles and routines for the news gatherers and producers. Those individuals higher in the organization or with specialized roles are usually better educated and older than the lower-level newspeople, although education is increasing more autonn with thei formal a assignment There legitimize process 1 knowledge system. their own Ther gatekeepi gatekeepj filtered (1) and (3)- Ski DFESsure abilitie The SOURCE ’\ Figure 68 increasing overall. The higher level personnel also have more autonomy in their work and generally are more satisfied with their organization. Feedback to personnel is both formal and informal with control exerted through assignments, editing and verbal interaction. There appears to be no argument that news coverage legitimizes both issues and groups. Yet access to the news process is restricted by the system and by the prior knowledge and perceptions of those working within the system. Recognized sources filter information, enforcing their own function of gatekeeping. Therefore, even before the audience exerts its own gatekeeping autonomy of selection and perception, gatekeeping occurs at minimum at three points where news is filtered and structured: (l) by the source, (2) by the reporter or newsgatherer and (3) by the editor or news processor. Skill and effort of the newsgatherer, who responds to pressure from the processor, can often lessen gatekeeping abilities of the source. The news-production gatekeeping model appears below: NEWS NEWS NEWS SOURCE — --—-9 GATHERER*-9PROCESSOR‘--- 3 PRODUCT /' Figure l: News—Production Gatekeeping Model ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES Ever differenc field ant of the I with bot] different unable t approach topic an time and And editor c the news The Percept; news pr« his or j Profess image i Th that t Percept his or suggest Organi: °F8ani mil‘ror 69 Even within the structured environment, individual differences exist in demographics, in perceptions of the field and its opportunities, in perceptions of the function of the media, in desires for autonomy, and in satisfaction with both the organization and the field. Yet even when differences in job perspectives exist, the individual may be unable to function as preferred. And the function —— or approach to an issue or group —— may vary both with the topic and with organizational restraints on the gatekeepers’ time and mobility. And no matter how thorough or skillful a reporter, the editor or processor still allocates resources and space in the newspaper for the final product. The literature indicates that at least a dichotomy of perceptions of the profession exist among those within the news production process. There is the professional who sees his or her function to mirror the world, and there is the professional who sees his or her function to interpret the image in the mirror. The literature implies, although documentation is weak, that the news professional is influenced by his or her perceptions of the functions of the news media as well as by his or her personal background. There is also the suggestion that satisfaction with one’s position in the news organization is related to perceived agreement with the organization’s news philosophy, even though the neutral (the mirror) perspective is more easily satisfied. Th perspec they be other a assume autonom emphasi determi working T1 editor’ Produci link ] Justif: 1‘“— : — 70 The effect on the news of these differences in perspective is more than conjecture. Reporters perceive they have more autonomy in determining story content than in other areas of the news process. There is no reason to assume that the editors or processors have any less autonomy. Editing allows even more freedom. Content emphasis and both story length and placement can be determined by the editor, especially if the editor is working in an organization compatible with his or her views. Thus the literature suggests a link between the editor’s background and news perceptions and the final product: the news. The literature also indicates that this link has not been tested, and therefore provides justification for this study. 156 286 3It Johnstor only Ble 4P1 Slawski 5P1 with La‘ questi01 Journal 8T terms w 9E given. acquair called diStinc It with 1 relate< 1: 0f dai The d Statem sevent gr°“Ps gr°uPs Guttma 1 rePort 1 and me exPOSE USES l ENDNOTES 156 percent were in their 205 and 305. 286 percent had attended college. 3It is difficult to compare the ASNE figures to Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman’s since their study mentions only Blacks and Hispanics. “Photographers were excluded from the Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman study (p. 7). 5Pollock’s sample was 102 correspondents "concerned with Latin America." He used a snowball method and sent his questionnaire to 134 correspondents. 5Giles sample was the returns from a mail questionnaire sent to 1058 editors. 7Comparing Ogan’s demographics to other studies of journalists is difficult because her population is so broad. 8The authors and McQuail (1984, p. 108) note that these terms were used by Cohen in 1963. 9Based on beta coefficients, no significance level were given. Roshco (1975) calls fact-only reporting "timely acquaintance~with" reporting; interpretive reporting is called "knowledge—about" reporting, similar to Argyris’s distinctions. 10Actually educational level is negatively associated with the neutral orientation rather than being positively related to the interpretive role. 11The terms are derived from an analysis of the names of dailies cited in Rosten’s study of leading newspapers. The divisions of correspondents are derived from seven statements —- six from Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman and a seventh: "present the viewpoints and interests of competing groups, especially those of excluded and underprivileged groups." These statements were later reduced to a four—item Guttman scale. 12Dunn included only newspaper and wire service reporters. 13The activities were: (1) watchdog against corruption and malfeasance, (2) guardian against special interests, (3) exposer of secrecy, and (4) determiner of veracity (Dunn uses the word "skepticism" regarding official statements). L It journa journa. 1| 1: "invol one-th l! (1982) a also 8‘ a legi 2 expert large 2: sample resPon exceed 2 highly docume the cm looked 2 . Electr implic 2 mEans eXtErn 2 beefing (dePen thOSe rePort Parall 2 which 72 1“Weighted to 978. 15She calls this the "real" factor. 16Essentially these were two studies. One included 489 journalists from eight dailies. the second was of 1118 journalists from 76 newspapers and 7 television stations. 1'7The authors say eight but list seven items. 18However, actual community affiliation "involvement" was low -— in evidence for little one—third of the newspeople. or more than lgshoemaker and Mayfield (1984) and Dimmick and Coit (1982) both suggested these categorizations. 20Both Altschull (1974) and Althiede and Snow (1979) also suggest that reporting and distributing information is a legitimizing process. 21Argyris had been conducting a management-intervention experiment; he was attempting to assist the management of a large daily newspaper to become more participatory. 22Sample size is not clear. The authors said they sampled 101 editors and 139 reporters on 25 dailies with a response rate of 63 percent. Their tabled n sizes do not exceed 69 editors and 80 reporters. 23Interestingly (Stone and Mazza, 1977), highly involved publisher (the documentable financial gains from a "close association with the community’s power structure" (p. 319). The authors looked at dailies under 8,000 circulation. dailies with a "leader-publisher") had no 24Although the Buckalew electronic media, they are implications for the field. studies were conducted with included here because of the 25Dimmick (1974) also suggests that gatekeeping is a means of dealing with uncertainty in selecting news from the external environment. 26Roshco says neWS is either obtrusive (noticeable because it affects so many lives) or source—oriented (dependent on the newsperson to obtain information from those of high social status). He also feels that beat reporting increases the "news value" of known sources, paralleling the case studies. 2"Altheide and Snow suggest that “sacred cows" which the media will not cover. exist 2 implic U.S. diffic noncon consen times respec 2 level Wilhoi the g indivi additi 3 that analys of pol 3 scheme occur: PUblic influe gratii Purpos see pg 73 28This non-U.S. study is included because of its implications for foreign news correspondents reporting for U.S. and other Western papers. Her conclusions are difficult to defend. The division between consensual and nonconsensual was 11 of 25 Western and 4 of 16 nonWestern as consensual. In addition, her group of stringers was 2 to 3 times as large as the home office and correspondent staffs, respectively. 29Johnstone, et al., report 22.6 at the undergraduate level and 6.9 percent at the graduate level; Weaver and Wilhoit report 29.5 at the undergraduate level and 7.5 at the graduate level. It is possible that some of these individuals overlap and the totals might be less than the additive amount. a°Atwood has a good discussion of readership studies that have clustered subject categories through factor analysis. He indicated that all the studies found clusters of political news and violent news. 31Breed has suggested many of the categorization schemes reported here. He suggests eight: (1) mode of occurrence and visibility to newsmen, (2) visibility to the public, (3) officialness, (4) degree of control exercised by influential parties, (5) significance for future events, (6) gratification to reader, (7) source, and (8) function or purpose of the story. 32These categories were the ones adapted by Peterson, see page 35. 33Punctuation has been changed in these definitions. selec admin and t that detai under Proce that devei to , iden' also news PFOC the Mean CHAPTER III THE METHOD Introduction This chapter will explain the procedures used to select the daily newspapers examined in this study,to administer the questionnaire to the newspaper gatekeepers and to monitor the output of these gatekeepers -— the news that appears in theirown newspapers. It will also provide detailed information about the questionnaire. Selection of the daily newspapers will be discussed under sampling. The sampling section will also include procedures for‘ selecting the composite week of each daily that was used for content analysis. Sections on the questionnaire will discuss both the development and the administration of a mail questionnaire to gatekeepers -- determined to be the managing editors identified on the sample of newspapers. These sections will also provide the rationale for the 16 functions of newspapers which were the basis of the study. Separate sections will explain the coding and training procedures used for content analysis of the front pages of the dailies and the procedures used to place the codes in meaningful form. 74 proce this was u inclu fig“, "hie! Circu the y e1im: 1 I 1 I figures. which have distinct morning and evening editions and reports circulation separately for each the larger paper was Last will be a list of variables identified by the procedures and the hypotheses. Sampling Sampling to select the 100 daily newspapers desired for this study was by stratified random method. Stratification would be all circulation sizes was used to ensure that included in the sample.1 Sampling Procedures Procedures designed to select 100 daily newspapers were as follows: I. All daily newspapers listed in the 1984 Editor & 1984) were placed in one of five Publisher Yearbook (Brown, circulation categories:2 - 655 dailies (39 percent) of two E&P categories) (31 percent) 1. less than 10,000 (a combination 10,000 to 25,000 — 521 dailies 25,000 to 50,000 - 259 dailies (15 percent) - 141 dailies (8 percent) — 116 dailies (7 percent) of three E&P categories) circulation 2 3. 4. 50,000 to 100,000 5. 100,000 and up (a combination The categorization is based on paid Editor & Publisher Yearbook lists ten newspapers edition. For this project included and the smaller edition was eliminated.3 II. cate of proc avoi 111) enou base reap for prep III. were the sample newspapers within each II. From this list, category were selected randomly and proportionately to size of the total number of newspapers in the strata. This procedure should have provided a representative sample and avoided future weighting for analysis (see Sudman, 1976, p. 111). The population was oversampled by 50 percent to provide enough final responses to the mail questionnaire to allow a base of 100 dailies for content analysis. Because 111 responses were received, the 101 dailies finally selected for content analysis (see p 79) were selected randomly and proportionately to category size from the total responses. III. Exceptions to the strict proportionate—to—size sampling were as follows: 1. National newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Christian Science Monitor were not included. Rationale: The news base for these dailies will be different than the base for those newspapers serving a set geographic population. Comparisons for this small sample would be suspect. 2. Newspapers with fewer than four daily editions a week were eliminated. Rationale: Even with four editions, the fifth "day" for content analysis would have to duplicate one of the other days of the week. A cursory examination of Editor & Publisher Yearbook indicated that the majority of these "dailies" were in the under—10,000 category. This category is large enough to substitute replacements without a great alteration of the category proportions. 3. Specialized dailies, which serve a specific ethnic or content area (e.g., business news), were eliminated. Rationale: These newspapers would not have the same news base as general—circulation dailies, and comparisons with this small sample would be suspect. In addition, some are in a foreign language and content analysis for these would be prohibitively expensive. 4. Those newspapers publishing Tuesday through Saturday were treated as dailies. Rationale: These dailies are publishing five days a week.For content analysis Saturday was the fifth day. Using these guidelines, one national and one specialized daily were replaced during the sampling. Two other dailies were replaced because they had ceased to publish. One of these was a jointly owned daily and the managing editor responded as representative of the remaining daily. The response was included in the editor’s analysis, but the daily was eliminated from the content analysis. Changes in the Sample because of Circulation Problems After the questionnaires had been received and the 100 daily newspapers selected for content analysis had been orde beca 78 ordered, the following changes in the sample ware made because of problems in receiving the desired dailies: 1. In the largest—circulation category one extra daily was added after one of the largest-circulation folded. Rationale: Because of the time frame, both back- up papers were ordered, both arrived as scheduled, and both were used in the final analyses. This category had the smallest number of papers and the additional paper is probably needed to obtain better representation of the numbers of individuals affected by this circulation group. 2. One of the papers in the smallest-circulation group merged with its morning counterpart to become part of an all-day paper and was kept in the study. Rationale: Because the all-day paper had to be serving the same afternoon circulation, this daily was left in the smallest-circulation category even though the managing editor was the same as on the larger paper. 3. One of the second~smallest~circulation dailies indicated that it is a twin -- only the nameplate changes —— and was kept in the study. Rationale: This paper was left in the study in its original category because it officially was a separate daily. Some of each edition were received and were used. news retu cont Peri edit rand rand As a thro dai1 sele Week had DEWg 79 Final Sample The final sample of newspapers was 101. This final sample represented all but 13 states. Because two of these dailies were border cities, the number of states represented is even higher. Two of the dailies were from the same community. A list of states and newspapers in the sample is in Appendix B. Selecting the Composite Week for Each Daily Five week—day editions of the subsample of 101 newspapers for which the gatekeeper (managing editor) returned a usable questionnaire were randomly selected for content analysis. The five editions were selected from the same 30—day period -- February 17 through March 16, 1986 -— but only one edition was selected for each weekday.4 In other words one edition was a Monday selected randomly from all Mondays, next was a Tuesday selected randomly from all Tuesdays, and so on for each newspaper. As already mentioned, if a newspaper published on Tuesday through Saturday, Saturday was the fifth edition. If a daily published only four daily editions, the fifth was selected as a random day. Papers with fewer than four weekday editions had been eliminated. The 30—day period was selected because the time frame had to be short enough to avoid the bias of an exceptional news event or issue yet long enough to include all aspects of sel: ques fact rett Alt} holi peri Pat! peri St. Pres Papa cont edii [‘qu the For Mom the} Sat; was iss: 10c: 80 of a breaking story. This particular 30—day period was selected as administratively close to the end of the questionnaire administration as possible. Because of cost factors, only those dailies for which a managing editor had returned a usable questionnaire were to be ordered. Although every attempt was made to avoid special events or holiday seasons, President’s Day fell during the sampling period and several of the dailies did not publish. St. Patrick’s Day, which fell immediately after the 30—day period was on the same day of the week. When available, the St. Patrick’s Day edition was substituted for needed missing President’s Day editions. This substitution affected six papers. Even though all papers with missing sample issues were contacted in writing and asked to replace the missing editions, nine dailies (including the six mentioned) required substitutions because of missing editions. Two of the nine had two missing editions, the rest had only one. For the substitutions Mondays were substituted for missing Mondays, etc. Four additional papers required substitutions because they published only four days per week. For one of these a Saturday edition was available. For the others a random day was selected. Table 1 shows the final distribution of issues for the sample. Because the content analysis included identification of local coverage (proximity), the final or "home" edition was Week Week Week Week Week (Sub 0the (Sut 81 Table 1 Issues Selected, by Day of the Week (in Percents) (n = 505) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Week #1 32.7 20.8 24.8 27.7 21.8 Week #2 21.8 11.9 18.8 19.8 26.7 Week #3 15.8 30.7 34.7 17.8 27.7 Week #4 21.8 36.6 21.8 34.7 22.8 Week #5 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 (Substitutions) Other 3.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 (Substitutions) orde narr CONS the at rep] the gate mane thec stor for 0111 res; att: new, 3P8: 82 ordered for each daily. This edition should have the narrowest interpretation of circulation and the most consistent definition of its audience. Stories selected for content analysis were all those on the front pages of the five issues selected. Developing and Administering the Questionnaire A pretested mail questionnaire was sent to gatekeepers at the news—processing level on 151 (150 plus one replacement, see below) daily newspapers selected through the sampling procedures. The individual who serves as the gatekeeper at the processor level was identified as the managing editor -- the individual who has at least theoretical final decision—making power regarding use of a story, especially front-page stories, which were the basis for later content analysis.5 The mail questionnaire was addressed to the individual listed as managing editor in the 1985 Editor & Publisher Yearbook (Brown, 1985).6 If no managing editor was listed, with nine exceptions the questionnaire was sent to the editor.7 The recipient was asked to pass the questionnaire on to someone else on the daily if someone else actually was responsible for the content on the front page. The questionnaire asked about the gatekeeper’s attitudes toward or perception of 16 possible functions of a newspaper. Minimal demographics were requested. The specific content items are discussed below. nail abou each The are] frui week cont The Ques 10 n 13 9 Cats of 5 P°P\ Cate Tab] As 1 difj #- —.- -._ x w. j . ___\ ‘--->”-Ii_ _’ 83 Follow—U Two mail follow-up attempts were made for nonresponse. The first was mailed about four weeks after the initial mailing, when initial responses ceased. The second was sent about three weeks after the first follow-up. Included with each follow-up letter was another copy of the questionnaire. The mail follow-ups were satisfactory for all but the smallest dailies (see Table 2). Where the two mail follow-up attempts were not fruitful, one telephone contact was attempted about five weeks after the second follow-up letter. The telephone contact was limited to a subsample of the remaining dailies. The contact was delayed because of the holiday season. Questionnaire Responses Responses totaled 110 or 73 percent of the 150 mailed questionnaires (actually 111 of 151, see note). Nine of the 10 mailed questionnaires in category I were returned; 11 of 13 were returned in category II; 15 of 23 were returned in category III;8 35 of 46 were returned in category IV; and 40 of 58 were returned in category V. Because of the small population sizes in several categories, percentages by category would be misleading and will not be reported. See Table 2 for a breakdown of responses by follow-up attempt. As the table indicates, the smaller dailies were the most difficult to reach. 84 Table 2 Responses to Questionnaire by Follow—Up Attempt lst 2nd 3rd Qgt;§ Needed Mail Mail Mail Telephone Total I 7 7 0 2 9 II 8 6 4 1 11 III 15 11 l 3 15** IV 31 22 9 4 35 V 39 19 5 7 9*** 40 Totals 65 19 17 110 (to 84) (to 101) (to 111) *1 is the largest circulation category; V is the smallest. **A daily that ceased publication increases this total to 16 and the overall total to 111. ***Te1ephone contact was made with 10 respondents who agreed to complete the questionnaire. the Like The thll fum the been The takc Pro: I‘QSI dis: 00m 8n thi! the the 85 Format and Content of the Questionnaire The questionnaire itself was divided into three parts: the first part asked the managing editor to respond to 16 Likert-type statements about the function of a newspaper. The second part asked for minimal demographic data, and the third part requested open-ended discussion of (a) the function of newspapers in general and (b) the function of the managing editor’s own daily. The statements and the format of the questionnaire had been pretested. A summary of the pretest is in Appendix A. The questionnaire and relevant cover letters are in Appendix CI Statements on the Function of a Newspaper The statements about the function of a newspaper were taken from four different areas: The first was two studies which had examined the professional orientations of journalists, the second was research on the community press, the third was textbook discussion of reporting, and the fourth was a general comment from critics. The statements were arranged in random order except for an item regarding financial needs. Random numbers declared this item #1. Because of potential bias toward the rest of the items if a financial statement began the questionnaire, the financial item was assigned another number. The 16 function statements are discussed below. and pro the JOU Sta Par lta neu hel 1n the rel 86 Professional-Orientation Studies: Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman used eight statements to determine the professional orientation of their sample of Journalists in the United States. The statements covered the following journalistic functions: 1. investigating governmental claims 2. analyzing and interpreting complex problems 3. discussing national policy while it is being developed 4. getting information to the public as quickly as possible 5. staying away from a story when the facts cannot be verified 6. concentrating on the interests of the widest possible public 7. entertaining and relaxing 8. providing cultural and intellectual leadership (p. 230). Statements #1 through #3 identified the Johnstone, et al., participant or social—responsibility—oriented Journalist and statements #4 through #7 identified their traditionalist or neutral Journalist (p. 118-9). The eight functions were used by Weaver and Wilhoit to help identify the professional orientations of journalists in their replication of the Johnstone, et al., study, even though the cultural/intellectual function (#8) did not relate with either of the professional orientations 87 identified by Johnstone, et a1. Weaver and Wilhoit added two content—specific areas -— which identified a distinct type of newsperson -- to the functions: 1. be an adversary of public officials 2. be an adversary of businesses. These ten statements, which examine a general orientation to the news media rather than specific problems in the field, were used with a Likert-type response format as the foundation for the questionnaire.9 Functions from Community Press Research: Four statements adapted from the classic Janowitz study of the community press increased the number of statements to 14. Janowitz had tested four hypotheses that the community press served: 1) to interpret relevant external events to the local community [in a meaningful and effectual context] 2) to build and maintain local traditions and local identifications 3) to help integrate the individual into the local social structure by democratizing prestige of community leaders 4) to emphasize the values and interests on which there is a high level of consensus in the community. Item #3 was changed during pretesting to read: to help integrate the individual into the local social structure by eliminating the mystique that surrounds community leaders. 88 Function from Journalism Textbooks: Reporting textbooks (e.g., Ryan and Tankard, 1977) have indicated the following function is important in evaluating news: to give people practical information for everyday living. Meyer had said that a survey of four Knight—Bidder markets indicated that newspaper nonreaders were interested in service topics. This function became number 15. Function from the Critics: The sixteenth function addressed the financial needs of the press, a possible function suggested by critics (McQuail has a succinct discussion of these needs, p. 104—5). After pretesting, the function was stated: to structure content in ways that maximize readership attractive to advertisers. Wording of this statement was intended to convey an active involvement without implying judgment. Statements for Open—Ended Comments .} Two open—ended questions were also included on the 'qbestionnaire. One asked how the gatekeeper would describe the ideal role of the newspaper. The other asked how the gatekeeper perceived his or her newspaper’s role in the community. The open-ended questions were intended to provide a foundation for future analysis as well as an opportunity to \‘l‘ll 89 empirically expand the assessment of the managing editor’s perceptions of his or her newspaper’s function. Other Data Descriptive demographics gathered were age, sex, race, number of years in the field, and education. / The Pretest <5 , fl?“ 5 The pretest is discussed in detail in Appendix A. The questionnaire format that was pretested is also in Appendix A. Coding Kb; ECOding the Questionnaire \ I coding for the Likert—tYPe responSes Was very straightforward and was accomplished by one individual who checked each questionnaire twice. Open-ended and demographic coding was completed by the same procedure. Open-ended responses and the relevant codes are in Appendix E. Coding for Content Analysis Coding for content analysis of the front pages was more complicated, involving both an interpretation of definitions and mathematical divisions of space on the front pages. Each story on each front page of the sampled newspaper editions was measured and coded as having or not having each of the seven news attributes discussed below. Measurement 90 was accomplished by one person whose work was verified by visual comparisons of composite measures of the front pages of each day of the week for each daily. Discrepancies of more than three column inches were checked and remeasured. Because of the judgment required for determining presence or absence of the news attributes, two coders were used for each news story. Their work was verified by the reliability testing discussed below. Detailed procedures for coding are presented after the measurement discussion below. Measurement Measurement procedures were as follows: First each story was boxed and numbered in red. The box included headlines, photographs and other art associated with each individual story. Then the area of each story in terms of depth times column width was established. This area was then in terms of column inches which were later converted to proportions of each front page. This proportional measure, which resulted from pretesting, provided continuous data for analysis and eliminated bias from unequal page sizes. All editorial matter, including teasers, was measured. Exceptions were the standing index found on many front pages, nameplates and other standing art. Also excluded were filler items such as jokes, daily prayers and sayings, front—page ads and other non-news items. 91 If a story jumped from the front page to an inside page, only that portion included on the front page was measured and coded, even though coders often referred to inside pages to interpret some teasers. Depth of the Story: Depth for each story was recorded in actual inches to the nearest .25 inches. One-eighth of an inch and greater was rounded up.10 Stories were measured from the top of the highest printed element of the story [which may have been a photo or the tallest letter in a headline] to the bottom of the printed depth [which may have included a reference to a continued page]. Jagged column depths required separate measures or an average depth, depending on the layout. If the story was boxed or had a decorative border, the depth was determined from the inside of the top border to the inside of the bottom border. Using the inside border as a boundary eliminated extra space allotted to an attribute when the space may be standing art or merely decorative mechanisms. For example, the pretest indicated that "teasers" above the nameplate often have wide borders and little news. If a standing head (e.g., ”Today," "Area News," etc.) introduced a column of short stories, the head was included with the first story only. This rule included an assumption that the stories placed first had more editorial importance than those which followed. The alternative was to omit the standing head, which would have misrepresented the space 92 allocated to these grouped stories, or to apportion the head among the stories, which would have reduced its significance in many instances to little or no depth. If graphics distributed the head over a number of columns, a judgment had to be made based on the makeup. fligth: Width was reported in number of columns. Even though most daily newspapers have adopted the Standard Advertising Units (SAUs) that went into effect in July 1984, pretesting indicated that on the front page graphic emphasis often took precedence over the SAUs. [SAUs were designed for advertiser convenience and thus have little relevance for the front page, which does not generally carry ads.] Therefore, procedures for determining column width were based on proportions of the standard six columns per page. If the front page was laid out in the standard six columns, the coder counted the number of columns used for the story and reported the width as the raw score. If the column width varied, the coder computed the proportion of the page width per column and multiplied times six to compute the column width for the story. If the width was standard but in an eight—or four-column format, these widths were converted to six—column proportions. The proportioned width was reported in terms of tens, thirds (.33 or .67) or other recognizable figures. Because of layout differences and allowances for white space, more precision would actually have been imprecise. I__—_—_“—_" ""7"" f ‘ f " .. "iii“;‘ew. . - 93 Page Depth: In order to have a total page size on which to base the story proportion, the print depth of the entire Friday page was measured from the top of the highest printed element on the page to the bottom of the lowest. This number was multiplied by 6 columns to compute the total image area of the front page. This measure was necessary because both Editor & Pgblisher Yearbook and pretesting indicated that print depth can vary from newspaper to newspaper as much as 1.5 inches (Editor & Publisher Yearbook, Brown 1985, 16th preface page, no page number). Computing Story Size: The final story proportion was computed as depth times width divided by the print depth times six: L1 * W1 / (pd * 6)- Because the intent of this study is to compare space allocation among newspapers, this proportion provided a number based on use of the whole space and the number can be compared to other numbers computed in the same manner. Comparison of the proportion to 1.00 for one page or 5.00 for the entire composite week gives the number a score recognizable beyond the abstract. The formula provides a score which represents the proportion of the entire front page, as was the intent. Rationale for this comparison is that the reader sees the entire front page, regardless of how that space is used, and the news space is only part of the overall front page. Thus 94 fixed items, such as nameplates and indices, are part of the proportional base. An alternative approach would use only the available news space as a base. Rationale for this approach is that the managing editor, not the newspaper, is the focus of the study and theoretically the managing editor can be judged only by the daily space under his or her control. Nameplate space and the front—page index, for example, may not vary and therefore would be at least theoretically beyond the managing editor’s control. When the space is fixed, the managing editor’s control over decisions to fix space is conjecture. If the non—news space on the front page were eliminated from the base for figuring proportions, the base would be the newshole on the front page rather than the image area.11 If the study were examining inside pages where advertising can be anywhere from zero to 100 percent of a page, newshole would be an appropriate base. 0n the front page nameplate width will vary, front—page index sizes will vary, and other art may or may not be standing, depending on the daily and its policies. Therefore, in order to account for this variety and because this study is limited to front pages with a general lack of advertising, the entire front page was the base. White space will vary with the make—up. Because the data were available, mathematical computations for the newshole were made and are reported in 95 Chapter V. The newshole formula for story size was: L1 * W1 / [(Li * W1) + (L2 * W2) + . . . + (L3 * WJ)]. Determining Presence or Absence of the News Attributes Because of the amount of judgment involved, two coders each reviewed each story to determine whether any of the seven news attributes were present. The seven news attributes used in the study are: 1) proximity, 2) timeliness, 3) prominence, 4) impact, 5) magnitude, 6) conflict, and 7) oddity.12 Using the definitions below and the expanded working definitions in Appendix D, the coders indicated ”yes" if the attribute was present and "no" if it was not. Each story could have from no to seven attributes. Each attribute was scored separately for each story.13 There was no "none" category. If a story did not have any of the attributes, the story would show up as zero in the computations. Coders noted missing data. The attribute definitions below rely heavily on definitions printed by Atwood and Buckalew and on discussions in reporting textbooks (notably Ryan & Tankard; The Missouri Group: Brooks, Kennedy, Moen & Henley, 1985; and Izard, Culbertson & Lambert, 1973). Full working definitions are in Appendix D. The attributes are defined: Proximity: Proximity concerns "people, events or institutions in the immediate coverage area" (Ryan and Tankard, p. 105). Timeliness: Timeliness concerns recent or immediate-future happenings -- the breaking, hard 96 news as opposed to "soft" or indefinite future news. Prominence: Prominence, or known principal, is an attribute when the principal actor, issue or institution in the story is already "well known because of past publicity or position in the community" or society (Ryan and Tankard, p. 106). Impact: Impact includes "any physical or non- physical event which has an impact on a large number of readers now or in the near future. 'Impact’ is used with effect or consequence in mind. The impact can be damaging or enhancing" (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). Magnitude: Magnitude includes "any physical or non-physical event in which a large number of persons attended, or which involves large amounts of gains, losses, expenditures or accomplishments. Magnitude is significant from a quantitative point of view ..... " (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). Magnitude can also be significant for the smallness of the quantity. Conflict: Conflict describes "any open clash between persons, groups, animals or things or involving a clash with any of these four against nature. The conflict must be obvious with distinct 'movement against’ by one or both opposing forces" (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). Oddity: Oddity is "an action or event that is rarer than just the unusual . . . or opposite from what we have learned to expect, and, thus, predict in our culture and in our time" (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). As a result of pretesting, "visual" as an attribute (used by Buckalew with television news) was eliminated as a separate category. Photographs and other art were included as part of the overall space allotted to a story. Pretesting indicated that much of the printed art is not necessarily outstanding by itself and involves graphs, charts and mug shots, for example, that are used to supplement the story. Although some unusual photographs may 97 have been run because of their visual impact (human interest and some feature photographs, for example), these were coded for content on a case-by—case basis rather than being coded for visual impact. Coder Training The two coders trained together for about two weeks. Training stopped when both felt they were consistently following the definitions. Training procedures were as follows: 1. Both read through the definitions together. 2. The first coder coded several newspapers into the news attributes. 3. The second coder coded the same dailies, noting discrepancies or questions about the first coding. 4. The two compared both and resolved differences. The differences were the beginning of a coding— decision file. The training involved 14 dailies from various parts of the country. As a result of the training and as coding continued, some locally specific decisions were required. A file was begun for national and international stories that were repeated across the sample. Coding for these stories was recorded and continued to be recorded throughout the coding. These recorded codes were later applied to the entire sample.14 98 Coding and Checking After training the coders worked separately, and notes about idiosyncracies were kept in a file with each paper. Coders still conferred on national and international stories. In addition, the first coder recorded any specific research that might help the second coder. This information included location of cities not indexed on maps, locally specific institutions identified by reading the entire paper, local telephone listings for firms or institutions, etc. After both coders had completed the entire sample, each daily was checked and each issue was reviewed as follows: First, remeasurement for separating stories which had been inappropriately lumped together was completed. Second: 1. The issues were checked to be certain both coders had the same number of stories coded. 2. The weather story was located and checked to be certain it was in the appropriate column. Rationale: A weather story of some sort appears in almost every issue of every paper and has a consistent coding. Its appearance in the wrong column would be an alert that the coder’s numbering was inconsistent with the appropriate numbering of the actual stories. 3. Coding for consensus national and international stories was checked and corrected where necessary. 99 Rationale: Because reappearance of these stories was not always anticipated —- and could not have been —— the first time the story appeared, this check provided consistency throughout the entire sample. Representative coding forms are in Appendix C. Coder Reliability and Missing Data A coefficient for reliability between coders was calculated: the proportional area for coder #1 for each news attribute for each story was compared with the same proportional area for coder #2. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient indicated that the correlations between coders for each news attribute began at .97. The correlations are reported in Table 3. Because the reliability is greater than the agreed-upon .85, the final score for each news attribute was the mean of the scores for each coder. Missing data were checked separately. As Table 3 indicates, there were no discrepancies. The number of stories which were "uncodable" because of missing information and the amount of area they occupied are reported in Table 4. Scores for missing news attributes were calculated by multiplying the story proportion times the amount of that attribute per column inch for the daily in question. 100 Table 3 Pearson Correlation Coefficients between Coders and Missing Data Discrepancies for News Attributes Pearsons Discrepancies/ News Attribute r Missing Data Proximity .9977 none Prominence .9946 none Impact .9741 none Timeliness .9975 none Conflict .9947 none Magnitude .9924 none Oddity .9695 none (n = 101) 101 Table 4 Missing Stories and Area (in Column Inches) for News Attributes (n = 101) News Dailies with Number of Total Area Attribute Missing Data Stories Missing* Missing* Proximity 1 l 1.50 2 l 4.20 3 1 1.50 4 l 5.17 Total 4 12.37 Prominence 1 l 1.50 2 l 1.50 3 1 5.17 Total 3 3 8.17 Timeliness 1 l 1.50 2 l 1.13 3 1 9.00 4 1 1.50 5 l 5.17 6 l 3.00 7 l 1.50 Total 7 7 22.80 Impact 1 l 1.50 2 l 1.13 3 l 1.20 4 1 1.50 5 1 5.17 5 1 3.00 Total 6 6 13 50 Magnitude l 1 1°50 2 l 1.13 3 2 10.20 4 l 1.50 5 1 5.17 6 1 3.00 Total 6 7 22'50 (continued) 102 Table 4 (continued) Attribute Dailies Stories Area Conflict 1 1 1_50 2 1 1.20 3 1 1.50 4 1 5.17 5 1 3.00 Total 5 5 12.37 Oddity 1 1 1.50 2 1 1.13 3 2 10.20 4 1 1.50 5 1 5.17 6 1 3.00 Total 6 7 22.50 *As a reference point, the mean numnber of stories for the week was 54; the mean amount of news space in column inches was 537.23. 103 Developing an Overall Newspaper Profile Score from the Individually Coded News Attributes In summary, for each story when one of the seven attributes was present in the story, the score for the attribute took one of three forms: 1. If both coders indicated the attribute was present, the score was the proportion of the front page occupied by the story. 2. If only one coder indicated the attribute was present, the score was half that proportion (the mean of zero (for one coder) plus the story proportion (for the other coder)). 3. If presence or absence of the attribute could not be determined, the score was the amount of the attribute per column inch for the appropriate daily times the proportion of the story. If both coders indicated the attribute was not present in the story, the score was zero. Even though each story had a score for relevant attributes, these scores had to be combined to provide an overall profile for each daily. The procedure for combining the individual scores for each attribute had to be one which allowed the intensity of each attribute to remain unique yet still result in an overall profile of all the attributes for the individual newspaper. With this in mind, each attribute was treated separately, eventually providing seven separate scores—— one for each attribute -- for each daily. 104 Therefore, each news attribute appearing in each piggy was first treated as if it were the only attribute appearing in that story. The entire story size was assigned to each attribute identified —- in the form noted above. For example, if a story measuring 11 percent of the front page had news attributes of proximity, prominence and timeliness and if both coders agreed the attributes were present, for that story prominence would have had a score of .11 (11 percent); proximity would have had a score of .11 (11 percent); and timeliness would have had a score of .11 (11 percent). The total prominence score for that newspaper would have been the sum of the prominence scores for each 53251. Timeliness for that newspaper was the total timeliness scores for each story, etc. For each newspaper, then, the attribute could theoretically have a score of 5.00 (500 percent -- five editions times the 100 percent of the space theoretically available for each edition). This procedure provides a comprehensive picture of the attributes being presented to the reader for each newspaper. Although the absolute value of the proportion may be initially difficult to interpret, the score is meaningful in comparison to scores for other newspapers, similar to the meaning of a scale variable.15 ~_‘t._¥:_;.;; 105 Variables The following variables were identified: X = underlying profile of perceptions of the newspaper function x1 = news for widest possible public X2 = discuss developing national policy X3 = provide entertainment and relaxation X4 = avoid stories where facts cannot be verified X5 = demystify local leaders xa = get information to the public quickly X7 = investigate government claims and statements xa = build/maintain local traditions and identifications xe = develop intellectual and cultural interests X10 = maximize readership for advertisers x11 = be skeptical of actions of public officials X12 = interpret external events to local community (x13 = analyze and interpret complex problems x14 = emphasize consensual community values and interests X15 = be skeptical of actions of businesses X16 = provide practical information for everyday living 1 N underlying profile of perceptions of newspaper role (open—ended questions) p1 = function of a newspaper in general p2 = function of specific newspaper in specific community 106 N = underlying profile of news story selection n1 =proximity n2 = timeliness n3 = prominence n4 = impact ns = magnitude as = conflict n7 = oddity D = demographics d1 = professional age (years in news business) d2 = college degree d3 = major field d4 = age d5 = race d5 = sex The H otheses The literature suggested the following hypotheses to be tested for the three research questions: Hypothesis #1: Two distinctive perceptions of the function of the news media will be identified in the responses of the gatekeepers: (a) the traditional or neutral journalist and (b) the participant or nontraditional journalist. Rationale: Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman had identified two distinct types of journalists in their analysis of both reporters and editors. One group they labeled the participant journalist and the other they labeled the neutral journalist. Using different labels (the 141‘ _,/ u», _ 107 disseminator and the interpreter), Weaver and Wilhoit replicated the Johnstone, et al., findings and also discovered an adversarial journalist. Culbertson used 28 items and identified a third type of journalist, the activist. However, Culbertson’s questions that identified the activist did not seem to be closely related to the role or orientation of the media. Argyris in his informal conversations with newspersons at one newspaper also identified a third profile, the reporter-activist. The activist seems to be an individual who feels that the media should persuade or direct in spite of verification of facts and other traditional criteria for news. Dunn found the three profiles with reporters and also a "representative" profile which fits the Cohen concept of "press as critic of government." The activist journalist is not expected to appear in this sample of managing editor-gatekeepers. Neither is the representative or the advocate. The pretest showed a marked similarity of views among the respondents surveyed. While the small number was certainly not definitive and would make the mathematics of multivariate analysis impossible, the pretest sample size is nearly 10 percent of the projected sample. Even though there is breadth and division in responses to the perceptions of the news media function, extremes are missing. Other studies also suggest that the activist will not appear among the management-level journalists surveyed for 108 this study. As already noted, when Ismach and Dennis interviewed newspaper and television reporters in Minneapolis about their functions, only two percent said they actually functioned as an advocate and only four percent said they would prefer to function as an advocate. If the figures are that low for reporters, the activist or advocate may not even exist among those with responsibility for the more conservative management function of the newspaper. Even for the nontraditional or participant journalist, Culbertson noted that both his and Johnstone, et al.’s had less experience than the traditionalist. (Johnstone, et al., however, indicate the relationship is mixed.) There is no reason to suggest that the Johnstone, et al., differentiations will be different for this sample. Therefore, the traditional journalist is expected to be in high agreement with statements #1, #3, #4 and #6 on the questionnaire. These statements are: -get information to the public as quickly as possible -stay away from a story when the facts cannot be verified -concentrate on the interests of the widest possible public ——entertain and relax. The nontraditional journalist is expected to be in agreement with statements #2, #7 and #13: -investigate government claims a. -analyze and interpret complex problems —discuss national policy while it is still being developed The traditionalist is expected to be consensual and thus to be in high agreement with Janowitz’s: -build and maintain local traditions and local identifications (item #8) and -emphasize the values and interests on which there is a high level of consensus in the community (#14). The nontraditionalist or participant journalist is expected to be more in agreement with Janowitz’s other hypotheses: —interpret relevant external events to the local community (#12) and -minimize the mystique that surrounds community leaders (#5). These items imply a willingness to disrupt the status quo. Neither the Johnstone, et al., provide cultural and intellectual leadership (#9) nor the textbook - provide practical information for everyday living (#16) — is expected to be a differentiator. However, because of the strong consensual connotation, these items are expected to be more in agreement with the traditional journalist than the participant or nontraditionalist. The Gray, et al., functions: to be an adversary of public officials (#11) and of business (#15) may either * 14:»... .._ v ( suggest a weak third profile or be more strongly associated with the nontraditional journalist. The emphasis on an adversarial relationship with business may be very low for this group of management—level personnel. The pretest points to this agreement. The management—level status also makes prediction difficult for the economic statement: structure content in ways that maximize readership attractive to advertisers (#10). Agreement with this statement is expected to be stronger for the traditional journalist but there is little reason to expect strong disagreement with any members of the sample. Hypothesis #2: Two distinctive patterns of news use will be identified in the content of the gatekeepers’ daily newspapers: (a) a pattern in which local and timely news (proximity and timeliness) predominate and (b) a pattern in which impact predominates. Rationale: Pretesting involved too few newspapers to make predictions based on their content, even though several of the dailies seemed to have distinct "personalities." The literature seems to identify more consensus than differences in news values; even so, a few studies have found evidence of differences in news choices made by news persons. Unfortunately the samples are generally small and the situations hypothetical. For example, when Burgoon, Burgoon & Atkin asked the 489 newsroom personnel in their study to define news, they found 41 percent agreed on consequence [similar to impact] as an important dimension and 32 percent agreed on a less precise "interest." However, when they asked these news people to rank actual stories from the previous day’s newspaper, breaking stories [timeliness] and local stories [proximity] received the highest priority. Thus there is evidence that the hypothetical and reality may not converge. The Badii and Ward Q—sort with 10 editors in Oklahoma confirmed the consensual three news dimensions of earlier unpublished studies: 1. significance -- impact, magnitude and neither 2. normality —- oddity, conflict and normal 3. prominence —— known and unknown principals. The study also found two distinct types of editors: "type 1" -- the editor who used more of the conflict stories and "type 2" -- the editor who used more immediate reward than delayed reward stories. Overall, however, impact and conflict stories were used more than known principal stories, even though conflict was a characteristic of the type 1 editor choice pattern. The authors indicate that no demographics explained the selection patterns, but their "type 1" editor had a lower median age and fewer years on the job (median years) than their "type 2" editor. Clyde and Buckalew, using a Q-sort, found strong consensus among their editors (15 from two dailies and 3 from television in the same city) for conflict, proximity and timeliness as news values. The greatest differences they found were that top-level editors selected timeliness A —'n 112 in stories and lower-level editors stressed conflict and known principal. Buckalew also used the Q-sort with 12 television editors and found consensus on multi~facet stories. His small—market editors preferred local stories and his large- market editors preferred timely stories. Atwood held timeliness and proximity constant and found that 13 staffers on one newspaper preferred impact and prominence stories. Of the four editor "types" he identified (which included staff and subscribers sorting " as they thought the city editor would"), one group preferred "oddity" stories and another l-- the largest —— rejected oddity stories. He noted that the staff preferred prominence as a news dimension and that Ward’s editors also differed on oddity as a news dimension. Culbertson learned that his traditional journalist had an orientation toward spot news and local stories (timeliness and proximity), while his "interpretive" journalist preferred more national and interpretive news (impact). Culbertson’s study alone would suggest two news selection patterns will exist and that they will divide on the traditional/nontraditional news values. The traditional newspaper can be expected to follow the textbooks and emphasize timeliness and proximity as preferred news dimensions. The more nontraditional newspaper will be expected to emphasize material which has less immediacy but 113 which is important to the audience —— stories with impact. The relevance of some impact stories may need clarification for the audience. The truly high news value stories with heavy multidimensional content will probably be prominent in all media. What daily could ignore the Challenger explosion (see page 165) or a large plane crash? But differences may be apparent in follow—up policies. The traditional will probably have more multi-dimensional stories than the nontraditional daily because the textbooks emphasize this choice pattern. Conflict (fairly consensual in the selection patterns) will probably appear equally in both news patterns, while prominence (known principal) may be a more traditional dimension -- it has a "local" feeling. Prominence will probably not be a differentiator between the two newspaper patterns. It is not showing up that strongly in the literature. Magnitude and oddity are not expected to be strong differentiators for the two news selection patterns. Although oddity has been a differentiator in several of the Q-sorts, its strength was in rejection rather than selection. Rejection is not a possibility with this study. The analysis is of the product, not the possibilities. Badii and Ward has indicated that magnitude was eXplaining little variance in news preferences and had been dropped as a dimension by those using Ward’s work as a 114 foundation. Atwood, however, speculated that magnitude may have been a component of some of the impact and conflict choices (those preferred by his sample) and, therefore, was not being adequately tested. A weak third news selection pattern with oddity and magnitude as a foundation is a possibility but is not expected in this small sample. Some dailies which compete in a market with another daily may try to present a "featury" personality which would emphasize oddities and other human interest news. Because this type of daily is expected to exist only in a few situations -- if at alle- the profile is expected to be weak. Prominence, which would mean an emphasis on names, would be expected to appear in this third selection pattern. Hypothesis #3: The gatekeeper’s perception of the news media is predictive of his or her pattern of news use: the traditional journalist is expected to select a more traditional pattern of news use (proximity and timeliness predominate), while the nontraditional journalist is expected to select a nontraditional news pattern (impact oriented). Rationale Most of the discussion of traditional and nontraditional news choice patterns is presented with Research Question #2. Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman suggested (without reference to news choice data) that their participant journalist is conflict-oriented while their neutral journalist (the traditionalist) is consensus oriented. The consensual nature of the traditional journalist implies an intent to please and/or appeal to the local 115 audience. As already mentioned in Research Question #2, Culbertson’s traditional journalist projected a news choice pattern of spot news and local stories. Thus the little evidence available suggests a link between the traditional journalist and news selection which emphasizes proximity and timeliness. Although Johnstone, et al., identify their nontraditional journalist as conflict—oriented, the term does not seem to mean a generic clash as defined in the news dimension. Their discussion compares this journalistic orientation to the consensual nature of the traditionalist rather than giving examples of conflict per se. The meaning seems to be more of willingness to tolerate or encourage new or unpopular thoughts among the audience. Thus a news choice pattern emphasizing impact seems a more appropriate prediction for this journalist than would the generic conflict. As noted, Culbertson’s "interpretive" journalist preferred more national and interpretive news -- the type of news that may need a good writer to make it relevant to the audience. Impact news stories may not be immediately relevant to the audience without some explanation or perspective provided by the newspaper. The journalist who selects this type of news should be more willing to deal with nonconsensual news stories rather than conflict-type news (according to the definition). The impact of the stories may not be positive for the audience. 116 Conflict—type news is of interest to readers and will probably be used often by all types of journalists (see discussion under Research Question #2). Thus the traditional orientation of a journalist is expected to predict a news pattern use that is high on local and timely news. The nontraditional or participant journalist is expected to select a news pattern that is high on impact news. 117 ENDNOTES 1A5 Stempel (1981) notes: without stratification "the very largest papers would be unlikely to turn up at all in a random selection of 100 newspapers among 1,600 plus" (p. 126). 2The U.S. Census (Kaplan and Van Valey, 1980, p. A-3) uses 250,000 as a dividing point for its largest cities, and that cut—off point would probably be appropriate if stratification were by city size. But 100,000 circulation as a cut—off for the largest dailies seems more appropriate. Some of these dailies are located in cities of 250,000 or larger population. Culbertson divided at 100,000 for "large" and "small" papers, and the divisions as presented were used by Bogart (1985) in his assessment of content changes in newspapers. Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman, however, used 250,000 circulation to differentiate for personnel comparisons, but —— although they used the Editor & Publisher Yearbook -— their sampling method was based on the NORC primary sampling units (p. 8-10). 3This stratification includes 1690 of the 1701 dailies Editor & Publisher Yearbook indicates are listed. Ten of the eleven are accounted for by the duplicate listings of morning and evening editions. The eleventh newspaper is a discrepancy in the Yearbook list and the project list. State-by-state checking indicates the discrepancy is in New York in the less—than-10,000 category. Three checks of the listings did not resolve the discrepancy. Some of the dual-edition dailies shared a listed news staff. 4Weekday only editions (eliminating Sunday and/or weekend editions) were used because: 1. Sunday or weekend editions often have a different or wider circulation base than the weekday papers. 2. Not all daily newspapers publish a weekend or Sunday edition. 3. The weekend news base is different from the news base of the business week. The news—base problem could also affect Monday morning news, but Monday newspapers have a similarity with other weekday editions when future news is considered. Saturday editions (as daily editions rather than "weekend" editions) have the opposite problem: a similar base for "past" news but a dissimilar one for future news. Stemple suggests using an edition from each day of the week and also discusses the Sunday edition problem (p. 125). 118 5Traditionally managing editors make decisions about nonspecialized newspaper pages and front-page content. Tuchman (1978) noted, for example, that for minor or secondary editors stories almost always were assigned an inside page or feature treatment. 6The 1985 book became available after the newspapers had been stratified and was used to ensure more current staff names and addresses. No changes were made in the groupings, even though the later circulations were recorded. 746 of 151 questionnaires were sent to the editor; as might be expected, 39 of these were on dailies with circulation under 25,000. The nine exceptions were sent to 4 associate editors, 1 assistant editor, 1 executive news editor, 2 news editors and l generically to the managing editor (the daily listed no staff names). Of the 9 exceptions, 5 are in the final sample. Decisions on the exceptions were made based on listings in Editor & Publisher Yearbook and are a deviation from the original proposal. 8A daily that ceased publication was replaced even though the managing editor of its jointly owned counterpart returned the questionnaire. The defunct daily raises the category III returns to 16 and the attempts to 24, increasing the total mailed questionnaires to 151. 9The Johnstone, et al., terminology and some of the functions were used by Culbertson. Culbertson was more interested in the perceptions of the news process and of other "values“ such as "idealism" and "reformism" in defining his professional roles. McLeod and Hawley (1964) developed thirteen items to differentiate "professionalization" of journalists. The items discussed job performance, professional training, the organization of the newspaper itself (content, especially), and attitudes toward the function of professional organizations. Most of the questions could be appropriate for any professional field. Those that were journalism- specific dealt most often with the news presentation. Only four of the thirteen items differentiated between the groups of newspeople: l. willingness to go to jail to protect a source, 2. overemphasis on the five "We" in the lead, 3. mandatory college education for beginning journalists, and 4. required refresher courses for working journalists (in content areas such as political science, economics). Those the authors called "professionals" had significantly greater agreement than the "semi- professionals" on these items. l°This rule is consistent with graphics design. If editorial matter requires space, the space must be there. 119 11Newspapers using above—the—nameplate teasers should have a larger newshole on the front page than those newspapers without such graphics. 0f seven newspapers examined during the pretest, for one edition of each, from 7.8 to 11.6 percent of the front page was devoted to standing material. The difference among the extremes for these dailies was approximately 3.8 percent. This space did not include white space around the printed material and did not include every edition of the newspaper analyzed for the pretest. 12The news attributes were selected for analysis because they are subject-free and can be applied to any news story from any source, location or subject. Other coding systems are discussed in the literature review beginning on page 58. 13An alternate procedure which was considered would have scaled each attribute based on "how much" of the attribute was present in the story. Scaling would be asking for a differentiation that does not exist. A story is timely or not, local (proximate) or not. Divisions of more or less timely become arbitrary and the breadth is meaningless. 1"Waring the training the original Ward Q-sort stories became available and coders were able to compare their judgment to the definitions developed by Ward (1967). 15Pretest combinations of codes used a mathematical formula which apportioned the story size into the number of news attributes assigned to that story. The final "score" for each attribute was the total space apportioned for the page. This handling could mask real differences, however, because the "better" (from a textbook standpoint) the story —— i.e., the more attributes included -- the less emphasis each attribute would get. Thus a paper that relies heavily on unidimensional stories would have a higher score on one attribute that may or may not be present just as often in a paper with many multidimensional stories. A second possible procedure, multi—code groupings or categorizations would indicate exactly how the news attribute are being combined in an individual newspaper. While useful for Q-sorts where stories are preselected, this procedure can result in an unwieldy number of categories when actual newspapers are used. For five days, an estimated 99 stories may have been coded for each newspaper. The possible combination of codes has at least 90 categories -- almost more than the sample size. Analysis would be meaningless if not impossible. CHAPTER IV THE MANAGING EDITORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FUNCTION OF NEWSPAPERS Introduction This chapter, the first of three which discuss the findings of this study, will present the results of analyses conducted to answer Research Question #1: Will more than one distinctive perception of the function of the news media be identified in the responses of the gatekeepers? The information in this chapter will focus on the gatekeeper rather than on the newspaper content or any relationship between the two. The managing editors (news—processing gatekeepers) were identified by a stratified random sample of daily newspapers in the United States. Mail questionnaires asking for Likert-type responses to statements about 16 possible functions of a newspaper were sent to 151 managing editors, and 111 responded. The questionnaires also asked for open- ended discussions of the functions both of a newspaper in general and of the respondent’s own daily. Minimal demographics were requested. 120 121 This chapter will first describe a demographic profile of the managing editors surveyed. Second, an overview of the general responses to the sixteen function statements will be presented. Third, the profiles uncovered by an analysis of these statements will be discussed as they relate to predictions for Hypothesis #1: Two distinctive perceptions of the function of the news media will be identified in the responses of gatekeepers: (a) the traditional or neutral journalist and (b) the participant or nontraditional journalist. The Managing Editors The 111 managing editors who responded to the survey1 were divided 67 percent on evening dailies, 30 percent on morning dailies and 4 percent on all-day papers. The stratified sample resulted in papers which represented 38 states, including Alaska. Two other states were indirectly represented because the dailies, located in border cities, claimed dual-service states. As the literature would predict, this managerial-level sample was mostly male (82 percent) and white (95 percent). Median age was 40 years, younger than the pretest would have suggested. However, these managing editors ranged from 25 to 64 years of age.2 They reported a median of 16 years experience in news, although individual experience ranged from 2 to 40 years. Eighty—two percent of the managing editors reported holding at least a college degree and 43 percent had 1A ;7: 122 completed their college work in journalism and/or communication. An additional 14 percent indicated a dual major with journalism. (See Table 5 for the breakdown of college majors.) These managing editors are comparable demographically to the managing editors reached by Weaver and Wilhoit in 1982/3 (see Table 6). Median age for the Weaver and Wilhoit sample was 1 year younger (39 years of age); Weaver and Wilhoit’s managing editors reported one year less in the field (15 years) and were 80 percent male3 (p. 71). With an expected increase in age and number of males, the current sample reasonably parallels the respondents in Giles’ Associated Press Managing Editors survey. (Only 53 percent of Giles’ respondents were managing editors. All but 7 percent of the others were higher-level editors or executive editors.) Giles’ 1979 sample was 78 percent college—educated, 98 percent white and 95 percent male. Median age for his editors was in the 41—45 years range.4 Half of Giles’ respondents (53 percent) were responsible for papers of 50,000 or less circulation (compared to 83 percent of the managing editors in this sample), and 56 percent were on evening papers. Therefore, if demographics can be an indicator, there is some expectation that the answers of this sample represent a much broader group of managing editors. 123 Table 5 Managing Editors’ Majors in College Major Percent Journalism and/or Communication Journalism plus a Specified Other Major Writing Field (exact title varied) Psychology Liberal Arts or Interdisciplinary History and/or Political Science Business Education No degree (n Declaring = 111) 43 14 124 .UQUHOQMH HOG ®H63 mHNuOu QUNHWQWm .muouflww wsfiwmsme was mucuflcm xmow mowsaosfl wasmflm mfiLHsss .Nme CH mflwoz msmz .m.D :H movemxpos Hmflwouflww wefiu HHDM one mo museums was: .mwawflm mac mo one mm Emfiamcasoh :HHB “ohms Hosp m cocooflcsfl 0:3 mwonu mmwSHUCH panama pompous wwuaoaou mom I mz mz mz mz mm as mz He m2 mz «Asmc me we «a es mz Nw we mm mz mz mm mm as so ow Nw mensq Nm mz am as somn: «man: Nee": *«Kowvc HHHus m.ms a mucoasm mnmflsmcusoe HH< ««mmssamo HH< m.mz m.mz mass .mmaao mnmmma .uflonfifla a Hw>m03 wHQEMm ucmuuso Asmaewzv amass an momma mHaEmw muflusw II acmmz GOHumoHGSEEoo\EmHHmGMDOh msflumUstfl unmouom moumscmuo oonHoo ucoouom ouficz uswuuwm QHNE HCQUHNQ wumow CH Asoflcwzv ww< uHOflHH3\Ho>wm3 was moHHU cufls meEmm ucouaso mo somflammaoo oafimmawofimm a magma 125 Managing Editors’ Perceptions As Table 75 indicates, very few of the managing editors noted any disagreement with eleven of the 16 possible newspaper functions. Greatest disagreement was indicated with the adversarial functions -— be an adversary of government (39 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed) and of businesses (57 percent) -- and with two functions that suggest releasing philosophical control: emphasizing community values and interests (21 percent) and maximizing readership for advertisers (37 percent). There was also a small amount of disagreement (12 percent) with the importance of avoiding unverifiable stories. Even with what appears to be an eclectic perception of the functions of newspapers, an examination of the "strongly-agree" responses alone suggests a strong attention to reader needs and interests. For example, highest "strongly-agree" responses (65 percent) were for getting information to the public quickly. Second highest (47 percent) were for investigating government claims and statements. These were followed by a grouping: (1) build and maintain local traditions and identifications, (2) concentrate on the widest public, and (3) provide practical daily information (38, 37 and 37 percent, respectively). This emphasis on speed and reader-service type information suggests an awareness of circulation and reader—loyalty. 126 Awwsswucoov w.m m.w~ o.mq m.m zuHcDEEoo may CH mawsomcou mo Hw>mH :wfic m we mao;o seems so mumoaquH was wmsfim> as» omwmmsasmss 0.0 N.m m.mm B.HH uaassa ecu mo menopause Hmasuaso was HmsuuwfiaouCH aoam>omss 0.0 w.H m.0m H.5m mnowmwa kuHCSEEou mvcsouasm umcu onwaumhfi onu wSflNHEHcHE >2 ousuosuum Hmwuow HmUOH ecu cuss Hmsvw>HcCfl ecu oumuwmusfi aawmsss o.o m.q N.N® q.mm muHCDEEoo Hausa osu oh mucw>w Hmcuwuxm ucm>wawu umuauwucH @.o m.q q.oo o.mm cowumxmfiwu was ucmfisflmuuwuco ocw>oam 0.0 0.0 H.mo m.nm womoaw>ow mason HHHum ma uH oHHSB kofifioa HNGOHum: mmsumflm 0.0 w.OH m.om «.mm coswauo> on nocsmo unsucoo stuumm wHwLB wofiuoum Eoum xwzw zmuw« 0.0 o.c c.wm N.qm mEchoue xwaaeoo mo Goaumuwpmnwusfl was mamhadfim ocfi>oam 0.0 0.0 m.mm m.cm UHHQDQ wsfl>fifi mmpxaw>o sow Coaumsuowsfi Hosauumua mamowa o>Ho 0.0 N.N m.~q m.cm oaawwwoa ummcfis was ou uwwaquH wo ma £0H£3 mzma so mumuusouaoo 0.0 m.q w.mq w.mm mcoaumoHMHusocfl Hmooa was macaufiwmhu Hmuoa casucwma cam wafism 0.0 0.0 n.5e w.oq ucmscuo>ow can >2 meme mucwEmumum was mEHmao oumwflumo>sH 0.0 w.m m.mm m.q© saxoflsv UHHQDQ wfiu cu coaumauomsfi cow mmuwsmflm omuwmmfla mmuw< owuw< zfimcoumm hawcowuw Ham Amucoonma :flv “cu mamamam3ws How ucmuwoasfl ma uH macsuussm seanmSwz we mCOHuawuuwm Om mwmcommmm .wHOunm wsflwmcmz a amass 127 wEOflususano mom "mumow©CH mxmfluwumm wse emu .« kc coco: wuofis unwoxm wwawmmflm zamcouum woummmflm ommw< oopw< zawcopum :.:ww3uwn:H: kuwwflwsoo oao3 momsoamwu wsfimmflfi .MCmeflE wwmcoawop snow I ass .wcfiwwfiemwmcoswou osu..ss .wSfimmHE omsommmu was I * .couovwmsoo ma owsoamou coosuwncw ecu we museums OOH HmuOu HHHB saunas: .omcoawmp m mm :cmmaquEH: mcfiumUchfl mo coauao onu was muamwaoamom nouoz mefluom “Hons mo Hmofiuaoxm saucmumcou wcwon mm wwmmmsflmsn mo zusmuo>vm as omx mummfluum>wm cu o>flnomuuum awfimaocmmw oufiwamE umfiu mxms 5H ucousoo mucuozuum msOHuom ufimnu mo amoebasxm xfiusmumcou mason an mHsHUfiwmo uaansa mo mummuo>wm cw om Aewscun:00c a magma 128 .mdoauofl>ow momentum was memos mmmmu as wowsausfl mom was momsoamoa msfimwflzg oo.m oo.H oo.N Aqm.v mq.N Amfisv mammmaflman no sowmpm>em mm oo.m oo.H oo.m Amo.Hvew.N flossv mpmwauum>ew pom museums mNHEuxmz oo.m oo.H oo.m Aeo.ficmw.N Ammsc msmuuawmo cameos mo summnm>sm mm oo.m oo.H oo.q Amm.v mq.m Aqssv wumwuwuaa sum mmssm> suflcsaaou omsmmeaem oo.m oo.H oo.¢ flow.v ms.m Aasc mommumoas Hmosoasu sum Hmsouwfismuca aosm>wo oo.m oo.H oo.q Ass.v sw.m “may museums Hmuos no msesumse wNnEscHz oo.m oo.N oo.q ANN.V mo.q Awfifiv huHGDEEoo ou wusw>m HmsHouxw moumuousH oo.m oo.H oo.q Awn.v wo.q Amsv soaumxmfiou cam uswEsfimuuouso omfi>oum oo.m oo.m oo.e Awm.v as.e Amsv senses Hmcouomc mcaaofio>ws mmsomun oo.m oo.H oo.¢ Aso.mvom.m Aqec mmstoum mspmfiufium>as eao>< oo.m oo.m oo.e Amm.v sw.e Amuse mamfinoaa meQEOU nouauwuau was mNsHma< oo.m oo.m oo.q Aoe.c cm.q Aemsv mae>aa afiame you monumau0maa Hmonoumua weu>onm oo.m oo.~ oo.q Aes.c ma.e Assc assess wsnflmmoa ommeHs was ammuwncH oo.m oo.H oo.e Aew.v sfi.q Awsv maounmoamflnaweu\mcouuuemuo Hmoos :nmucame was amass OO.m OO.m OOLV AO©.v Helm A51: uflwEEHm>Ow wfiu %A wme quwEMuMHm vfim mEHmHU wuwwflumwxfiuH oo.m oo.N oo.m Amm.v He.e “sec assuage assess was on moanmeuomsn use assess: gasses: amass: «A.o.mccmmz mmmmmmmm Assn n av moflumflumum wofifimumm II woodmawzoz mo cosmossm poops musoEwumum ou wmmcommwm w magma 129 Although percentages differ, a comparison with the Weaver and Wilhoit sample of all journalists shows substantial agreement in ranking the functions at either extreme of the responses but large differences in the middle of the list. Regardless of the population, lowest agreement is with the importance of the two adversarial functions that imply negative bias. Entertainment and cultural development are also low in importance for both the managing editors and the full population of journalists, while providing information quickly and investigating government claims and statements are high for both (see Table 9). As predicted, the managing editors are more conservative than the journalists in the sample of "all" journalists. Even considering a maximum error rate of 10 percent, the managing editors are less likely to support the importance of any type of adversarial role, even in the relatively protected areas of national policy and government claims where the investigative function has an objective cast. And they are less willing to allow stories with unverifiable content. An anomaly seems to be the discrepancy between the two groups in the importance of analyzing complex problems. The differences here could be explained by the time and resources required for this activity. If the managing —-w. A; 130 Table 9 Comparison of Managing Editors’ Perceptions with All Journalists: Indicating "Strongly Agree"/"Extremely Important" All (1983) MEs Journalists* Get information to public quickly 65% 60% Investigate government claims 47 66 Build local traditions 38 —— Concentrate on widest audience 37 36 Give practical information 37 ~— Provide analysis of complex problems 34 49 Avoid stories with unverifiable content 32 50 Discuss developing national policy 28 38 Provide entertainment 27 20 Interpret external events to community 23 —— Minimize mystique of local leaders 1? -— Develop intellectual/cultural interests 12 24 Emphasize community values 10 ~- Serve as adversary of government 6 20 Maximize readers for advertisers 4 —— Serve as adversary of businesses 1 15 n=lll n=l,001 Note: The 1983 questionnaire referred to the mass media and asked the respondents to rate "importance," while the managing editors’ questionnaire referred to newspapers and asked for "agreement." The-- indicates an item was not included in the full— journalist survey. Abbreviations are generally Weaver & Wilhoit’s. *Weaver & Wilhoit, p. 114 £1 ‘27:: _(, 131 editors have scarce resources, they may be unwilling to spend these resources on "issue" stories. Weaver and Wilhoit noted that journalists in 1971 rated the analysis item as more important than did the journalists in 1983 (61 percent compared to 49 percent). All the analytical items —- analyzing complex problems, investigating government claims and statements, discussing developing national policy, and developing intellectual and cultural interests —- were considered less important to journalists in 1983 than in 1971. Three of the analytical items were those which defined the interpreter function. Table 9 indicates that these same items had fewer "strongly agree" responses from the managing editors than from the journalists as a whole. Speculation would suggest that the managing editors’ perceptions of important newspaper functions are being accepted by those who work for them. Or these responses might be cumulative reactions to limiting court decisions such as Gertz in 1974 (94 S. Ct. 2997). Managing Editor Profiles: Research Question #1 Although the individual functions provide some insight into the managing editors’ perceptions of the newspaper and its function, an examination of the ways that these functions group and describe the editors provides a broader picture. i. . 132 As stated in Question and Hypothesis terms: Research Question #1: Will more than one distinctive perception of the function of the news media be identified in the responses of the gatekeepers? Stated as an hypothesis: Hypothesis #1: Two distinctive perceptions of the function of the news media will be identified in the responses of the gatekeepers: (a) the traditional or neutral journalist and (b) the participant or nontraditional journalist. As a reminder, for these purposes the gatekeeper is the managing editor and the news media are newspapers. The nontraditional journalist has also been called the interpretor journalist, and will be so called here. The adversarial journalist was not expected to appear definitively in this managerial-level sample. This hypothesis was tested through factor analysis.6 An R—type factor analysis was used to define the relationship among variables rather than among individuals. Because the underlying structure of the variables was unknown, a principal-component analysis with unities for the diagonals was used. Two factors were predicted: Factor #1, the traditional journalist was predicted to have high loadings on: X1 concentrate on widest audience X3 provide entertainment and relaxation X4 avoid unverifiable stories X5 get information to the public quickly Xa build local traditions X14 give practical information. Factor #2 was predicted to be the interpreter/participant journalist with high loadings on: X2 discuss developing national policy Xs minimize mystique of local leaders X7 investigate government claims X12 interpret relevant external events to community X13 provide analysis of complex problems and possibly X11 serve as an adversary of government. The principal components factor extraction resulted in three, rather than the predicted two, definitive factors which accounted for 44 percent of the variance among the functions. Using an eigenvalue criterion of 1.0, three other weaker factors also emerged, but these factors were less definitive and included some overlapping variables. The six factors accounted for 66 percent of the variance among the functions. Mathematically, the first major factor was:7 F1 = W11X1 + W12X2 + . . . . + W116X16 The second major factor was: F2 = W21X1 + W22X2 + . . . . + W215X1s The third major factor was: F3 = W31X1 + W32X2 + . . . . + W316X1s 134 For the three weaker factors, the formulae were similar: For Factor #4: F4 = W41X1 + W42X2 + . . . . + W416X1s For Factor #5: F5 = W51Xi + W52X2 + . . . . + W516X1s For Factor #6: F6 = W51X1 + W62X2 + . . . . + W516X16 Factor loadings were determined by the following equations:8 X1 = 811F1 + £11ze + alaFa + 814F4 + £11st + aieFe + U1 X2 = 821F1 + azze + azaFa + 824F4 + asts + asts+ U2 X16 = ailei + 8162F2 + 8163F3 + 8154F4 + 8165F5 + 1313st + Us Both orthogonal rotation and oblique rotation kept the first three factors with very similar loadings. The other three factors remained nearly the same but the importance of each factor —— based on the amount of variance accounted for -- changed with the oblique rotation. The discussion below will use the oblique rotation, because several border—line variables were omitted or better defined in this rotation. 135 Differences between the rotations were minimal; highest correlation among the factors was .25 between Factor #1 and Factor #6. Among the three strong factors, Factors #2 and #3 correlated .14. Factor #1 correlated with Factors #2 and #3 at .01 and —.01, respectively. These major factors are still nearly orthogonal. Factor #1: Reader-Oriented -- With the new items included in the analysis, the first and strongest factor resulted in a profile that was not identified by either Weaver and Wilhoit or Johnstone, et a1. and accounted for 20 percent of the variance. Eigenvalue for Factor #1 was 3.18. This factor seems to identify a reader-oriented journalist, a businessperson who would be cognizant of audience research and community responsibilities. This composite journalist could very well be perceived as a local businessperson functioning within the community structure, providing community service with an eye on circulation. This profile is closest to Cherry’s promoter journalist who is interested in both financial and ideal evaluators. Five variables had loadings of .25 or higher on this factor and three of them (noted by *) were items that had not been used in earlier studies: Loading develop intellectual/cultural interests .82 *build local traditions .78 provide entertainment and relaxation .60 136 *maximize readers for advertisers .36 *minimize mystique of local leaders .37 Only two of these items (build local traditions and provide entertainment and relaxation) were expected to help define the traditionalist. This reader-oriented profile focuses most strongly on what could be labeled "soft-news" functions. The awareness of advertisers and political leaders is much weaker than the audience~attraction functions, but economic interests in the form of reader attraction are strong for this profile. Factor #2: Interpreter -— Factors #2 and #3 are nearly mirrors of the interpreter journalist and adversarial journalist from earlier studies. Five variables had loadings of .25 or higher on the interpreter profile; two of these (noted by *) were items that had not been used in earlier studies: flag—rigs investigate government claims .76 discuss developing national policy .68 *maximize readers for advertisers -.64 provide analysis of complex problems .55 *interpret relevant external events to community .38 This factor had an eigenvalue of 2.31 and accounted for 14 percent of the variance among the functions. The four interpretive items (excluding the advertiser item) were as predicted. A prediction that minimizing the 137 mystique of community leaders would be included was erroneous. Local considerations do not seem to be included in this profile at all. Although not predicted, the negative loading of consideration of advertisers makes this factor an even stronger interpreter profile. It indicates an independent perspective removed from the audience/business orientation of the reader-oriented journalist. Factor #3: Adversarial —~ Factor #3 had an eigenvalue of 1.56 and accounted for 10 percent of the variance among the functions. Loading on this factor were the two adversarial items: Loadings serve as an adversary of businesses .92 serve as an adversary of government .90 No other items loaded as high as .20 with these adversary functions. The profile is clearly adversarial. Factor #4: Traditionalist-Analyst -* For these managing editors, the traditionalist identified in earlier studies does not seem to be a separate and distinct profile. Instead, as indicated by the three weaker factors, the traditionalist among managing editors seems to be multidimensional. An examination of the three factors indicates three traditionalist profiles, the second more nearly the predicted traditionalist. First is the traditionalist- 138 analyst; second is the traditionalist-mechanic; and third is the traditionalist—reader/oriented. Together these factors account for 22 percent of the remaining variance in the functions, although individually they account for 8.0, 7.5 and 6.4 percent respectively. Four items had loadings above .25 on the traditionalist—analyst factor, and. two (noted by *) were items that had not been used in earlier studies. This factor had an eigenvalue of 1.28 and separately accounted for 8.0 percent of the variance among the functions. Loadings interest widest audience .75 *emphasize community values and interests .70 provide analysis of complex problems .40 *interpret relevant external events to community .37 The two analytical items were also strong on the interpreter profile and have a strong negative loading on the traditionalist-mechanic factor, below. These functions, then, no longer seem to discriminate distinctly but seem to be considered important by several types of journalists. The community focus of "interpret relevant external events..." might suggest an orientation for community rather than analysis with this item, but the zero-order correlations do not support this explanation. With analysis of complex problems, the interpret relevant external events function correlates .68. With emphasize community values, 139 it correlates .17, not strong enough for an explanation (see Table 10). The traditionalist-analyst seems to be a combination profile with dual dimensions. In politics, this profile might be called the middle—of—the—roader, rejecting the extremes of either the traditionalist or the interpreter and accepting a moderate position which combines the less stringent elements of both. The traditionalist-analyst factor correlates .19 with Factor #1, the reader-oriented journalist, suggesting some overlap or lack of independence. Factor #5: Traditionalist-Mechanic -- The five items with loadings above .25 on this factor seem to indicate a profile that is strongly oriented toward independence and mechanics, the traditional, old—school journalist. The two items indicated by t are new to this study. This factor had an eigenvalue of 1.19 and accounted for 7.5 percent of the variance among the functions. Loadings avoid unverifiable stories .70 *interpret relevant external events to community -.57 get information to the public quickly .40 provide analysis of complex problems —.32 *maximize readers for advertisers -.27 These loadings suggest strong attention to mechanics such as verifying facts and providing fast news with a negative view of analytical and interpretive functions and 140 mm. No. o0. me. ~_. Ha. Cm. me. oh. no.1 oc. cc.« as. no.1 fig. no.l mm. nm. em. ~c.n Mn. mw. mo. N~.I ma. MH. Ha. NH. oo.H n—. mo.u Cm. me. on. ~c.n oc.~ m~.| Ho.| «H.I mm. He. oc.~ «N. «N. «N.1 mc. cc.~ mm. um. m~. oc.~ NC. _N. oc._ mN. oo.# ~_m -a o_a on mm Nb cc A_.# n :V mv—;s_ss> cc_uu::: ”masqucflonncu been010noN o. u~csk 141 consideration of advertiser influence. Two of these functions are the same as those identified by Johnstone, et al. in their traditionalist profile (avoid unverifiable stories and get information to the public quickly). Only one (get information out quickly) identified Weaver & Wilhoit’s traditionalist -- labeled the disseminator. However, this managing editor profile seems to define the disseminator even more narrowly because it eliminates even concern for audience appeal ~- the concentrate on widest audience function that was included with Weaver & Wilhoit’s traditionalist. The traditionalist-mechanic is just that: looking for speedy presentation and verifiable facts and ignoring pressure from advertisers and, by omission, even audience needs. Factor #6: Traditionalist—Reader/Oriented —- The four items which loaded above .25 on this factor indicate a service or reader—oriented traditionalist without the business orientation of Factor#l. The emphasis is on speed, practical information and reader-useful/reader—pleasing functions. Two of these items (indicated by *) are new to this study. This factor had an eigenvalue of 1.02 and accounted for 6.4 percent of the variance. mugs *give practical information .85 get information to the public quickly .65 142 *minimize mystique of local leaders .50 provide entertainment and relaxation .29 The loadings suggest emphasis on speedy presentation of useful information, provided with an attempt to make the information palatable within the community structure. The entertainment function here is much weaker than for the reader-oriented journalist identified in Factor #1, while minimizing mystique of local leaders is stronger. The .25 correlation with Factor #1 and correlations of .15 and .11 with Factors #2 and #4 (both containing analytical items) suggest that the traditionalist—reader/oriented profile is nonconclusive, especially in light of the barely minimum eigenvalue generated. Giving practical information is the only function for this profile that does not load on other factors as well. Get information out quickly is substantial on Factor #5, even though the loading is higher for Factor #6. The traditionalist—reader/oriented journalist exists among the managing editors but the profile is weak. Table 11 presents an overview of the factors and their loadings by function. The Profile Factors and the Functions Although the six factors account for 66 percent of the variance in the 16 functions, the amount of variance in each function accounted for by the factors ranged from 51 to 86 percent (see Table 12). M Awmssflusoov mN.I q0.| om. smuomfluuw>vm How museums mxflaflxmz .OH® Nw. swumwumwaw HMHSHHSU \Hmsuuwfiaousfl moaw>wn .m mm. asmdoauflwmuu HMUOH cassm .w on. smaflmau usmEch>ow muwwflumo>cH .m+ mo. oq. essaxoflse oflansm ou soaumfiuomcfl uww .o+ on. em. *mumwmwa HNUOH mo msvfiumha mwflaflsflz .m on. wsucwusoo oHLmHWHHo>cs Sues mmfluoum wHo>< .¢+ m mN. oo. w«SOfiumwamm\:HMuuousm .m+ we. *moflaom HNGOfiumc waHQOHm>ww mmsomflo .N+ mm. wsoosoflwsm passes co oumuusmosoo .H+ NO.H mH.H wN.H om.H Hm.N wH.m mosao>smmwm wwnsofiuo oflsmnoozl uwkamcw< kuonmnmusH emuswwuo macauusnm \nwvmoMI IlumHHmGOHfiflcwHHII \uswaHUHunmm lumvmmm H> >. >H HHH HH H AmN. w>onmv coauusnm >3 mwsflumoq nouomm HH oHan 144 usmmflofluumm ofiu osfimow cu stosw wsouum on ufimflE wouUkuum msg usmmfiUHusmm was osfimmu on nwaosw wsouum ma ou wwuoflwmua * umflHNEOHUfiwmnu use osflmov on swsocm wcouuw on on wwuofleoua a usmmflofluuma mzu Mom uswnma on on wwuoflwoua mmB wsflumoa wzu moumofiwsfl « on ”unwaHUfiuumm now smfiu umHHmGOHuHcmuu Mom umwuma ma cu wsflmeH wouUHwoua Ix mcflwmoa moxfla Auouoww wCmev ou wmuoflwmaa uocv swfim mo omnmown wwuoflwwpa mm EOHuowHHw EH fiuwaouum + e1 w wouUchHa mm coauumhfiw CH Suwfiouuw "mwcflwMOA Mouomm How mdoauoflvmaa cu hex mm. «soaumauomsfl Hmofiuomua m>Hw .oH+ mm. mommosflmsn mo summuo>w¢ .mH On. esmwsam> muflssafiou wNHmmsaam .q~+ mm.» oq. mm. smamfinoum onmEoo omxflmc< .mH+ mm.x hm. mm. *wuso>o Hmsuouxo umpouousH .NHN om. ”an mamauawao ofiansm mo hummuw>w< .HH wmusmfluo oasmnumzl umkamcw< nouwpmnquH wwusmflno msowuossm \umvmmml IlumHHmGOHqumqul \usmaHUfluMmm Iuwwmwm H> > >H HHH HH H Asmsafluaoov as magma I—§——_—— 47.: 4‘7.) Table 12 Variance Among the Functions Accounted for by the Factors (Communalities) Communality Adversary of businesses .86 Adversary of public officials .85 Analyze complex problems .76 Give practical information .75 Interpret relevant external events to community .74 Develop intellectual/cultural interests .73 Investigate government claims .66 Build local traditions .64 Maximize readers for advertisers .62 Get information to public quickly .61 Emphasize community values .60 Provide entertainment and relaxation .57 Concentrate on widest audience .56 Discuss developing national policy .54 Avoid stories with unverifiable content .54 Minimize mystique of local leaders .51 Total variance accounted for by Six Factors 66% m_. .. .w,:.‘ , , , ,. 1r - 146 Among the individual functions, the two which define their own factor, the adversarial functions, have the highest amount of variance accounted for by the factors. Communalities for these two functions are .86 for businesses and .85 for the government adversary. The only independent function on Factor #6, give practical information, has 75 percent of its variance accounted for by the factors. As would be expected, those items which have the strongest loadings on the individual factors also have the most variance accounted for (see Table 13 for loadings below .25). The two analytical items, which help define three of the factors also have high amounts of variance accounted for: 76 percent for analyze complex problems and 74 percent for interpret relevant external events to the community. Also above the 66 percent amount are (1) develop intellectual/cultural interests (73 percent) and (2) investigate government claims (66 percent). These items were highest on Factors #1 and #3 respectively. One of the predicted interpreter functions, discuss developing national policy, is among the functions with lower communalities (.54), but none of the traditionalist items from earlier studies have communalities higher than .66. Still, the factors account for at least half the variance in each of the functions, and the distribution of 147 the variance levels seems to support the multidimensionality of some of the profiles already identified rather than adding new information. Predictions —— Individual Functions Predictions were based on the assumption that the two types of journalists identified in earlier studies -- the interpreter and the traditionalist -- would be predominant among the managing editors. The traditionalist, especially, was not so cleanly identified. Yet, an inspection of the individual attributes as they relate to the journalist profile factors may still be useful. The Interpreter: Strength in the interpreter factor (#2) was reasonably close to predictions. As predicted, strongest were (1) discuss developing national policy, (2) investigate government claims, (3) interpret external events and (4) analyze complex problems. Two functions predicted for this factor were (1) adversary of public officials, which helped define the adversarial factor (#3), and (2) minimizing mystique of local leaders, which was strongest in the reader-oriented factors (#1 and #6). Because these functions were not strong on the interpreter factor, the interpreter profile removes itself from vendetta—type interpretation. The interpreter investigates and analyzes but avoids bias in his/her approach. 148 The strong negative loading of maximizing readers for advertisers was not predicted but is certainly consistent. Concern for advertiser needs would interfere with the independence necessary for interpretive journalism. There is no local interpretation here. The Traditionalist: No one factor includes all the predicted traditionalist functions, but the composite traditionalist (Factors #4 through #6) includes many of the predicted functions. Strongest were (1) concentrating on the widest audience (traditional-analyst, Factor #4), (2) avoiding unverifiable stories (traditional—mechanic, Factor #5), (3) get information out quickly (traditional—mechanic and —reader/oriented, Factors #5 and #6), and (4) emphasize community values (traditional-analyst, Factor #4). Although providing entertainment and relaxation contributed weakly to the traditionalist-reader/oriented (Factor #6), this function was strongest on the reader— oriented factor (#1). Build local traditions was also strong on Factor #1, rather than on the traditionalist factors, as predicted. The mechanical considerations associated with the traditionalist are still defining the traditional profile, but for the managing editors, this profile is multidimensional and much less limited than predicted. The Functions Themselves: Although 10 of the 16 functions have independent strength as single—profile items, obviously, the other six are multi-profile items. The overlapping reader—oriented profiles (Factors #1 and #6) account for some of this overlap,9 and the two analytical functions (interpret external events to community and analyze complex problems) are important both in the interpreter profile (.38 and .55, respectively) and in the traditionalist-analyst profile (.37 and .40). They are negatively important in the traditionalist—mechanic profile (—.57 and -.32), as mentioned, a strong indication that the traditionalist—mechanic is still present at the managing editor level. Although strength is unequal, the advertiser function had negative overlapping strength for both the interpreter (-.64) and the traditionalist-mechanic (—.27), as well as a moderately strong influence on the reader—oriented journalist (.36, Factor #1). Only one traditionalist function, getting information out quickly, overlaps, and the strength is on two traditionalist profiles: the mechanic (.40) and the reader/oriented (.65). For the record, Table 13 indicates the predictions for each function and the results of the factor analysis for each item. If the traditionalist is considered to be multidimensional, as predicted, functions #1, #3, #4, #6, #14 and #16 have stronger loadings on the traditionalist factors than on the interpreter factor. These items were: 150 Aconcwuaoov so. RN.- OH. HO.- se.- em. *mnomHanm>sm pom muowoou oNHEmeE .OH® OH.I mo. 0H. mo. OH. Nw. *mumwuousfl Housufisu \Hmnuooafiwusfl aoao>mo .m NO.- OH. NO. NH.- HO.- ON. sim:0HuHOmnu HmQOH sHHsm .w HH. OO. HO. OH. Os. mO. smaHmHo usoacnw>ow muwwfiuwo>cH .m+ me. Os. «O. «O.- Oz. mO. asstoHse oflfinda cu coaumshowsfl uoo .o+ om. wH. no.1 ma. mo. mm. *muwwmoa Hmooa mo wskum%E wNHEHfiHZ .m mo. 0n. NN. wo.| mo. No. exuswusoo wanmflmwpw>ss sues mofiuoum cHo>< .q+ mm. HN.I NH.I Ho.| mo. 00. escowumonoM\SHmuuousm .m+ mH.| mH.I mo.l no. mm. mm. smoflfioa HmGOflums wsflmoao>ow mmsowflm .N+ No.1 mH. ma. OH. NO.- HO.: assuamassm uwocfls so wumuuswosoo .H+ cquOflno UHsmfluozl umzfimsc< HououauwusH wwusofluo mcowuossm \HocwwMI IlumHHmGOHuHcmuHII \ucsmwofluumm Inocmom H> > >H HHH HH H AHHoM l 5 1 m0. mm.| H0.{ 00.: HH.I no.l sfioaumahomsfi HmUHuumua o>wo .0H+ H0.I m0.l 00.: N0. qo.t so. mommwsflman we hummum>0< .mH so. H0.| 0m. 50.1 «H.I 0H. wamosam> huflsseaoo mNHmmnaam .qH+ NN. Nm.l 0s. mH.I mm. «0.1 *maoanoua Noamsoo wnkams< .mH+ NH. nm.| mm. H0. 0m. no.1 *muso>m Hmsuouxw sensuousH .NHO no. mo.: mH. Om. OO. Na.u fish mHmHOHmmo UHHQDQ we sawmuw>v< .HH cwusmfluo oHsmsomzl umhwmcw¢ HmuoumuopsH cwusmflwo macauossm \Hoemoml Ilumfifimcowufiwmnwll \usmmfiofluumm Iuovmom H> > >H HHH HH H Asmsaaucouv ms mHamH 152 concentrate on widest audience provide entertainment and relaxation avoid unverifiable stories get information out quickly emphasize community values provide practical information. For functions #8 and #9, build local traditions and develop intellectual/cultural interests, loadings were too small to be meaningful. However, function #8 was in the direction predicted and #9 was not. Function #10, maximize readers for advertisers, is stronger for the traditionalist -— as predicted -- even though the loading is larger for the interpreter. These are negative numbers and the larger number would have less positive impact on the profile. For the interpreter predictions, three functions, #2, #7 and #13, were, as predicted, stronger for the interpreter than the traditionalist: discuss developing national policy investigate government claims analyze complex problems. The interpret external events function (#12) had almost equal loadings with the interpreter and the traditionalist— analyst. The other traditionalist loadings for this item are negative. 153 Function #5, minimize mystique of local leaders, contrary to prediction, had higher loadings on the traditionalist factor than on the interpreter factor. The two adversary functions (#11 and #15) had loadings on the traditionalist and interpreter factors that were too small for consideration. However, they were contrary to the direction predicted. The business adversary function had negative loadings for these factors. Open-ended Responses to Functions: In General and For "Your" Newspaper The managing editors were asked to record in their own words answers to: (1) What should be the function of a newspaper? and (2) How would you describe ygg; newspaper’s function in our community? Tabulated responses are in Table 14. Categories for the responses were selected based on the overall response rather than any particular word. Full responses are in Appendix E. When discussing newspapers in general, 32 percent of the managing editors indicated that the function should be informational -- to present information.10 Some said specifically, "to inform." However, when asked about their own paper, this category dropped to 11 percent. The highest category for performance of the local daily was local emphasis; 33 percent of the managing editors said their own papers emphasized local coverage.11 Some also 154 Table 14 Responses to Open—Ended Questions Open-Ended Questions Were: What should be the function of a newspaper? How would you describe your newspaper’s function in your community? Newspapers Your in General Newspaper Inform — provide information 36 (32%) 12 (11%) Multifunctiona1--include all things 15 (14%) 10 (9%) Local emphasis 11 (10%) 37 (33%) Idealism 7 (6%) 5 (5%) Inform and entertain 6 (5%) 4 (4%) Inform and interpret 4 (4%) 3 (3%) Includes lightness 2 (2%) 4 (4%) Mentions profit 2 (2%) 2 (2%) Advocacy l (1%) 2 (2%) Digestible news form 2 (2%) 0 Try for innovations 0 1 (1%) Miscellaneous 0 A 3 (3%) No response 25 (23%) 28 (25%) Full responses are in Appendix E. 155 indicated that they felt community leadership was important. Only 10 percent of the managing editors indicated that local emphasis was important for newspapers in general. Fourteen percent indicated that newspapers in general should be multifunctional and their list included many of the functions included in the questionnaire. This multifunction was mentioned by 9 percent discussing the local paper. Idealistic functions (6 percent, newspapers in general, and 5 percent, your newspaper) included words like "watchdog," "better world," "defense," "incite public interest." One respondent said, "informer and friend." Inform and entertain was seen as the function by 5 percent responding about newspapers in general and 4 percent about the local daily. Inform and interpret the news was recorded by 4 and 3 percent, respectively. Lightness (2 percent of the general-paper comments and 4 percent of the local comments) meant the managing editor included humor in his or her answer, for example: "print the truth and raise hell" and "...opportunities for both trouble and fun. We’ve had our share of both." Two percent of both categories included profit as necessary for the newspaper to function, and advocacy was mentioned by 1 percent for newspapers in general and 2 percent for local dailies. 156 Two percent of those discussing newspapers in general felt news should be presented in digestible form, and one percent of the local comments suggested trying to innovate. The miscellaneous category was for those who discussed their locally specific problems, generally resources and competition in the community. About one—fourth did not complete the open-ended questions. Although there was much diversity in the open—ended answers, nearly all included the thought that information in some form was the mission, whether coupled with another function or not. But the evaluation of their own publication was clearly local in function. M1 This chapter provided an overview of the managing editors’ perceptions of the function of a newspaper. The managing editors reached by the survey were comparable demographically to editors and managing editors identified in two other recent studies. Factor analysis of their responses identified three major journalistic profiles and three less important profiles. The most important factor identified a reader- oriented businessperson, the journalist who would be interested in reader surveys and in circulation figures. This journalist had not been identified in earlier studies 157 but should have been expected among these journalists with managerial-level responsibilities. The two other major profiles were the interpreter and the adversarial journalists, very similar to those identified in earlier studies. The interpreter provides analytical and investigative functions, and the adversarial sees the function as exactly these terms: adversary to businesses and to public officials. The three weaker profiles were variations of the traditional journalist identified in earlier studies. A traditionalist-analyst is a combination of the traditionalist and the interpreter -- a moderate or middle- of-the-road journalist who rejects the extremes of either profile. The traditionalist-mechanic is more the traditionalist identified in earlier studies. This journalist is committed to the craft and the mechanical requirements of presenting information. The final profile was an overlap with the reader-oriented profile: a traditionalist-reader/oriented journalist who sees the function as providing practical information in a palatable form. The six profiles accounted for 66 percent of the variance within the functions as a group and for between .51 and .86 percent of the variance in the individual functions. Even so, the small sample size in relation to the number of 158 function variables analyzed indicates that the results should be interpreted with caution. Even though the adversarial journalist was cleanly identified, highest disagreement among the managing editors was with the importance of the two adversarial functions, a ranking that paralleled those of journalists in an earlier study. Highest strong—agreement was with the traditionalist function of the need to get information to the public quickly. The emphasis on speed seems ingrained, no matter what philosophical approach the journalist brings to news. When the managing editors were given an opportunity to define the newspaper function in their own words, they said information was the function. But when asked about their own dailies, the managing editors emphasized local coverage. 159 ENDNOTES 1As noted on page 118 note #7, this group includes editors and 5 editors with other titles. Because the editors were asked if they fulfill the managing-editor function, the responses are being grouped. 2These figures are based on the entire sample. Approximately 2 to 4 individuals refused to provide personal information, depending on the question. 3The report said two of ten were women. 4As noted in Table 6, all journalists, when compared to the managing editors, are younger (32 years), include fewer males (66 percent), and have about the same racial makeup (95 percent white). The educational level is lower for all journalists (74 percent with college degrees), but the proportion indicating journalism/communication as a major is similar (41 percent). 5Table 8 gives means and standard deviations for the responses. 6The program used was procedure FACTOR in SPSS—X (1983), release 2. Because there are fewer than 10 cases per variable (see Nunnally, 1978, p. 423 & 436) the stability of the factors may be questionable. 7Wi = factor scores; X1 = standardized variables (functions). 8X: = standardized function; a1 = factor loading; F1 = the factor; common U: = the factor, unique. gMinimize mystique of local leaders: independent, .37; traditional, .50; provide entertainment and relaxation: independent, .60; traditional, .29. 1°This percentage was 42 percent of those responding. 11This percentage was 45 percent of those responding. CHAPTER V THE FRONT PAGES Introduction This chapter, the second of three which discuss the findings of this study, will present the results of analyses conducted to answer Research Question #2: Will more than one pattern of news use be identified in the content of the gatekeepers’ daily newspapers? The information in this chapter will focus entirely on the news contained on the front pages of the newspapers studied. The front pages of a composite week of 101 of the managing editors’ dailies were content analyzed for seven news attributes: proximity, timeliness, prominence, impact, conflict, magnitude and oddity. The attributes are defined on page 95. Each story on the front page was examined and could have had as many as seven or as few as none of the attributes. The attributes were identified as a proportion of the front page occupied by the relevant story. The 101 dailies were a random subsample of the dailies supervised by the 111 managing editors who responded to the mail questionnaire. 1__i 160 l_i—__—_"——' ' 'miffr-‘eq‘w “7 -<_ _ jig, _j» ,7 Z 161 This chapter will first present the demographics specific to the reduced sample and an overview of newshole allocation on the front pages of the dailies. Second, the space allocated to the seven news attributes, both as a proportion of the entire front page and as a proportion of the newshole, will be compared. Third, the patterns of news use, identified as news dimensions, will be examined as these patterns relate to predictions for Hypothesis #2: Two distinctive patterns of news use will be identified in the content of the gatekeepers’ daily newspapers: (a) a pattern in which local and timely news (proximity and timeliness) predominate and (b) a pattern in which impact predominates. The Dailies The subsample of dailies were from 37 states, rather than the 38 represented by the entire sample, and included the two dual-state newspapers. Publication times were evening, 67 percent; morning, 30 percent; and all—day, 3 percent. Three of the dailies were tabloids. The front pages of these papers devoted 85.5 percent of their space to news and averaged 54 stories per week (see Table 15 for a breakdown of the front-page space). The front—page space devoted to nameplates, advertising and other nonnews space averaged 18.3 column inches but ran as high as 29.9 column inches for an average day. Highest one-day nonnews space allocation was 33 inches for a Friday when some dailies ran special weekend graphics and/or ads. (See Table 16 for nonnews space by day.) 162 00.Nm 00.mN 00.mN 00.Nm 0N.qm Anzac mv mowwoum mo smaasz mw.mm OH.OH O0.0 OO.sH mm.wH AmmsOsH sesHoov momam mamasoz sHHms wwwuw>< n.Hm 0.0n 0.0m 0.mw m.mw Amusmoummv m3oz mom oomam >Hflmo owmww>¢ wq.nwm na.qu HH.mqm qo.q¢m mm.nmm moLoGH EEDHOU as Amxww mv oomam msmz HNHOH EDEHxnz mwfloammusoz Essflsflz cases: new: new Esawsfiz Aaofi .n av mowmm usowm mow msmscoz was msmz cu wouo>om wooam .zuamw m.%mmflum co mommn mw wNmewmm .oummm w3osso: mo scannnfiwumflw zaflmw mom 0H sassy mom .xoos mfiu How masses :0 momma mum mmwmwm>< Om.mmH Om.HNH OO.HO OO.NNH Na.mNH mesuaH casHoov Assam HHsmv mwflwmwmm ma .oHQmH 163 ANm.w0 ANH.ONV ANm.wO ANH.sHV ANm.sHV 0H.0H mw.mN 00.0 00.nH mm.wH mwfiusH GESHOU ham wmmwo>< ANO.NV AN0.0NO ANO.NO ANm.qu ANN.qHV mn.m m0.mm 0H.w 00.0H oq.wa wmaosH GESHOU smOHnm ANH.AO ANm.HNO ANH.NV ANN.sHO ANm.sHO 05.0 mm.mm 0m.w 0m.wa 0H.wH mmfiosH CEDHOU kmvmuan ANO.NO Ass.s~0 ANO.BO ANA.sHO ANN.¢HO 00.0H mm.Hm om.m 0m.wH oq.wH memosH sesaoo mammoswmz ANm.mv ANN.mNV ANm.nV ANm.qu ANm.qHV mq.m mq.Nm ow.m 00.0H 0N.wH mwfiocH cEDHoo xmwmwSH Ass.sv ANQ.MNO ANH.BO Ass.mse Ass.ssv aosutoao.a 00.0 00.0N 00.0 mN.nH m0.wH monosH sEsHoo %mwsoz mcfloanmusoz Esfiwxmz Enefisflz smfiwmz new: asfiflsflz AHOH u av xwwz oLu mo hmg kn oommm wsmssoz 0H oHQmH 164 Except for five substitutions, the dailies were selected randomly from a time period that began February 17 and ended March 14, 1986. The five substitutions had been selected for February 17 but did not publish on that holiday. Their substitution date was March 17. Table 1 presented the distribution of issues by week and by day. The Seven News Attributes1 The first purpose of an examination of the front pages was to determine the amount of space allocated to each of the seven news attributes: proximity, timeliness, prominence, impact, conflict, magnitude and oddity. The time period provided the managing editors with several national and international stories to compete with local and state matters. Fortunately, the sample arrived after two major events that would have been "must" stories for many dailies: the Philippine elections and the Challenger explosion. The managing editors still had follow-up information to select from, including the Marcos’ exile from the Philippines and NASA hearings after the Challenger explosion. National stories during this time also included Tylenol and Gerber product tampering, first effects of Graham~ Rudman, spring flooding, Pacific storms, NCAA seedings and aid to the Contras. Internationally Sweden’s prime minister r er» .11»‘ iv 4m'-» 7 . was assassinated, Kurt Waldheim was accused of being a Nazi, and Halley’s Comet was being traced.2 Table 17 shows space allocations for the front pages for each news attribute. These figures are in the raw percents for both the entire front page and for the newshole. Then these raw percents are converted to overall percent of available space. As a comparison, because each issue has 100 percent of its front page available for news, for the five issues the total front—page space available is 500 percent. Total mean news space available is 427.50 percent of the five issues. As the table indicates, whether the entire front page only the newshole space is examined, timeliness is the news attribute most frequently found in front—page stories. Timeliness is included in 63 percent of the total front-page space and 74 percent of the available news space. The attribute accounting for the next highest amount of space is prominence, making up 61 percent of the front~page space and 72 percent of the newshole. Proximity was present in exactly half of the front-page space and in 58 percent of the newshole space. Conflict accounted for 38 percent of the front—page space and 44 percent of the newshole, and magnitude was present in 35 percent of the front-page space and 41 percent of the newshole. Impact made up 26 percent of the front page and 31 percent of the newshole, and oddity was present in 2 percent of the front—page space and 3 percent of the newshole. 00.00m\ madam oaommswz "wousmEoosss 0m.qu\ mommm mwmmlusowm "mouSQEoo ss 00.00m\ womam wwmmlusoum "wquQEoo « N00.00H N00.00m N00.00H Nom.mw N0m.nme oHanHm>< oomaw mswz NHw.N NOO.¢H NHO.N NH¢.N NmO.NH suHOOO Nom.0m qu.qma Nww.0m Naq.om Nm0.NmH comaaH NNH.H¢ NNO.m0N NHH.H¢ Nma.mm Nom.mma opsuflswmz 7, m Nss.ss Nmm.NNN NNs.ss NOa.sm NmO.OOH sonHmcoo Nwm.wm Nmm.HON NmN.wm www.mq NmH.qu kusafixosm Nun.am www.0mm NHN.H> NHM.H© Nom.oom mucoswaoum Nnm.mm wa.~0m www.mm www.mo qu.qu mmosflHoEflH mammafiw>< oommm Asmwzv >Hso Wanmaflm>< momam. swam usowm Asmmzv owmm sssmawz mo usoowwm oaosmswz «swim wo osmosom «we usoonmm usonm omwusm AHOH u O0 mousnwuuu< mBmz sw>wm och om couo>om oommm owmmluconm mo unmouom smoz NH mHsms 168 In Table 18 the percentages have been converted to the proportions used in further analyses. As a reference point, the figures should be compared to 5.00. An examination of the figures there indicates that at least one daily uses few stories with proximity as a characteristic, less than .05 of the overall 5.00 space (one percent), while at least one daily devotes the entire newshole to local stories. Conflict also ranges from .08 to nearly 4.00 of the available 5.00 front-page space (1.6 percent to 80 percent). Other ranges are not as large. The high figures for timeliness indicate an orientation toward spot news that should have been anticipated. The timely story is event-oriented, and spot news makes up nearly three—fourths of the newshole space. There is clearly a preference for timely news among these daily newspapers. The high amount of space allotted for prominence probably should also be understandable. Public figures, well known issues, and well known institutions are given preference in the front-page news space because these institutions, issues and individuals are considered to be of interest to the readers, regardless of the significance of their activities. The amount of front—page space devoted to proximate stories (50 percent) cannot be compared to any standard and certainly does not indicate a neglect of local news. Table 18 Proportion of Front—Page Space Devoted to News Attributes—— Detailed Statistics (n = 101) Attribute Mean (S.D.)* Median Minimum Maximum Timeliness Front Page 3.15 (.55) 3.23 1.24 4.31 Newshole 3.68 (.62) 3.75 1.40 4.87 Prominence Front Page 3.06 (.53) 3.04 1.38 4.08 Newshole 3.59 (.61) 3.57 1.67 4.81 Proximity Front Page 2.49 (.95) 2.50 .05 4.43 Newshole 2.91(1.10) 2.92 .05 5.00 Conflict Front Page 1.90 (.67) 1.91 .08 3.56 Newshole 2.22 (.77) 2.25 .09 4.01 Magnitude Front Page 1.76 (.58) 1.72 .41 2.97 Newshole 2.06 (.68) 2.05 .49 3.46 Impact Front Page 1.32 (.47) 1.29 .43 2.37 Newshole 1.55 (.55) 1.52 .49 2.75 Oddity Front Page .12 (.16) .06 .00 .62 Newshole .14 (.18) .07 .00 .74 *Differences with Table 17 due to rounding. Total front—page space available for news = 4.28; total newshole space available = 5.00. One daily is allotted a space of 1.00; therefore, the reader should compare these figures to 5.00. 170 Neither do the numbers indicate an emphasis or priority on local events and activities. Proximity has the largest standard deviation of the seven attributes (.95), an indication that the amount of local news varies considerably across the sample, and, as noted, at least one daily devotes only .05 (or one percent) of the available 5.00 space to proximate stories. The lower figure for conflict should serve as a defense against critics who claim that sensational stories are the mainstay of the news. Conflict included sports events and weather extremes (tornadoes and floods, for example) as well as the often—criticized crime stories. Therefore, the sensational elements that conflict suggests are probably even smaller than the actual figures would indicate. That even magnitude should occupy more space than impact should be disappointing to those who feel news should bring out events and issues that affect the audience. Sports scores could be inflating magnitude, but the low impact space suggests a People Magazine type of content—- well known individuals and their activities. This emphasis is even stronger when the space devoted to proximate stories is considered. The small amount of space devoted to oddity suggests that this attribute represents idiosyncratic characteristics of individual stories rather than a specific news orientation. Or, the low overall space could indicate a 171 small pool of potential stories that could prevent identification of an orientation toward "oddity" news. Even though conflict appeared stronger in some earlier studies, the overall allocation of space is somewhat consistent with earlier research on journalists’ preferences. The Burgoon, Burgoon & Atkin newsroom personnel ranked timeliness and proximity as highest priorities for the previous day’s newspaper. Other studies used hypothetical situations -— the Q—sort. Atwood’s newspeople preferred prominence (he held time and location constant). The editors in Badii and Ward’s Q- sort used more conflict and impact stories than known- principal (prominence) stories -- findings different from those with this sample. The Clyde and Buckalew editors, however, had consensus on conflict, proximity and timeliness. Top-level editors preferred timeliness; conflict and prominence were also strong for lower—level editors. Culbertson’s traditional journalists identified timeliness and proximity as important; interpretive (impact) news was important for the nontraditional journalists. Buckalew’s smaller market editors (television) preferred proximate stories; large- market editors preferred timeliness. Timeliness, then, seems consistent as a preferred news attribute. Proximity is more important in the hypothetical situation than it has appeared in actual use. Prominence is 172 not given nearly the strength in hypothetical or theoretical situations that it appears to have in actual use. News—Use Patterns: Research Question #2 Although the distribution of the news attributes in the dailies is interesting in itself, more relevant to the study is an analysis of the ways these attributes group. As stated in Question and Hypothesis terms: Research Question #2: Will more than one pattern of news use be identified in the content of the gatekeepers’ daily newspapers? Stated as an Hypothesis: Hypothesis #2: Two distinctive patterns of news use will be identified in the content of the gatekeepers’ daily newspapers: (a) a pattern in which local and timely news (proximity and timeliness) predominate and (b) a pattern in which impact predominates. This hypothesis was tested through factor analysis.3 An R-type factor analysis was used to define the relationship among variables rather than among individuals. Because the underlying structure of the variables was unknown, a principal—components analysis with unities for the diagonals was used. Two factors were predicted: Factor #1: the traditional factor, was expected to have high loadings on: N1 proximity N2 timeliness. Factor #2, the nontraditional factor, was expected to have high loadings on: N4 impact. 173 If a third factor emerged, it was expected to have high loadings on: Na prominence N5 magnitude N7 oddity. The principal-components factor extraction resulted in three, rather than two, distinctive factors which accounted for 67 percent of the variance among the news attributes. Because the news patterns for both the front page and the front-page newshole were of interest, the factor extraction was computed for both. Differences in variance accounted for was .2 percent. Both extractions identified three factors. Mathematically the first major factor was:4 F1 = W11N1 + W12N2 + . . . . . . + W17N7 The second factor was: F2 = W21N1 + W22N2 + . . . . . . + W27N7 The third factor was: F3 = W31N1 + W32N2 + . . . . . . + W37N7 Factor loadings were determined by the following equations:5 N1 = 811F1 + 812F2 + 813F3 + U1 N2 = 821F1 + azze + azaFa + U2 N3 = N4 = N5 = N6 = N7 = a71F1 + a72F2 + 873F3 + U7 174 Both orthogonal rotation and oblique rotation kept three factors with very similar loadings for the full-front— page analysis. The newshole factor analysis was almost identical to the orthogonal rotation for the full front page, but the oblique rotation for the newshole data failed to converge. The only major difference in varimax rotation for the full front page and the newshole was on the third factor. For the front-page analysis oddity was a weak contributor; for the newshole analysis, impact rather than oddity was a weak contributor (see Table 19). Because the newshole and full-front-page analyses were so similar, further discussion will include only the full— front-page analyses, which were the focus of this study. Because several variables were more clearly defined by the oblique rotation, the discussion below will use the oblique rotation. Correlations among the factors were negligible: -.08, .02 and -.04. Factor #1: Hard News -- The first and strongest factor resulted in a news pattern that can easily be identified as a hard-news orientation. The factor accounted for 31 percent of the variance. Eigenvalue was 2.20. Four of the news attributes had loadings of .25 or higher on this factor: Loadings Timeliness .80 Conflict .76 Magnitude .66 Proximity ~.60 m.mo H.no “Mom woussooom mosmwpm> HmuOH ww.l ww.l oocoaflaonm oh.n mm. 00.. snneeo mm. ow. mu. nommEH om. we. $0.1 mm. mm. No.| zuHEflxoum 5 se. me. mm. so. owouflcwmz 7 1 mm. mm. mm. on. uofichoo on. ow. mmocflHmEHH wo.H oq.H MN.N mo.H oq.H ON.N oDHm>cmem ousmsflsoam nmumsduousH mBmz who: moswcflEoum smuoudnousH mBoz spam HHH HH H HHH HH H maonmswz mwmmlusosm Mann AHOH n av AEOflumuom xmeflwm>v mHO£m3oz was owmm uconm HHDm now Amm. o>onmv ousnfluuu< mzoz %@ mmcflvmoq uouomm 0H wanna 176 Timeliness loads on this factor as expected, but proximity was expected to contribute in the same manner. Although proximity has a strong loading, its sign indicates a negative effect when the other three attributes are considered. Timeliness and conflict identify hard news. This would be the spot—news orientation: the accident stories, the crime stories, weather catastrophes. The high loading of magnitude suggests sports also would be a high priority for this news-use pattern. Dailies with this profile would be reporting breaking events, no matter where they happen. Factor #2: Interpreter ~— The second factor identified a news—use pattern that leans more toward interpretive news coverage. The factor accounted for 20 percent of the variance and had an eigenvalue of 1.40. Four of the news attributes had loadings of .25 or higher on this factor: Loadings Impact .76 Oddity -.65 Proximity .53 Magnitude .41 The high impact loading which defines this factor was predicted for an interpreter news—use pattern. Proximity, however, was not. In retrospect, however, an orientation toward local stories and those stories that impact on the _. 79“.; ;:;~;: » , ., / 177 audience is not incompatible. Magnitude can also be logically explained: many stories that impact on the audience have financial impact and involve figures or numbers. The negative oddity loading suggests that this is a news—use pattern oriented away from human-interest and entertainment—type content. Factor #3: Prominence —— The third factor is identified almost exclusively by prominence. Other news attributes have small negative loadings. The factor accounted for 16 percent of the variance; eigenvalue was 1.09. Five of the news attributes had loadings of .25 or higher on this factor: Loadings Prominence .88 Proximity —.32 Oddity -.28 Conflict —.25 Impact -.25 Except for prominence, the other attributes on this factor load strongly on at least one other factor. Proximity loads strongly on all three factors, even though the signs vary. Therefore, this factor is clearly prominence with an avoidance -- or perhaps lack of attention to -- stories with oddity, conflict and impact. This is the name—recognition news—use pattern with little attention to local orientation or local impact. 178 (Loadings for all three factors are in Table 20.) The News—Pattern Factors and the News Attributes Although the three factors account for 67 percent of the variance in the seven news attributes, the amount of variance in each attribute accounted for by the factors ranged from 53 to 79 percent (see Table 21). Prominence, which defines its own factor, has the greatest amount of variance accounted for by the factors: 79 percent. Proximity, which loads strongly on all three factors, has the next highest amount, 77 percent. Timeliness, which has the second—highest independent loading, has 70 percent of its variance accounted for by the factors. The other attributes, all multidimensional, have less variance accounted for than .67 percent, suggesting that more than these three factors would be necessary to accurately define their contribution to news—use patterns. However, the three factors account for at least half the variance in all seven news attributes. Predictions-—Individual News Attributes Predictions were based on the assumption that two types of news—use patterns would be identified. The patterns were similar to the predictions but broader -— including more attributes than expected. The Traditionalist news-use pattern: identified as the hard-news use pattern: the traditionalist was expected to 179 Table 20 Factor Loadings by News Attribute (above .25) for Full Front Page (Oblique Rotation) (n = 101) II III Hard News Interpreter Prominence Eigenvalue 2.20 1.40 1.09 Timeliness#*+ .80 Conflict .76 ~.25 Magnitude? .66 .41 Proximity#*?@ -.60 .53 —.32 Impact&**+ .76 -.25 Oddity? -.65 —.28 Prominence* .88 Key to predictions for Factor Loadings: strength in direction as predicted sign changes direction of prediction—-not as predicted mixed loading predicted loading to be larger for traditional (hard news) than for interpreter news ** predicted loading to be larger for interpreter news & attribute was expected to be strong enough to define interpreter news # attribute was expected to be strong enough to define hard news *'0®+ 180 Table 21 Variance among the News Attributes Accounted for by the Factors (Communalities) (n = 101) Communality Prominence .79 Proximity .77 Timeliness .70 Conflict .66 Impact .63 Magnitude .61 Oddity .53 Total variance accounted for by Three Factors: 67% 181 have stronger loadings on both timeliness and proximity than on the interpreter news-use pattern. Timeliness was definitely larger on the hard-news factor than on the interpreter factor. Proximity had a higher loading on the hard—news factor than on the interpreter factor, but the loading was negative. Thus its positive impact on the factor was smaller, contrary to prediction. Conflict was expected to be equal for the two factors. Contrary to predictions, conflict loaded strongly on the hard-news factor and minimally on the interpreter factor. Although direction was not predicted, loadings for oddity and magnitude were predicted to be unequal. The inequality was found for oddity, which had a strong negative loading on the interpretive factor, and less for magnitude, which had strong loadings on both. The loading was stronger for the hard-news factor. Prominence was also expected to be stronger for the hard-news factor. The loadings are too small for consideration and negative. Even though the hard-news loading is greater in size, its positive impact is less than on the interpreter factor. The Interpreter news-use pattern: As predicted, impact had a much higher loading on the interpreter factor than on the hard-news factor. The Prominence newa—use pattern: As predicted, prominence had a high positive loading on the third factor that emerged, but the predicted loadings of magnitude and ——_m "?_?’Ei'—* ’ "“ ' ”43, , i , 7 182 oddity were not found. Oddity had a small, negative loading and magnitude had a loading of less than .25. (Full loadings for the three factors are in Table 22.) The News Attributes Themselves: Two of the attributes had independent strength in defining news—use patterns: timeliness and prominence. Two others have very minor loadings on a second factor and are nearly unidimensional: conflict and impact. Magnitude and proximity are definitely multidimensional (.66 and .41 for magnitude on Factors #1 and #2; -.60, .53 and -.32 for proximity on Factors #1, #2 and #3). Oddity is weakly multidimensional, loading -.65 and -.28 on Factors #2 and #3. Thus proximity seems to be a consideration, whether negatively or positively, in every news dimension, while magnitude and oddity are also not useful in identifying news—use patterns because of their multi-use. Badii and Ward had indicated that magnitude was explaining little variance in news-selection patterns, and Atwood suggested that magnitude is not an independent attribute. Although magnitude may be tied to other dimensions, zero-order correlations do not support the suggested relationship between magnitude and conflict (for sports) and impact (dollar amounts and figures).6 M1 This chapter provided an overview of news use in the front pages of daily newspapers as the news use was defined 183 Table 22 Factor Loadings by News Attribute (All) for Full Front Page (Oblique Rotation) (n = 101) II III Hard News Interpreter Prominence Timeliness#*+ .80 —.13 -.16 Conflict .76 -.03 ~.25 Magnitude? .66 .41 .24 Proximity#*?€ -.60 .53 —.32 Impact&**+ .07 .76 —.25 Oddity? .08 -.65 ~.28 Prominence* —.12 —.04 .88 Key to predictions for Factor Loadings: strength in direction as predicted sign changes direction of prediction-—not as predicted mixed loading predicted loading to be larger for traditional (hard news) than for interpreter news ** predicted loading to be larger for interpreter news & attribute was expected to be strong enough to define interpreter news # attribute was expected to be strong enough to define hard news *'\)®+ 184 news attributes and as it appeared in the managing by seven editors’ 101 dailies during one composite week. The dailies used an average of 86 percent of their front-page space for news. Factor analysis of the news attributes identified three news—use profiles. The strongest factor identified a news— use pattern that was easily identified as a hard-news orientation. Timeliness and conflict were strong for this factor and proximity was negatively related. A second major news-use pattern was the interpreter pattern, which was identified by impact and proximity. The third news—use pattern was prominence, which was based almost solely on the prominence attribute. The three factors accounted for 67 percent of the variance among the news attributes as a set and for between 53 and 79 percent of the variance in the individual attributes. Although three neWS*use profiles were identified among the front pages, the news attribute appearing most often in the news space was timeliness. Second highest was prominence and the third highest was proximity. These three appeared in 50 percent or more of the front-page space in the dailies. , "7 - .. 3'", " “r ‘T i"; 184a ENDNOTES 1For these purposes attribute refers to the single and dimension to the composite news characteristics. 2For the record: Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos fled the Philippines after a rigged election in which Marcos declared himself winner and engaged his military to enforce the victory. His 20—year rule had been despotic. The Challenger rocket exploded after liftoff, killing the six astronauts and one volunteer school teacher aboard. The explosion generated controversial hearings about the NASA space program. The hearings focused on safety violations, especially with equipment, and alleged actual suppression of information. Product tampering was a concern for consumers of Gerber baby products after glass shards had been found in at least one jar. The concern was also for Tylenol and other over-the—counter drugs after the discovery of poisoned capsules that were linked to at least one death. Graham—Rudman was a legislated formula designed to trigger automatic federal spending cuts if the Congress failed to pass a balanced budget by the appropriate date. The National Collegiate Athletic Association annually determines the spots for its national college basketball tournament. The contras are a Nicaraguan rebel group supported by President Reagan, who continually pressured Congress for financial aid for the group. Kurt Waldheim, former U.N. Secretary General, had been running for president of Austria when the Nazi accusations surfaced. 3The program used was procedure FACTOR in SPSS-X (1983), Release 2. 4W1 = factor scores; N1 = standardized variables (attributes). 5N: = standardized attributes; as = factor loading; F: = the factor, common; U: = the factor, unique. 6Atwood had also suggested a magnitude— conflict/magnitude—impact relationship. CHAPTER VI PERCEPTIONS AND NEWS ATTRIBUTES Introduction This chapter is the last of three which discuss the findings of this study. Presented will be the results of analyses conducted to answer Research Question #3: Is the gatekeeper’s perception of the function of the news media predictive of his or her pattern of news use? While the other two chapters concentrated on either the gatekeepers’ perceptions of the functions of a newspaper to the dailies’ news—use patterns, this chapter will attempt to tie the two together. Using data from the 101 dailies and their managing editors, analyses were conducted to determine if any relationship could be found between the 16 individual functions as perceived by the managing editors and the 7 individual news attributes found in their dailies. Analyses' were also conducted to determine if there was a relationship between the 6 composite journalistic profiles and the 3 composite news dimensions. Analyses were also conducted to determine if any relationship existed between the news attributes and the responses to open—ended questions about managing editors’ 184b 185 (1) the function of newspapers in general and (2) the function of their local daily. The chapter will first discuss the results of multivariate comparisons among the news attributes present in the dailies and the responses by their managing editors to 16 statements about their perceptions of the functions of newspapers. This will be followed by analyses of the individual attributes and functions. Second, multivariate comparisons of the news attributes with open-ended responses about (1) the function of newspapers in general and (2) the managing editor’s own newspaper will be presented. These analyses will be followed by information about univariate comparisons with the open—ended responses and the news attributes. News Attributes and the Functions The relationship between the news attributes (discussed in Chapter V) and the managing editors’ perceptions of functions of newspapers (discussed in Chapter IV) was tested as Hypothesis #3: The gatekeeper’s perception of the function of the news media is predictive of his or her pattern of news use: the traditional journalist is expected to select a more traditional pattern of news use (proximity and timeliness predominate), while the participant or nontraditional journalist is expected to select a nontraditional news pattern (impact-oriented).1 Generically, the predicted model would be: 186 Gatekeeper Gatekeeper Perceptions of 5 Output Functions (News—Use Patterns) Figure 2: Generic Predicted Model: Gatekeeper Perceptions and News The model for this prediction is presented graphically in Figure 3 and mathematically in Figure 4. Canonical Analyses Canonical analysis of the sets of individual variables -— the 16 functions with the 7 news attributes ~— indicated that absolutely no relationship existed between the managing editors’ perceptions of the function of newspapers and the actual news output.2 Even though the canonical correlation coefficient for the first canonical root was .51, accounting for 32 percent of the variance among the seven canonical roots, the correlation was not significant. F values for the seven canonical roots ranged from .770 down to .198 with significance levels from .995 to 1.000 (see Table 23). The .51 coefficient accounted for only 26 percent of the variance among the two sets of variables. The small sample size in relation to the number of variables could hide a relationship,3 but an examination of the zero-order correlations among variables in the two sets suggests more than sample size is missing (see Table 24). Zero-order correlations begin at .00. The highest More specifically, the theoretical model would be: widest 6" public b \ 1» 5., entertain/ relax 6+ avoid ! . unverifiable 6 demystify leaders v 69 get info I out quickly 5_§[investigate i$k\\\\ govt. cla1ms LH o 5., local 5 g g I traditions E 822 E m u u #11111 i 3 E _"“—> inte ectura u o a 6" cultural E g s m {1.4 5 readership (_— e for advertiser \ 6 a skeptical of officials 6-9 1nterpret ‘ externals 6 analyze complexities ' emphasize 6->|local value I 5 _> skeptical E of businesses 6 practical " info 6‘! Figure 3: Theoretical Predicted Model: [proximity l6 5 ltimelinesslé—E / Gabrominence 5(- € H m ’6 if» . ' 4— g a. g El1mpact ! (U u x s m 3 as w = . __a_'___<— e w 0 m -——+>I ma nitude 3 w z conflict é E \\\\\\E§‘” Oddity Let C = measurement error/independent = measurement error/dependent = prediction error Gatekeeper Perceptions and News 188 Mathematically the model was expected to resemble the model below: 5 x = observed measures of gatekeeper prfile 15 _§15 . n = observed measures of gatekeeper output g = theoretical gatekeeper profile Z — theoretical gatekeeper output All variables are listed on p. Figure 4: Mathematical Predicted Model: Gatekeeper Perceptions and News 189 mam. oo.qw 00.0H me. sea. 5 Cu K ooo.a oo.ooa oo.NN Ham. mmm. m cu m ooo.H Ho.mqm oo.om cqm. mom. n cu m ooo.H Nw.mHm oo.Nm omq. now. n on a wmm. oa.qwm 00.0m own. mmo. m cu m Ham. ww.omq oo.om moo. ems. m on N mmm. mm.mam oo.NHH ems. mom. m on H a co la: an m Elsa. a mUENUHMfiGme pouum mHmmsuoamm mxHHB No. mH. 00.00H HH.N No. B «0. ON. mm.mm m©.m qo. 0 mo. mm. ©N.¢m mm.m mo. m HH. mm. mm.ow «H.HH NH. q ma. me. mH.mm qm.om mm. m Hm. ma. qw.qm mm.mm om. N om. Hm. mm.Hm mm.~m mm. H Hmoficocmo .wmoo deflumfioyuoo uaouuwm wocmfium> mo oDHm>cmmflm uoom wmumswm Hwoficocmo m>flumasasu ucmuuwm AHOH n av Aucmpcmawa wmusnfluuu< mBmzv wfimxfimc< COHuQSUmm \ mSOHumeHuoo HNUHcoamo was mmDHm>cwme mm wHLwH 190 .moH owns :0 ma aux prmgum> .wwwam wHasom ucmawmwwp mo omsmuwn an nouamsu cq wmosu song pomuwp HHaz mwfinnqum> :m: oru new mcoHumfiwuuoua o.H No.- we. MN. 5N. No. we. mo. ms. NH. Nn. mN. so.- ms. ma. so. w No. so.- so.- #0.- 00. as.- no. one o.a sH.- se.- so. as. HH.- se.- sH.- on. 00.. mo. so.- no.- as. se.-w oH.- o.- NH. No.- No. No.- no.- man o.H NN. Na. HH.- Nm. mm. mm. se.- an. as. AH. «N. so. am. m so.- we. oo. NH.- Na.- #0. co. sac o.H so. so. we.- NN. ma. Na. ms. sN. 0H.- NN. cm. aN. m so.- as. mc.- NH.- co.- oo.- se.- mac o.s as. mo.- sN. ms. em. se.- NN. mH.- 0N. as. ma. n mc.- mN. #0.. NH.- ss.- Na. Na.- Nae o.H ma.- no. as.- 0N. Nc.- as. so.- oo.- cN. mo.- mo.- no. Na. ac. so.- Na. oo.- use o.s HN. MN. MN.- so. “0.- so.- on. Na.- so. No. se.- mo.- NH.- so.- so. me.- can c.a es. sN. m_. eN. mo. as. ea. 9N. so. No. so. se.- No.- se. se.- an o.H cc. em. Hm. mo. NN. no. mm. no. mo. se.: Ho.9 Ho.- No. no.- we o.a aN. NN. se.- NN. me. so. so. ms. Ma. No.- cc. so. as.- “a 0.1 Nm. mo. as. so. so. no. se.- Nc. c~.- ca. se.- n_. ea e.s oo.- as. co. co. ms.- ma. so.- we.- we. as.- so. we o.s cc. 4a.- 00. _1. se.- Nc.- se.- so. No.- me. an c.a NN. as. so.- me. se.- se.- se.- sc.- se.- me o.s so. so. mN. so. No. ma.- Na. ”N.- Na o.s oo. as. ea. se.- se.- Ne. s_.- at c.~ he. 00.. se.- se.- «N. mN.- Nz Az>me c.a NN. no. mN.- em. as.- c2 c._ Na. Nc.- an. as.- mz o.s so.- No.- en. sz c.s ea.- Na.- mz c.“ ms.- Nz o._ #z sac m_a sac n_a Nae _ac one ea ma Na on me an ma Na _a as ez m2 sz Hz Nz Hz anaoA n :v mo_2:~ac> :cuuucse w:n wzsz "mcc_ue~wpuou nucnOICawN em wHLmH 191 correlation is .23, and there are only three of these: proximity correlates —.23 with discuss developing national policy (N1 with F2) and conflict correlates .23 with discuss developing national policy and with interpret external events to the community (Ne with F2 and F12). The next highest correlation is .19 between conflict and provide analysis of complex problems (Ne with F13). These low correlations support the canonical result. None accounts for more than 4 percent of the variance in another individual variable. Standardized canonical coefficients indicate substantial loadings for at least one variable on each canonical variable, but the overall picture is of single— variable relationships rather than some sort of clustering (see Table 25). Redefining the variables as component scores of the factors uncovered through factor analysis brought even lower canonical correlation coefficients, beginning with .30, as indicated in Table 26.4 Zero~order correlations among the composite variables suggest that the inter-set relationship will be small. The highest correlation is .17 between the interpreter journalist and the hard~news dimension (see Table 28).5 The standardized canonical coefficients suggest little (see Table 29), as all three news dimensions have similar loadings on the first canonical variable (hard news, .66; interpreter—news, -.53; prominence-news, -.66) and two have mH.- me.- eN. om.- MN. so. ms.- suHeeo om. so. mm. om.- mN. we.- Nm. “UHHmcoe wN. os. Nw. wH. so. wo.- NN.- ms=UHamms No. mN. NH.- Hm.- HN.- . mo.- Hm.- sumaaH ms.- Nm. mN.- No.- eN. me. mo. suHeonum NN. NH.- mH.- mo. Hm.- am. No.- oucmaHeOum we. Ho.- ao. HH.- so. mm.- ON.- mmwaHHmeHH mGOflumHNHHOU HN.- we.- em. me.- sH. em. as.- sUHeeo 2 mH. mo. am. mN.- HH. sH. mm. uJHHucoo w so. Nm. mm. NN. mo.- aH. HN.- assuHawmz No. Hm. eN.- oe.- om.- eN.- as.- sumaaH «H.- Nm. oo. NH.- Hm. em. NN. suHaonum mm. HH.- HH.- eH.- so.- as. No. moamaHaoaa we. NH. om.- NN. Na. Hm.- as.- mmwaHHmsHe N e . m s m N H wusaHuuu< m3.32 moanmflum> HmUHcosmo HmCOHuoaDm "mucmfloflmwmoo Aucwpcwmmm mmuspflpuu< mzwzv moanmfium> HmUficocwo Leas mSOHumHmuuou \ wucwflofiwmoou Hmoflcocmo woufiwuwpumum mN memH 193 Nwm. oo.¢m oo.q OOH. com. m ou m Ham. oo.owH oo.oa qu. «mm. m ou N aww. o~.ooN oo.wH mac. www. m on H a no me so a Macaw-1w- g mesmoHMNcme uouum wflwwfiuoazm mxHNB 00. no. 00.00H oq.m co. m No. ma. Hm.om oo.wH No. N mo. om. Hm.wm Hm.wn OH. H Hmowdoamo .mwoo coeuwfiouuou acouumm musmfinm> mo wsam>awwflm uoom pwamsvm Hmofiaosmo o>Humaaaso ucoonom Aucwpcoawn mGOHmGoEHD mswz 0N wanna "wofipwflum> Quamomaoov mflm%fims< :OHuQSpom \ msONumHoHHou Hmowaoawo was mosam>cowflm oo.H No. so.| monosfiaoum oo.H wo.l mswzluwumwmuwudH ASWmV oo.H mBmz swam , mBszmococflEoum mBozluwuwumeucH mBmz whom W AHOH u av muouomm EONmeEHQImbZ oo.H mo.| HH. oo. ma. mN. pmucmfiuo\uowmwmlpmuH % oo.H mo.| No.1 mo.- qo.| aflcwfiowzlwwuH 8H OHf mo. NH. umsHmé umflHmGONuflcmnH Azwmv oo.H ea. Ho.l wumoo>w< oo.H No. HouwsauwusH oo.H woucwHuOIHopmmm pwusmfluo aficmnooz umzamc< mumoo>p< HmuonapouCH cousoflao \uwwwwm uwHHmGOHunmHH Hmpmom AHHH u av wuouumm coauocsm coaumuom wDVHHLo nwuwm mMOHUmm wcoa< m:0HumHmuuoo RN mHan _ oo.H Ho. 0N. No. mN. om. m No.- Ho.- No.- emuawfluo _ \Hmpmmm m -umHHchHuHamue oo.H NN.- No.- NH.- 0H.- m No. No. sH.- UHamauws " -umHHchHuHempa oo.H mo.- sN. om. w No.- NH.- NH. umsHma< numHHm:ONuNemuH oo.H NN. se.: mo. so. mo. mumoo>p< oo.H No.- co.- co.- NH. MenopaumusH % oo.H No. OH.I mo. popsoHMOIuwvwwm Azwmv oo.H Hm.l we. mBmZ IwuanHEOHm oo.H oq.| mbz IuwuwwmumucH oo.H mBoz wwwm wmucoHuOIumwmwm ONGmfiowE ummfimc< wumoo>w< NmuopmumucH woucofiuo mBmz mBmz wBoz pmHH vmuH UmuH ampmom oQchHEOHm HmuwpmuwucH when AHOH n av menMHNw> ouflmomEoo GOHuocsm paw msoz NN mHams "macaumfiwuwoo umpHOIouwN 196 Table 29 Standardized Canonical Coefficients/ Correlations with Canonical Variables (Composite Variables) News Coefficients: Functional Canonical Variables Dimension 1 3 Hard News .66 .88 —.12 Interpreter—News —.53 1.12 .34 Prominence—News ~.66 .62 -.75 Correlations Hard News .82 .48 -.32 Interpreter—News —.46 .45 .77 Prominence-News -.33 .12 —.93 qo.1 mo. $0.1 mo.1 00. mH.1 co. wwucofluo\uoemom IumfiamSOHuflwmpfi W S. 3.1 Ho. so. sH. oH.- mH. UHamaomz-umHHmaoflHom; mo.1 ma. so. wH.1 ma.1 «0. OH.1 um%Hms<1umHHmc0flqumuH wo.1 no.1 ma. 00.1 Ho. 00. No.1 unwoo>p< co. oN. no. 00. no.1 mo. NH.1 kuopmuwucH 00. mo. no.1 mo.1 No.1 Ho. 00.1 pwucwHNOIHmvmwm Nuflppo uoflfimsoo mpsuflcwmz uommEH wucwcflaoum mmwcHHwEHH muNEonwm AHOH u av meanum> SONuossh wuflmanoo wfiu use mwusnflhuu< waz "wnOHumeHuoo pmpNOIOHwN om mHQMH 198 Table 31 Zero-Order Correlations: Composite News Dimensions and Separate Function Variables (n = 101) Interpreter Prominence Functions: Hard News News News l.Interest widest public .10 —.07 —.01 2.Dicuss developing natl. policy .24 -.13 —.05 3.Entertain and relax .04 -.13 .04 4.Avoid unverifiable stories -.06 —.03 .06 5.Min. community leader mystique —.07 .02 .00 6.Get info out quickly —.07 .04 .02 7.1nvestigate gov’t. claims .16 —.04 .01 8.Build local traditions .02 -.05 —.01 9.Dev. cultural interests .04 —.05 —.01 10.Readers for advertisers .01 -.10 .05 11.Adversary of government .08 .05 —.04 12.Interpret external events .17 -.13 ~.08 l3.Ana1yze complex problems .10 --13 ~.02 l4.Emphasize community values .03 —.07 -.07 15.Adversary of businesses .00 ~02 -10 16.Practical information -.06 —.01 .00 199 even larger loadings on the second (hard news; .88; interpreter—news, 1.12). Prominence-news loads strongly on all three canonical variables. Little differentiation appears. The composite variables are defined below. News Dimensions: CN1 (Hard News) = (—.60 * proximity) + (.80 * timely) + (.66 * magnitude) + (.76 * conflict) CN2 (Interpreter—News) = (.53 * proximity) + (.76 * impact) + (.41 * magnitude) + (—.65 * oddity) CNa (Prominence—News) = (—.32 * proximity) + (.88 * prominence) + (—.25 * impact) + (-.25 * conflict) + (—.28 * oddity) Journalists: CF1 (Reader-Oriented Journalist) = (.60 * Function #3) + (.37 * Function #5) + (.78 * Function #8) + (.82 * Function #9) + (.36 * Function #10) CF2 (Interpreter) = (.68 * Function #2) + (.76 * Function #7) + (—.64 * Function #10) + (.38 * Function #12) + (.55 * Function #13) CFa (Advocate) = (.90 * Function #11) + (.92 * Function #15) CFq (Traditionalist—Analyst) = (.75 * Function #1) + (.37 * Function #12) + (.40 * Function #13) + (.70 * Function #14) CFs (Traditionalist-Mechanic) = (.70 * Function #4) + (.40 * Function #6) + (-.27 * Function #10) + (—.57 * Function #12) + (—.32 * Function #13) CFs (Traditionalist-Reader/Oriented) = (.29 * Function #3) + (.50 * Function #5) + (.65 * Function #6) + (.85 * Function #16) Regression on Individual Variables Even though the oblique factors were to have precluded further individual analysis, because of the low correlations 200 among the factors and in order to further explore the data, individual regression analyses were run to try to identify any underlying relationships.6 Because of the exploratory nature of the study, all regressions were stepwise. Equations used for regression analyses are below. First the individual function variables were regressed on the individual news attributes. Then the individual functions were regressed on the composite news dimensions. Third, the composite functions were regressed on the composite news dimensions and, fourth, the composite functions were regressed on the individual news attributes. Significant results of these analyses are in Table 32. Regressing the individual functions on the individual news dimensions: N1 = 81 + b11X1 + b12X2 + . . . . + b116X16 + e1 N2 = 82 + b21X1 + b22X2 + . . . . + b216X16 + e2 N3 — a3 . . N4 = N5 = N5 = N7 = a7 + b71X1 + b72X2 + . . . . + 8715X1s + e7 Regressing the individual functions on the composite news dimensions: CN1 = 31 + b11X1 + b12X2 + . . . . + b116X1s + 61 CN2 = a2 + b21X1 + b22X2 + . . . . + b215X1a + e2 CNa = as + b31X1 + b32X2 + . . . . + b315X16 + e3 201 .mEOHuwsvm unmoHMchfim 0: use; mumsu .mEOHmdmaflw mama muflmomEoo m3“ co vmmmwuwwu mamB mGONuocsw ouflwoafiou can amfiz 00. MN. wHo. oq.N MN. NN. am. moflfiom HmGONumz mafimoaw>wm mwaomflm om.H mBoz whom mGOHmsoEflm mbz ouflmoaeoo no. oN. 0H0. mo.N 0N. mo. NH. NoumnawwucH ww. uoflamcoo mEOHuossm wuflmoaaoo mo. mN. HNo. mm.N MN. HH. 0N. >0Haom HmQOHumz wcflmoao>wm mmsomfin Nw. uUHHmsoo mo. MN. HNo. «m.N1 MN.1 0H. mm.1 moHHom HMCOfluwz mcflaoam>wm mmSQmHD mo.q zufiafixoum NM m .cwflm H oumm mwOMm m GOHuocsm usmumcoo COHmsmEHQ msz Amwanwflum> unaccomowcH mm mEOHuossmv AHOH n :V mSOHmcoEflm wsoz How mfioaumsvm coemmwpwom quUHMHsmHm Nm mHQMH 202 Regressing the composite functions on the composite news dimensions: CN1 = 81 + b11CF1 + b12CF2 + . . . . + bisCFs + e1 CN2 = a2 + b21CF1 + b22CF2 + . . . . + bzsCFs + 62 0N3 = as + baicFi + b32CF2 + . . . . + baeCFs + e3 Regressing the composite functions on the individual news dimensions: N1 = 81 + bllcFl + b12CF2 + . . . . + b16CF6 + 61 N2 = 82 + b210F1 + bzzCFz + . . . . + bzsCFs + e2 N3 = as + N4 = N5 = N6 = N7 = a7 + b710F1 + b72CF2 + . . . . + b7sCFa + 87 CN and CF variables are defined on page199; 81 = intercept; bl = regression coefficient; and 61 = error term. As might be suspected from the zero-order correlations in Tables 24 and 28, the only function with a significant relationship with any of the news dimensions is discuss developing national policy (F2). The composite journalist strongly associated with that function -- the interpreter is the only composite associated with a news journalist ~— dimension. Because multivariate analyses indicated no relationship existed, these results (which were also multivariate analyses) must be interpreted cautiously. —-—*r ._,fi—— 203 The first explanation might be that with 16 functions at least one had to be significantly related with one of the news attributes, regardless of predictions. But there seems more than a chance relationship. Higher agreement with discuss developing national policy as a function of newspapers seems to be at least moderately related to higher use of hard news (or "spot" news) material in the daily newspaper. This relationship with hard news is probably dependent on the conflict and proximity attributes which are positively and negatively related to the hard— news factor (respectively). The negative relationship of discuss developing national policy and proximity is according to expectation. This function helps define the interpreter journalist and the interpreter was expected to minimize local news emphasis. The positive relationship of this function with hard news and conflict is contrary to expectation. One plausible explanation is that conflict is part of a developing national policy (or even of developing anything), but that type of news analysis was not conducted here. Regardless of the significance level, the relationships accounted for only 5 percent of the variance in proximity and conflict, 7 percent when the composite interpreter was the predictor, and 6 percent of the variance in hard news. 204 News Attributes and Responses to Open-Ended Questions As part of testing Hypothesis #3, the responses to two open-ended questions were analyzed with the entire set of news attributes as dependent variables.7 In order to make the analysis meaningful, the 12 response categories (see Chapter IV) were combined to make four groups. (1) The local emphasis category was left as it was. (2) An "information plus" category included inform/information, inform and entertain, and inform and interpret. (3) An "all things and idealism" category included the multifunctional/all things, idealism, and try for innovations responses. (4) All other responses were grouped into an "other" category: lightness, digestible news, advocacy, mentioned profit, and miscellaneous. A breakdown of the new categories is in Table 33. Multivariate Analyses of Variance Multivariate analysis of variance indicated no overall relationship between the news attributes and the categories of open—ended responses to (1) What should be the function of a newspaper? and (2) How would you describe 122; newspaper’s function in our community? The statistical hypotheses tested are below. Regardless of the significance test applied (see Table 34), significance levels ranged from .129 to .313. The responses to the questions were also used for multivariate analysis of variance with the composite news 205 Table 33 Responses to Open—Ended Questions (Grouped Data) Open—Ended Questions Were: What should be the function of a newspaper? How would you describe your newspaper’s function in your community? Newspapers Your in General Newspaper (n = 101) Information Plus 41 (41%) 18 (18%) Local Emphasis ll (11%) 33 (33%) All Things and Idealism 20 (20%) 15 (15%) Other 7 (7%) 10 (10%) 22 (22%) 25 (25%) No Response 206 dimensions. These tests also indicated no overall relationship. Significance levels ranged from .114 to .287 (see Table 34). Means and standard deviations for each category are in Tables 35 (for newspapers in general) and 36 (for the community newspaper). Because these multivariate tests of significance are matrix—based, the sums of squares matrices are presented separately in Tables 37, 38 and 39. Statistically the multivariate analysis of variance is testing: r’ \ -/ a~ r' \ K’ \ “11 “12 “13 “14 “21 “22 “23 “24 no: “31 “32 “33 “34 “41 = “42 = “43 = “44 “51 “52 “53 “54 “61 “62 “63 “54 Eng :73~ E73 :74 For the composite news dimensions, the hypothesis tested is: “11 “12 “13 “14 H. “21 = “22 = “23 = “24 “31 “32 “33 “34 The test is the same for both questions. For both questions, for each of the news attributes and each of the composite dimensions, the hypothesis tested for univariate analysis of variance is: H° ‘ u1 = “2 = u3 - -14 207 0mN. Hm.0mH 00.0 NON.H 0mm. mxHHB HNN. 00.00N 00.0 N¢N.H 00H. wwswafiouom mwN. 00.0HN 00.0 0HN.H moa. mHmHHHJm AoN 1 av Hwamawswz o no cOHnoass sHstssoo one m:0HmawsHo msmz mHHmomsoo NHm. n0.00H 00.HN 00H.H Nan. mxHHB HHm. oo.soH oo.HN omH.H on. monHHmuom mam. 00.q0N 00.HN 00H.H «Hm. mHmHme AoN u :0 Hwomamsmz o No COHUUooe sstsssoo was chHmowaHm wsoz HanH wHH. Hw.mma 00.0 000.H st. mxHHZ «Ha. 00.mHN 00.0 000.H NON. mwsHHHouom MNH. 00.mNN 00.0 sum.a wna. meHHHm a0m n CV Homwamzmz m we coauosam A¢MMzm0 was mCOHmEoENQ mBoz mHHmomZOo NmH. 00.00H 00.HN qu.H 000. mxaflz 0NH. 00.m0N 00.HN qwm.H 00¢. wwsflaawuom 0mH. 00.0HN 00.HN w0N.H 0am. mamaaflm A0m u av Hoamamswz m 00 coeuozam QHQZH .m wo .cwflm mm Houum mm Luomhm Axosmmmv m mDHm> ummH ume ucowcommch momsommmm pm0SMIcoeo mo mwfiwomwumo snow was namwcmmom mQOHmaEHQ msmz Sofia mocwflHm> mo wwwkfims< How mummH oocmofimficwflm muMHnm>fluHDZ qm wanna Apmaaflusoov ANH.V Hwo.v HmH.o HsH.v HoH.o u om sH. mo. mH. HH. mH. suHooo Hom.o Hmo.v Hom.v ANN.0 Aom.o u om mN.H No.N Ho.H os.H mN.H mosuHamms Hom.o Hom.v Ass.0 Hom.o Hoo.v u om No.m No.m oo.m mH.m so.m ouamcHEOHm Hoo.v Aom.v HHo.o Aqo.0 ANN.0 u om Ho.H Ns.N No.H mo.H Ho.H uoHHoaoo 8 Hoq.o Hmm.0 Hos.v Aom.o Aos.0 new m Nm.H oN.H mN.H mo.H oH.H homosH HNm.V ANN.V Hoo.v Amm.v Aom.o n om 3H.m os.m oN.m Ho.m oo.m mmwaHHweHs Hmo.v ANN.V Hmo.o ANN.V Hoo.Ho u om mm.N HN.N mm.N sw.N Hm.N suHaonnm mHQEmm Hwnuo EmHmewH a wflmmgaEm wsam GOHmamEfim m3wz mwsflfie HH< Hmoog cosumauowaH mwfiuowwumu omsommwm A0n n :v Namammmsos m 00 coauocsm etc on pasoxw uMJB "On momcoamom 00 mGOHmGwEHQ mb2 now wCONuwH>wQ ppmpSMum was mama: mm mfian 209 0n Aso.0 so.H Aws.v m0.N Nos.H0 oo.m onEmm 5 ON HH Hq Ame; Aomé A000 A050 mm. 11% N0. 004 Aqu 30.0 Cw; 30.0 0m.m ath 0N.m mwN HoH.HV AwH.HV “Ns.HV Aom.Hv mNé 00.0 0H4” 0q.m Hofiuo FmflmmmpH a mHmmmflmflM H:_hw111 mwsfiga HH< HmooA cowumEch:~ muHQMHNw> ouwmomaoo Apossflucoov mm 9H0cb Um w3OZIOUCwfiHEOHm Um msozluwumuanwuaH Wm wsmz pwmm COHmswEflQ mbz 210 HNH.V mH. Hom.o NN.H Hem.o No.m Hoo.v No.H Hos.o Nm.H ANm.c mH.m Hoo.v mm.N mHaEmm Apossflucoov HNH.V mH. Hmm.v NN.H Amm.o oH.m NNo.v oo.H Aoo.o mm.H Aom.0 NN.m HoN.o oo.N toaoo HoH.v oN. ANs.v Ho.H ANo.v oo.m Hmo.o HH.N Hom.v oH.H Hos.0 mH.m Hoo.o mN.N EmHHmooH s mwaHss HH< HoH.V NH. Hoo.v No.H Hom.o oo.m HmN.V NN.H ANm.V om.H Hoo.o No.m Hoo.0 No.N mflwmsmsm Hmoou wmfluowmumo mmaommmm HoH.V oH. AoN.o u NN.H Hoo.v Ho.m Aom.v oo.N ANq.V oH.H Hoo.o HN.m ANo.HV oH.N H N H msHa COHHNEHOWEH now u :0 skuHCDEEoo H30» CH defluossw w.pw0m0m3mc Mach onfiuomop :00 pfisos Box ”on mwmcommom 00 m50flmcoeflm mb2 Mom mCONuwH>wQ mumsGMHm was wsmwz om oHQMH pm suHooo 0m opsuflawmz pm wocmcHEoum 0m uoflawsoo pm , uomeH pm mmwnflamsfle pm kuflfiflxowm soawsceflm msmz 211 on Amo.v so.H AON.0 00.N Aoo.Ho om.m meEmm 0H Awo.0 H0.H Hmo.o HN.m AsN.HV oo.m Hwfo ma mm 0H ANm.0 Amo.v ANo.0 NH.H 00. NH.H AoN.0 AmN.0 Awo.0 om.N 0H.m HN.N AoN.HV st.Ho ANm.H0 «0.3 HH.m N0.e EmflfimocH a mHmmseEm mamm wmsfize HH< Hmooa sewnmENomcH It'll] moanmfium> muflwomfioo H mum WBQZIOUHHmfi—HEOHW "um mBoZIquwuapwucH n pm mSoz poem coamcofiflm m3oz Aposcflusoov om canoe 0H.N 00.1 H0.1 N0. mn.1 00.N 00.01 Nmufiéo 0H.0N 00.1 0m.m HH.N 00.m NN.m1 mwsufiswmz o0.NN 00.01 00. 00.01 N0.¢1 wonosHEonm 00.00 qq.H1 00.0H 00.0H1 uofiamcoo H .3 2.1 mo .HH nomaaH Assmv oN.oN ms.oH- mmocHHmeHe oH.oo suHaonns ”Aawcomwflm so 000 wuusvonImmonu 0am mwumavm1001mESm mHHoo cflzuflz 2 A No. so.- oo. om.- mo.- NH.- oN.- suHooo H0.H sN.1 00. 00.1 00.H s0.1 wwsuwswmz 0H. no.1 0H. 00.1 00. ouswcHEoum mN.N 0H.N 0H.H 0m. uoflawsoo om.m oo. mo.N nomosH A2000 0H.H 00.1 mmosNHoEHH mo.H anaonHm Nufiwpo apnea: m2 mococfiEoum uoflawcoo oommEH vvocwawafle NHHEHxOHm "Aamcowmfip so 000 muUSpopm1wmouu was mmpmscmlwolmEdm mwmoguoamm poem:wp< A0n n :0 Naommmmsws m mo Coauucsw app on wasonm umsz "GOHumwso 0o0GMIsomo ou mwmcommwm nufls moanmflum> usmpswmom mm mmuspfluuu< mswz mo mfiwhfims< wumfium>fiuaaz mo mHo>mA oosmoH0flswflm mafiasouom on com: mmofluumz @HfiGH 213 a0n u av whuHsafiaou H0.N 50.1 00.1 0H.1 N0.H1 H0.H 0H.01 NH3000 00.0N 00.1 m0.0 N0.N 0m.n 00.01 wwsuHcmwz 00.NN 00.n1 on. 00.01 05.01 woswcHEonm 00.00 00.N 00.0H m0.qH1 HUHHmaoo 0.53 3.3 oo. NN.oH SSE 00.0N 0H.0H1 wmmcHHoEHH $.00 sHHstoE "nHmsomeD so 000 muoswoumlmmosu wan moumsvmlwo1masw wHHoo GHSHHB 00. 0H. n0. NH. 00.1 H0. 0H.1 NUHEUO N0. N0. m0.H 0m.1 00. w0qu wwsuchmz 0H. H0. «0. 0H. m0. moswsHEoum N0.N 00.H1 0m. No.01 uUHHmsoo 09$ HmH No.1 ooN 535 N0. 00.H1 mmocHHoEHH 00.m NUHEonunH Nquwo owsustmz mucoCHEoum uoHchoo uomaEH mwocHHoEHH zuHEonum ”AHmcomew so 000 muosvouglwmcuu paw mopmzvm1wolmEsm mHmwfiuoazm woumzmp< use» CH EOHHUGDM m.um0w0m3ms H300 onHuuwmp 50% 0H503 Bow "COHummso pw0CMIsomo cu mwmcommmm SHHB meanHm> usovsmamm mm mouDLHuuu< mBmz mo mHthmc< oumHHm>HuHaz wo me>mH wosonMchHm wCHEMmuwm ou 0mm: monHumz 00 OHQQH 214 Table 39 Matrices Used to Determine Significance Levels of Multivariate Analysis of Composite News Dimensions as Dependent Variables with Responses to Open-Ended Questions: What should be the function of a newspaper? (n = 79) Adjusted Hypothesis Sums—of—Squares and Cross—Products (SS on Diagonal): Hard News Interpreter-News Prominence—News Hard News 7.25 Interpreter-News 1.04 4.46 (SYM) Prominence—News -.57 -2.19 1.12 Within Cells Sums-of—Squares and Cross—Products (SS on Diagonal): Hard News 144.99 Interpreter—News -32.24 42.63 (SYM) Prominence—News 5.26 ~16.56 30.83 How would you describe your newspaper's function in your community? (n = 76) Adjusted Hypothesis Sums-of—Squares and Cross—Products (SS on Diagonal): Hard News 14.14 Interpreter—News -6.56 3.90 (SYM) Prominence—News 2.40 —1.22 .42 Within Cells Sums—of—Squares and Cross-Products (SS on Diagonal): Hard News 133.73 Interpreter—News -23.40 42.59 (SYM) Prominence-News 1.41 -l7.10 31.16 215 Univariate Analyses of Variance Even though the multivariate analyses of variance indicated no differences among the response groups in use of the news attributes or the composite news dimensions, significant univariate analyses are reported for informational purposes (see Tables 40 and 41). Interpretation must be cautious. Significant differences were identified in the use of impact when the question was "What should be the function of a newspaper?” and with proximity when the question was "How would you describe our newspaper’s function in our community?" Scheffé comparisons indicate that the managing editors who said the function of a newspaper in general should be local emphasis used more impact stories than those managing editors who said the function should be information. Those managing editors whose responses were in the "other" category also used more impact stories than the "information" editors. Etaz indicates that the variance accounted for in use of impact by the response categories was 19 percent. The conservative Scheffé analysis did not identify any groups that were different in their use of proximity, even though the univariate analysis of variance indicated differences exist among the response categories. The amount of variance in use of proximity accounted for by the response categories was 12 percent. 216 .N0 mHan SH mum mommHmcw <>oz< unmonstm pom moHQMu 0am58302 05 000. 50H. 000. 000. HHO. N50. m3mZ1oocosHEowm 05 000. 000. 500. 0H0.N 000. 000.H meoZIHouwumwousH 05 000. 0HN. 50N. HON.H 000.H 0H0.N wBoz wumm onanum> ouHmanoo 05 H00. 55H. 000. 500. 0N0. 0N0. N3350 05 N00. w0N. 00H. 000.H 000. 005. HUHHmsoo 05 000. 00N. 50N. 000.H 000. N00. owsustmz 05 50H. N00. «sHoo. 005.0 00H. NHH.H uummEH 05 000. HHN. 0N0. 00H.H 0N0. 550. moosHHmaHH 05 000. 000. 000. 50H. 00N. N00. mucosHEonm 05 0N0. 00H. 500. 005. 000. 000. muHEonum z Nfim Em ..H we .33 a :3an ms 545.9... ms :OHmaoaHm mismz «mCOHmnoEHQ wswz 0cm Hmamamsoz m mo :OHuossm Hmuosou usonm momsoawom 000cm1so00 How muHsmwm <>oz< 00 anmH .00 oHan cH one mommesm ¢>oz< unonstme How menmu kumaasmx 05 0H0. 0HH. 000. 0N0. 000. 00H. wazloosmcHEoum 05 000. 00N. 000. 00H.N N00. 000.H mbZIkuwuawoucH 05 000. 000. 000. 000.N 500.H 0H5.0 mbz 0Hmm onanMm> ouHmomfioo o5 Hoo. 8N. owm. 5No.H No. No. .338 m 3 moo. smN. SH. NooH mos. NR. uoHHuaoo o5 mmo. 8H. .03. sow. 0mm. oom. $33me 3 m8. sNN. omH. 93H sNN. 53. 38.5 2 So. NmH. N2. 0N0. Hmm. 9:. 32:452.. E woo. ooo. mow. ooH. mom. ooo. 855505 05 SH. 3.... 3:8. moNN NHo. HmoN Saunas 1|z-I Mala «Hal a no .22me .H 30qu m: .2853 ms 3 *mGOHmGoEHm wsoz ppm memmmswz HmUOH wsu mo COHuocsm usonm momcommom cupcMICoao New wuHsmom <>oz< H0 mHQmH 218 Results of analysis of variance for these two news attributes are in Tables 42 and 43. Summary Multivariate analyses found no overall relationship between the news attributes identified in the 101 dailies and their managing editors’ responses to perceptions of the functions of a newspaper. This finding held whether the analysis included individual functions, individual news attributes, composite journalist profiles based on factor analysis of the functions, or composite news dimensions based on factor analysis of the attributes. In addition, no overall relationship was found in multivariate analysis of responses to two open-ended questions and the news attributes. The questions asked about the function of newspapers in general and the function of the managing editor’s paper in the managing editor’s community. This finding also held whether the analysis was with the individual news attributes or the composite news dimensions. Only at the univariate level did _any relationships appear. One function, discuss developing national policy, and its composite, the interpreter journalist, were significant and positive when regressed on conflict. The function had the same result when regressed on hard news, the composite news dimension with a strong component of conflict. The same function was negative and significant Analysis of Variance Summary Table: 219 Table 42 Impact and General Function Source DF Between 3 Within 75 Total 78 General Function Local Information Plus All Things/Ideal Other Sums of Mean Squares Squares F 3.336 1.112 5.748 14.508 .193 17.844 ffififil S.D. Group N 1.65* .34 ll l.19*# .48 41 1.25 .44 20 1.76# .33 7 Sign. of F .001 Scheffe range is 4.04, *The ”local" group is different from the "information plus” group. #The "other" group is different from the "information plus” group. 220 Table 43 Analysis of Variance Summary Table: Proximity and Community Function Sums of Mean Sign. Source _Ifl:_ Squares Squares F £§131. Between 3 7.954 2.651 3.245 .027 Within 72 58.832 .817 Total 75 66.786 Community Function Mgan SL2; Group N Local 2.87 .90 33 Information Plus 2.16 1.02 18 A11 Things/Ideal 2.23 .88 15 Other 2.68 .70 10 Scheffe range is 4.05. 1 No groups were significantly different from each other. 221 when regressed on proximity. These results are treated cautiously, because the multivariate analyses indicated an overall relationship did not exist between the functions and the neWs attributes and because the variance accounted for in each case was less than 10 percent. With the open-ended questions, those managing editors indicating that local emphasis was important for newspapers in general used more impact stories than those indicating that information per se was important. Those whose responses were in the "other" category also used more impact stories than those who indicated information per se was important. Although significant differences existed overall in the use of proximity among those managing editors commenting about the function of their own newspaper, the individual differences were not uncovered. 222 ENDNOTES 1The nontraditional or participant journalist is discussed here as the interpreter journalist. News media here are newspapers. 2The program used was procedure MANOVA in SPSS—X (1983), release 2. aKerlinger (1973, p. 681) and Nunnally (p. 423 & 436) both suggested that 10 cases per variable are necessary for meaningful factor analysis. Thompson (1984, p. 18) cautions that the stability of canonical results presumes large samples. 4Component scores were computed using the loadings greater than .25 times the raw variable, a method suggested by Kim and Mueller (1978, p. 72—73). Actually the authors suggest a "cosmetic" division by the eigenvalue to standardize the variance of each composite variable to 1. This was not done for three reasons: 1. Raw scores times the loading was agreed upon in the proposal. Interpretation of the standardized scores would have been difficult. 2. Minor testing indicated that the beta weights, t values, R values and R2 values in regression analysis did not change for the dependent variable in either form. Only the B and standard deviation changed. Because the interest is in the shared variance and the individual function scores are arbitrary numbers relevant only in relation to each other, the division was not done. 3. Most importantly, the component scores were to be used together. Because the eigenvalues become smaller for each factor, dividing by the eigenvalue would make the overall score for the weaker factors stronger and analyses would reflect this weighthg. Loadings greater than .25 were used because, although these are not factor scores, both Nunnally and Kim & Mueller caution against using factor scores with loadings of less than .30. The variable accounts for less than 10 percent of the variation in the factor. The cut~off here was a more conservative .25, which reduced the raw variables to those with strength on the factors. The loadings used were based on the oblique rotation rather than the orthogonal rotation for two reasons: 1. Changing the loadings to the orthogonal rotation would have changed the discussion to factor results that had 223 not previously been discussed. Meaning in relation to earlier findings would have been Conjecture. 2 More importantly, correlations among the factors were minimal (see Table 27). Highest was .25 between the reader—oriented and the traditionalist—reader/oriented journalist factors. Among the news attribute factors, the highest correlation was —.08. 5Correlations of the composite variable sets with the relevant individual variable sets showed the same pattern (see Tables 30 and 31). Highest correlations were .26 between conflict and the interpreter journalist and .24 between discuss developing national policy and hard news. 6The program used was procedure REGRESSION in SPSS-X (1983), release 2. 7The program used for multivariate analysis of variance was procedure MANOVA in SPSS-X (1983), release 2. The proposal specified that chi—square analysis would be used for these responses. Because the dependent variables are continuous, multivariate analysis of variance was substituted. CHAPTER VII SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Introduction This chapter will summarize the purpose and results of this study and then attempt to interpret or place the results in perspective. Suggestions for further research will be made. Purpose and Scope of the Study This study was designed to explore the relationship between news media gatekeepers’ perceptions of the function of newspapers and the gatekeepers’ handling of news items and events. For these purposes the gatekeeper was at the news—processor level and defined as the managing editor of a daily newspaper. The gatekeeper’s handling of news items and events was defined as the news content of the managing editor's front page for a composite five-day week. A mail questionnaire was completed by 111 managing editors in a national stratified sample of daily newspapers in the United States. The questionnaire asked for Likert— type responses to statements about 16 possible functions of a newspaper. The questionnaire also asked for Open-ended discussion of the function of both a newspaper in general and the respondent’s own daily. 224 225 The front pages of a composite week of 101 of the managing editors' dailies were content analyzed into seven newa attributes: proximity, timeliness, prominence, impact, conflict, magnitude and oddity. Both the managing editors’ responses and the news attributes were analyzed separately. They were then compared to detect any relationship between the editors’ perceptions and their news output. The Gatekeepers’ Perceptions of the Function of Newspapers This section summarizes and discusses findings relevant to the gatekeepers’ perceptions of the function of newspapers. Summary Analysis of responses to the 16 possible functions of newspapers indicated that four types of Journalists are managing editors of daily newspapers in this country. Three are distinctively unidimensional; a fourth is 3—part multidimensional. The first journalist profile uncovered was a reader- oriented businessperson who would be interested in reader surveys and circulation figures. This editor said cultural and entertainment aspects of the news were important but was also strongly interested in building the local traditions of the community. Less important but still strong for this editor was an awareness of advertiser needs and another local concern -- demystifying the community leaders. This 226 reader—oriented businessperson has not appeared in earlier Journalist profiles, except for a "promoter" classification in Cherry’s discussion of possible evaluators of news content. The other two distinctive profiles have been identified in earlier studies: 1. the interpreter Journalist who sees analytical and investigative functions as important and 2. the adversarial journalist who sees his or her role as being an adversary of businesses and of government. The interpreter would not select local news merely because of geography. Instead, local concerns would be for explanation and effect. The newspaper functions strongest for this editor were investigative and analytical: "investigate government claims," "discuss developing national policy," "provide analysis of complex problems" and "interpret relevant external events to the community," almost a mirror of earlier findings. Although "government" claims could be local or nonlocal, this profile is notable for the absence of any purely local functions. Perhaps this editor tells the reader what the reader "should" know rather than what the reader "wants to know." A strong negative relationship with advertiser needs emphasizes that this person has an independent approach removed from either local pressures, financial concerns or mechanical considerations. Even though mechanical concerns are not "important" to this 227 profile, the conclusion cannot be that these concerns are not important to this managerial-level journalist. More logical may be the assumption that mechanical problems and needs are simply accepted by this editor rather than seen as an end in themselves. The adversarial journalist was defined exclusively by the two adversarial functions -— to businesses and to public officials —— as had been true in the earlier Weaver and Wilhoit study. The fourth type of journalist identified is a multi- version of the traditionalist identified in earlier studies: (a) the traditionalist—analyst: This profile describes a moderate or middle-of—the-road journalist who rejects the extremes of either the traditionalist or the interpreter and has parts of both. This profile emphasizes the analytical functions of the interpreter but is stronger on community values and reaching the broadest audience. This editor eliminates the government and policy watchdog functions of the interpreter and assumes almost a teacher’s role with the local audience. (b) the traditionalist-mechanic: Closest to the traditionalist identified in earlier studies, this journalist is concerned with the craft and the mechanical requirements of presenting information. This editor is concerned with speedy presentation of verifiable facts. Negative relationships suggest that this editor ignores pressure from advertisers and the temptation to inject him 228 or herself into the news, even through interpretation and analysis. This is the "just—the-facts" journalist, closest to the Weaver & Wilhoit disseminator and the Johnstone, et al., traditionalist. (c) the traditionalist—reader/oriented: This journalist is concerned with presenting practical information in a palatable form and overlaps somewhat with the reader-oriented businessperson. The traditionalist- reader/oriented editor indicated importance was placed on supplying practical information in a timely manner. This editor also saw importance in demystifying community leaders and rather weakly in entertainment. The combination suggests an orientation of daily~living news in a bright and readable form. In spite of the strong adversarial profile, highest disagreement among the managing editors was with the importance of the two adversarial functions, a ranking that parallelled those of the Weaver and Wilhoit study. Highest agreement was with the function of getting information to the public quickly, a traditionalist function. Thus speed is important overall, no matter what the professional orientation. The adversarial functions, which seem to imply negative bias and to violate a fundamental neutrality, are mainly rejected by these individuals who are responsible for the daily newspaper. When responding in their own words, the managing editors were most in agreement that information was the 229 function of newspapers in general, but their own daily should emphasize local coverage. Discussion Although responses to the individual functions indicated an expected overall conservatism among the managing editors, the journalistic profiles show that these individuals are more pluralistic than the individual responses would suggest. The six journalistic profiles suggest that few purists exist when managing editors are asked to react to functions of the news media and that the editors perceive the functions as more than mechanical. For example, two of the traditionalists —— the analyst— and especially the reader-oriented traditionalist -— have attributes that overlap the stronger independent profiles, suggesting that even the strong independent profiles have more than one dimension. Johnstone, et al., had suggested that journalists in general avoid the extremes of their dichotomy. Weaver and Wilhoit confirmed, calling the journalists pluralistic. A reexamination of the responses to the individual functions and the multidimensionality of the traditionalist profiles suggests that although the traditionalist functions are accepted by the managing editors, they are not the primary focus. In other words, these managing editors perceive their daily as having functions beyond the mechanical. The most mechanical function, "get information 230 to the public quickly," was "strongly agreed" to by the vast majority of the editors yet was important only in the two weakest profiles. Also consensual was a lack of substantial disagreement with all but four of the functions. These four were the functions which imply bias or external influence: (1—2) the two adversarial functions, (3) acquiescence to advertiser needs, and (4) emphasis on local values. Agreement with these functions would have implied pre-established approaches to news. Therefore, in spite of a strong advocate profile, the managing editors overall reject newspaper functions that imply predetermined, or at least acknowledged predetermined, bias. Sample size, of course, suggests caution in interpreting the journalistic profiles. Yet, the managing editor as a reader—oriented businessperson should be logically easy to accept. Managing editors traditionally handle budgets and make assignments, among other duties. Concern for economics and audience satisfaction will enable their dailies to stay in business. The interpreter and the advocate were expected and replicate earlier studies of a broader group of journalists. The lS-year professional age of this sample suggests that the population of managing editors may have been among those journalists surveyed in the earlier Johnstone, et al., study. The managing editors would probably have been in nonmanagerial positions at the time. 231 Although there is no way of knowing whether the interpreters and advocates are the ones who moved up in the field or whether the perceptions of those reaching management levels have changed, whatever the advancement pattern, these managing editors have in the aggregate retained the less conservative orientations as they moved up in the news organization. A strong traditionalist profile would have suggested at least a status quo conservatism. (Only the traditionalist—mechanic parallels the traditionalist of the literature.) The profile pattern may be an artifact or it could reflect modernization of those who manage the daily news. The profiles, coupled with the individual function responses, suggest that the managing editors differ generally in content—level decisions rather than in mechanical concerns and that they generally want to avoid pressures from outside sources, as well as their own internal biases. The editors differentiate between a negative adversarial approach (being an adversary per se) and a more objective adversarial approach (seeing their function to investigate government claims, for example). There is also recognition of reader needs and of the complexity of many stories. Content concerns may become even more important as technological developments remove more production restrictions from news gathering. 232 News—Use Patterns of the Gatekeepers This section summarizes and discusses findings relevant to the news-use patterns of the gatekeepers. Summary In the front pages of 101 of the dailies managed by these gatekeepers the most frequent use of news space was for timely information. Prominence, the news attribute that is associated with name-recognition, was the second highest, and proximity -— the local story -— was allotted the third highest amount of space, around 50 percent. Analysis of the seven attributes indicated that three news—use patterns are appearing among the dailies: 1. a hard-news pattern which emphasizes stories with timeliness and conflict; 2. an interpreter pattern, which emphasizes stories with impact and proximity; and 3. a prominence pattern which emphasizes stories about recognizable, known individuals, issues and institutions. Magnitude loaded strongly with the hard—news pattern and proximity had a strong but negative relationship with hard news. The strength of magnitude might be surprising if one did not consider the sports stories, the disaster stories with damage and injury counts, and the crime stories with dollar amounts that fit these parameters. The negative 233 proximity relationship implies that hard—news use precludes geographic considerations. Magnitude was also strong for the interpreter patterns -- not unusual when financial impact is considered. Oddity had a strong negative relationship with interpreter—type news use. This news pattern obviously would eschew human interest and entertainment content. Four of the attributes had weak negative relationships with prominence: proximity, oddity, conflict and impact, an indication either that an orientation toward prominent— subject stories implies an orientation away from attention to other news values or that prominence stories lack other attributes. Discussion The news—use patterns uncovered in the dailies themselves reflect implications from prior research. Notable is the high use of timely and prominence stories. Timeliness as the most prominent news attribute should not be surprising, especially when the highest agreement among the managing editors was with the function, "get news to the public quickly." Timeliness also has a production convenience; spot or event news is easy to cover because it is finite. Although Atwood’s was the only Q—sort that definitively identified prominence as the preferred attribute, the high use of prominence in this study confirms nearly every study 234 that has examined the newsroom procedures and concluded that the process structures news around those who already have status. (The solitary prominence composite dimension is also somewhat consistent with Badii and Ward’s Q-sort. Their prominence dimension included known and unknown principals.) The studies that examine newsroom procedures conclude that beats are assigned for coverage of the known. The high use of prominence lends credence to the complaints of those who feel the news pages are closed to new and unrepresented groups and issues. The news—use profiles suggest, as Atwood and Badii and Ward had, that magnitude is not an independent attribute. Here it is part of at least two news-use patterns: hard news and interpreter news. The patterns also suggest that hard news precludes geographic considerations. Breaking stories seem to assume an importance unrelated to the audience locale or to issue considerations. In retrospect, impact and proximity are perhaps a compatible grouping, even though proximate stories included only those stories which occurred within the local community. The implication would be that those dailies which have strong local coverage will select nonlocal stories because of the impact or effect these stories will have on the local community. The grouping also suggests that the daily with interpreter news avoids investigation Just because of the activity itself. ' ‘ «Aer H—‘rz'O‘::>I—' ‘2” , - 7 xx»- 235 In other words, investigative activities must have local significance before they will be carried out. This news—use pattern suggests a concern for community needs, whether these needs are acknowledged by the community or not. A bit unsettling, especially in light of the high use of prominence as a solitary attribute, is the exclusivity of the prominence composite profile. Other types of news attributes are not only eliminated, the relationship is negative, suggesting a type of myopia in this news-use pattern. Whether this myopia indicates a lack of initiative or leadership -- staying with the known or the comfortable—— or a blindness to news beyond the recognition factor is conjecture. The 50/50 distribution of proximity as a news attribute by itself is, of course, disappointing to those who feel newspapers should provide local coverage and boosterism. However, it also indicates that choices are being made. Merely being local does not guarantee an event or individual a place on the front page. The relationship between impact news use and the managing editors’ feeling that newspapers have a local purpose (discussed in the next section) suggests that managing editors are deliberately choosing news that is relevant to their readers rather than merely trying to please, as many critics suggest. Among the lesser-used news attributes, conflict should be reexamined here. The low use of conflict stories should papers of using scope of the allay some newspaper criticism that accuses to sell. When the entire sensationalism events and conflict definition is considered -~ sports for example -— the use of sensational news weather extremes, is even less pronounced. of impact and initiative to uncover and to stories is less reassuring. The low use These stories take time explain to the readers. More use of impact stories would support the arguments of those who defend the press and the importance of the news function. Relationship between the News-Use Patterns and the Perceptions of the Function of the News Media Gatekeepers’ This section summarizes and discusses the relationship between the news—use patterns and the gatekeepers’ perceptions of the function of news media. and news-use patterns Summary In spite of the these managing editors, strong profiles no relationship was appearing among the perceptions and the news—use discovered between patterns. appear between the news— Neither did any relationship use patterns and the managing editors’ assessment of the newspaper function in their own words. relationship identified was with the function The only composite and "discuss developing national policy" and its two of the news attributes. Specifically: 237 1. There was a positive relationship with "discuss developing national policy" and the use of conflict stories. This relationship held for the conflict composite: hard— news stories. (The composite interpreter journalist, which is strongly dependent on "discuss developing national policy," also had a positive relationship with conflict story use.) 2. There was a negative relationship with "discuss developing national policy" and the use of local stories. When the managing editors responded in their own words, the use of impact stories was higher for those who said local emphasis was important on dailies in general and for those whose responses fit the "other" category than for those who said information per as was important. Discussion Disappointing from a research standpoint was the finding that no relationship existed between the managing editors’ perceptions of the function of the news media and their news-use patterns. These findings are inconsistent with Altschul’s contentions that news is selected because of value judgments and Gan’s conclusion that background values of the newsperson influence the news. Some immediate explanations are suggested from the data: (1) the sample size was small for multivariate comparison and (2) the managing editors clustered at the 238 extremes for most of the functions, reducing the explanatory power of the perceptions for this population. Even so, when a lack of relationship is so decisive, examination of both the theoretical relationships and the methodology could be fruitful. The sample size has already been mentioned as needing expansion, although the current size was the highest economics would permit. Small samples increase random error and make meaningful multivariate comparisons difficult. In addition, restrictiveness of the measures themselves could limit zero—order correlations. One of these restrictions -— limited boundaries of variation —- applies to both sets of measures: the news attributes and the perceptions-of—theenewspaper functions. For the perceptual variables, the boundaries ranged from 1 to 5. For the news attributes the limits were from zero to 5, restricted by conversion to proportions from the raw news space. Rationale for using the proportional measure is presented on page 93, but the limits of this decision must be acknowledged here. And, as mentioned, the perceptual variables were theoretically further restricted in variability by the responses themselves, which generally clustered at either extreme. A second restriction —— grouping-type responses ~— applies to the perceptual functions only. The news attributes are limited to two decimal places because of computer access, but still have a totally unrestricted 239 continuous distribution, while the five—point Likert—type response have a less than normal shape. Even though this distribution pattern will result in lower correlations between variables, Nunnally emphasizes that when correlations are less than .30, changes in the distribution resulting from group—type responses have little effect. An increase in sample size can increase the correlation because it reduces the standard error, but zero— order correlations among the perceptual and attribute variables are so low that even correction formulas increased the highest zero-order correlation to .24.1 Had the number of response categories been larger, the distribution pattern would have been less of a problem, because a broader range of responses increases the variability and probably the correlation. However the five- point Likert-type response pattern is generally accepted, and broader response patterns often are considered meaningless from a theoretical standpoint, even though they may be preferred mathematically. Speculation would suggest that a scale for the perceptual variables would eliminate both these restrictions.2 A scale, however, would be constrained to unidimensionalitya and would be unable to identify the variety of journalists found here. The composite variables, which are as close to scaling as possible with these data, also suggest that scaling by itself is not a solution to the low correlations. Both composite variable sets are 240 unrestricted on the upper boundary, and the functional composite variables are no longer constrained to the five- point responses. Even so, zero—order correlations among the perceptual and the attribute composite variables were no higher than with the individual variables. Variance may also have been restricted because the news attributes, which combined so nicely, seem to have a theoretical and thus a mathematical relationship by themselves. Several substantial negative relationships appear among the variables. For example, proximity had a strong negative loading with the hard—news components and oddity had a substantial negative loading with the interpreter-news variables. As already noted, the prominence factor was made up entirely of prominence plus negative loadings for four other attributes. One interpretation of these loadings is that use of one type of news dimension will preclude the use of attributes on the others. For example, as already mentioned, a newspaper which tends to select prominence stories will probably run few stories with impact, conflict, proximity and/or oddity as components, or prominence, stories may have few of these attributes. Timely and conflict stories will probably not be local, and impact and/or proximity stories will probably have little oddity or human—interest content. These strong negative relationships suggest that news use will vary without influence of either the managing editor’s perceptions or other non-content considerations, even when the attributes are used singly as dependent variables. Even the composite news dimensions are negatively related. A pattern of interpreter—news use seems to indicate that the daily will have little hard news or few prominence stories on the front page. Although the negative mathematical relationships suggest that the composite news dimensions will not overlap, this explanation for low correlations still cannot exclude lack of influence from other sources, such as the managing editors’ perceptions. The variance remaining to be explained may have been restricted, but the correlations between the attributes and the functions are so low that more than mathematical restrictions must be considered. The possibility must be considered that operational definitions of the functions may have prevented an accurate assessment of the managing editors’ perceptions of the function of newspapers. As with any self-report questionnaire, the wording of each perceptual item could be subject to differing interpretation among the managing editors themselves. Even though newspaper editors can be expected to be "good readers," they may interpret items differently than other editors or than those preparing the original items. Even when interpretation is consistent, responses may be influenced by "social desirability," the managing editors’ perceptions of how they should be expected to feel 242 rather than how they actually feel about newspapers. The questionnaire items referred to newspapers generically; however, there is no way of knowing whether the managing editors were responding to the "ideal" or to the practical day—to-day situation. And the editors could have been referring either to newspapers generically or to their own individual situations. Even so, the problem seems to go beyond both the mathematical properties and the operationalization of the variable and to rest with the predicted theoretical relationship between the functions and the attributes. Because the nonrelationships were so broad and so decisive, it is difficult to point to one predicted relationship and suggest that it should have been different. Although the possibility that a larger sample size might have been useful in uncovering an underlying relationship still must be considered and should be a priority for future research, the low zero—order correlations among the individual functions and the individual news attributes suggest that these particular functions are probably unrelated to news use as defined by the seven attributes. Especially puzzling from a theoretical standpoint was the lack of relationship between timely news and the function, "get news out quickly." Timeliness has the highest news use and "get news out quickly" had the highest agreement among the functions. A lack of variation in both 243 areas suggests independent strength rather than a relationship. The relationship between conflict news and the function, "discuss developing national policy," was unexpected. It could be spurious or could reflect the amount of conflict that precedes a decision in any type of policy making. The negative relationship between this function and local stories is more easily explained: If the daily considers developing national policy important to its readers, the space for purely local material becomes more limited. 0n the surface the lack of a relationship between the reader—oriented composite journalist and prominence stories is puzzling. IE the People Magazine approach is attractive to readers, this journalist might be expected to select prominence-type stories. That this relationship failed to appear suggests that the reader-oriented journalist has a broader perception of audience needs. The relationship between the open—ended local emphasis and impact stories is harder to explain. It could be an artifact of coding or a confirmation of the proximity- impact relationship of the interpreter news—use pattern. More likely, the managing editor who consciously emphasizes local coverage and local-reader needs is going to concentrate on those stories which have an effect on the paper’s readers. Those who subscribe to the broader "information" as the purpose of a daily could be less 244 selective in their news use. "Information" is a rather global term. Managing editors may regard the finding of no relationship betwaen the perceived functions and the news as evidence that they are able to rise above their own biases when selecting from the news. More likely, however, is the conclusion that other variables than those identified here are operating when the news is selected. There had been no prior studies on which to base the predicted relationship. In fact, one rationale for this study was that much of the news selection data had been hypothetical O—sorts. Most prior studies which tested personal characteristics as an influence on news were done with students who are free of the organizational pressures common to the working newsperson. Roshco had suggested, without documentation, that timeliness would be the dominant news value because of deadline frequency and Buckalew identified market size as the predictor of news choice. The editor’s status in the organization made a difference in Clyde & Buckalew’s study. Personal characteristics have not been tested with this population. An examination of the entire daily instead of limiting the analysis to the front page might have different results. Those attributes which appear less frequently on the front page may be more prevalent on the inside pages. Especially for those dailies which have separate "metro" or "city" 245 sections, proximity may be more prevalent overall than indicated in this analysis. However, the front page was selected because of the managing editor’s traditional control. The managing editor’s responsibility for the content of other pages, especially on the larger dailies, might be less direct. Of course the managing editor’s influence on the front page might also be less direct than traditionally assumed. Collective decision making or other responsibilities may intrude on the decision-making influence of this individual. And Trayes, Bennett, Bowers and Donohew all suggest that publishers have contact -- some regular and direct -— with managing editors. There is some evidence that at least on smaller dailies the publisher may be openly active in news decisions. Another consideration is the one-week time frame for the news analyzed. An examination of a sample that spans a longer time period than the composite week analyzed here might also have different results, especially if the managing editor’s influence is more subtle than originally assumed. News from a longer time period might be more likely to expose patterns that could be overlooked in a five-day sample, especially a sample drawn from one thirty- day period. The possibility must also be considered that the news attributes are not differentiating among news patterns in a way that relates to the perceived functions. Except for 246 over-reliance on prominence or a possible sensational bias through conflict use -— a bias 391 found in this study—— none of the news-use patterns can be defended as either "bad" or "good." Other news measures might be more useful in uncovering a relationship. Of course the same could be said about the function statements. The individual functions did not differentiate decisively among the managing editors and there was overlap among the profiles. Other ways of identifying perceptions held by these managing editors might provide more information about differences at the managerial level. Even so, at this point the evidence suggests that there is no direct relationship between the managing editors’ perceptions of the function of a daily and the content of the front page of that editor’s daily. The Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin newspeople perceived that their own news priorities were different from their newspaper’s. Ismach and Dennis found discrepancies in the roles reporters said they played and the role they preferred. And the open-ended responses in this study suggest that perceptions of the function of newspapers in general are not consistent with the function of the local daily. That has to be the conclusion. Whether the difference comes from self-imposed restrictions or other factors, reality does not adhere to the ideal. A newsperson may have a set of principles that are discussible, but reality of the 247 day—to-day news process may dictate that those principles cannot be imposed on the news. Suggestions for Further Research The results of this study suggest many new avenues of explaining and defining media content. Much remains to be done in all three areas: the journalistic profiles, the news content, and identifying variables that explain media content. As already mentioned the stability of the journalistic profiles for managing editors needs to be verified with a larger sample. In addition some sort of scale which allows more breadth in the profiles needs to be developed, and development of functional statements which both differentiate more among the managerial—level personnel and provide a more comprehensive description of newspersons’ perceptions of the function of newspapers would be useful in multivariate exploration. In the news-content areas, redefinition would provide a broader overview of the news pages. A general overview of subject categories on the front pages —— how much space is devoted to education stories, sports, politics, etc.—- would be informative. So would be an analysis of location- - whether the story was local, state, national or international -- and of the reportorial source —— whether staff written, from a news service, from a syndicate, from a public relations agency, etc. Even more interesting would 248 be the informational source of each story: who was the attributed source of the material that was written. Most of these categorical schemes have been used in either small or regional samples. These content analyses would provide a comprehensive picture of the managing editor’s output that could be compared to potential explanatory variables or even to the news attributes themselves. This type of analysis would provide a personality description of news. Another useful analysis of the existing data would be an attempt to identify the properties of complex or multi- attribute stories. This type of analysis would answer questions such as, "Are prominence stories void of the other attributes or is this news-use pattern the result of the news selection process?" The news dimension profiles hint at complexities but the analysis was on individual attributes rather than the individual stories. Replication of the entire study with a larger sample is almost required if the nonrelationships are to be verified. Replication with other personal 'philosophical variables is essential. On the surface the lack of relationship between personal philosophy and news output may be reassuring, because the conclusion is that personal predispositions do not influence the news. But if absolutely no relationship exists between personal principles and news use, those who study ethics and public service would find the implications horrifying. 249 The literature suggests that other influences on the gatekeeper affect news choice. These influences should be identified and tested against the attributes or other measures of news content. These influences should also be examined carefully for possible interaction with philosophical variables. Several variables with potential for explaining news content have already been identified in the literature and suggest others. These variables group logically into four areas: First the news organization itself: circulation is an obvious choice, as is ownership, staff size, time of publication and news service subscriptions. Less concrete variables such as management style and budget totals would be useful if the organization would cooperate. As news organizations go public, these budget figures may be more readily available. Second, the external environment of the news organization: city size is obvious; economic health of the community, educational level and age of the population, intermedia competition and even the industrial profile are readily measurable and could affect the news. Third, demographics of the gatekeeper him or herself would also be of interest. Education, age, professional age, sex, race, political preference, community affiliations and professional affiliations are only a few of the personal variables that could affect the managing editor’s news use. Also of interest would be media exposure of the gatekeeper -— a variable which may answer some questions about intermedia dependency. A fourth category would be the gatekeeper’s perception of the audience. Although an instrument would have to be developed, this information would be interesting both from an explanatory viewpoint and when compared with actual community data. Addendum This study has identified six managing editors and three news-use patterns among the dailies in the United States. Although failure to find a link between these journalists and their news use is disappointing, this study has identified theoretical relationships on both sides of the model and suggested a moderate relationship between two concepts. A brief summary of the findings is not only useful but theoretically encouraging. Among the managing editors, the findings: 1. supported two journalistic profiles found among the entire population of journalists by earlier researchers: the interpreter and the advocate; 2. discovered a "manager" type profile: a reader- oriented businessperson; 3. diluted the "mirror" traditionalist of earlier studies of the entire population of journalists; ‘ ‘ ‘- WffiszTs'r' \ esf' ‘f‘r 251 4. supported: a. an overall rejection of acknowledged bias in perceiving the functions of newspapers, and b. a consensus that speed is important overall in the news process; and 5. discovered that in open-ended responses local emphasis was the most frequently mentioned function of the local daily and "information" the most frequently mentioned for newspapers in general. Among the news-use patterns on the managing editors’ front pages, the findings: 1. identified three news use patterns: hard-news, interpreter-news and prominence-news use; 2. identified timeliness as most important in front page news, followed by prominence and then proximity; 3. diluted the perception that conflict (or sensational) news is the mainstay of the press and also the more lofty perception that impact in news use can be a rationale for press privileges; and 4. supported: a. prominence as an independent attribute and b. magnitude as lacking independent qualities. From a relational standpoint, the findings: 1. suggested that "discuss developing national policy" as a professional philosophy is related to conflict as a news attribute; and 252 2. suggested that proximity and/or a belief in local service and impact news use are related. The many influences on the news are still unexplored, but perhaps the results of this investigation can provide the groundwork that can be developed into a comprehensive model which explains the process that produces the news. ENDNOTES 1For 5 categories with cases as the interval midpoint in the independent and a continuous dependent variable, the correction factor is .943 (Guilford, 1965, p. 352-3). 2Pollock attempted a Guttman scale to identify the "examiner." With a coefficient of reproducibility of .78, his scale has four items and is based on agreement with "investigate government claims and statements" and disagreement with the three traditionalist functions. (His population was foreign correspondents in Latin America.) 3When Johnstone, Slawski and Bowman created scales to compare their journalists, they had two, one for each professional orientation uncovered by the factor analysis. For Weaver and Wilhoit this number became three for the same reason. APPENDICES APPENDIX A APPENDIX A THE PRETEST The pretest had two parts: 1. a pretest of the instrument to assess the gatekeeper perceptions of the function of newspapers and 2. a pretest of the coding scheme for categorizing the news stories. Pretest of the Instrument The pretest of the instrument had two goals: 1. to assess the form itself, both for content and for length and 2. to revaluate predictions of the gatekeeper profiles (see Chapter IV). A sample of 15 had been agreed upon. In order to increase the response rate quickly, the questionnaire was sent to a sample of 20. The pretest sample was selected in two stages. First, five states were selected randomly’from a list of 50 states. Second, within each of the five states a sample of five newspapers was selected randomly. The first four newspapers from each state were to receive the questionnaire and the 254 255 fifth was held as an alternate in case someone actively refused (as opposed to simply failing to respond). The two-step sampling method was used in order to avoid selecting all 15 newspapers from one state and in effect being unable to use much of that state in a national sample for the final project. The questionnaire had two parts. The first was 15 statements about the function of the news media (see p. 86). A 16th statement was added on the follow—up mailing: this item was the "practical information for everyday living" item mentioned on p. 88. Items were ordered by random numbers with one exception. Item #10, regarding financial needs, was actually #1 and was moved because of the potential bias toward the rest of the items if a financial question began the questionnaire. The second part of the questionnaire asked for open— ended responses about the function of the news media and the specific newspaper being surveyed. It also asked for demographic data. The open—ended responses were to be used to add to, delete or modify the original 16 statements. Results of the Pretest of the Instrument ‘For the first mailing, six individuals responded. A follow-up generated three more but one was not usable because the editor returned the wrong questionnaire. Before the follow—up mailing was sent, three changes were made in 256 the questionnaire: 1. the 16th item (mentioned on p. 2 of Appendix A) was added; 2. a spelling error was corrected; 3. the fifth item, one from the Janowitz study, was reworded as indicated on p. 87; comments from respondents indicated they either didn’t understand the original wording or that they were distracted by the wording itself. Except for the changes mentioned above, the instrument seemed to work as it was supposed to. Length of the 16 items did not seem to be a problem. Length may have been a problem for the open—ended questions. One editor mentioned that time did not permit a comprehensive discussion of the news media function and another ignored the question entirely. No new items were generated by the open—ended questions. Complete responses end this appendix. Therefore, no additional items were added to the Likert—type items. Results of the pretest are tabulated below in Table 44. Because of the small sample size, no multivariate analysis 1 was attempted. ~' Three wording changes were made after the pretest: 1. Item #5 — the wording was changed from "eliminating" the mystique to "minimizing" the mystique. Rationale: The word "minimizing" is more in keeping with reality. The mystique that surrounds community leaders can never be completely "eliminated." Respondents who 257 returned the second version of the pretest questionnaire did not indicate any problem with this item. 2 Item #10 - the wording was changed from "It is important for the media to attract an audience to maintain advertising" to "It is important for the media to structure content in ways that maximize readership attractive to advertisers." Rationale: The original wording, with which all the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed, did not differentiate and did not convey the intent of the item. The item was intended to identify those who felt an active or conscious effort to please advertisers was necessary. The new wording conveys this intent without implying any breach of ethics. 3. In all items - the word "media" in "it is important for the media" was changed to "newspapers." Rationale: The study deals with newspaper editors and their perceptions of the function of newspapers. The new wording reflects this specifically. The word "media" or (an alternative) "news media" is more general and would be difficult to interpret for this population. In addition, the demographics were moved to precede the open-ended questions and the open-ended questions were preceded by "If you have time . . .". This change was made to encourage those to whom the open-ended questions represent more of a time commitment than they are willing to donate to the questionnaire per se. 258 Both open-ended questions were restructured for clarity and to reflect the emphasis on newspapers. The new wording is in Appendix C. Copies of the questionnaire used in pretesting follow this text. Table 44 Pretest Response to Likert-type Questionnaire Items Item: SA A IB D SD NA news for widest possible 7,1,3 public 2,8 4,5 6 discuss developing 2,3,5 national policy 1,4 7,8 6 entertain/relax 1,2,3 4,6,7 5,8 avoid story if cannot verify 7,8 5 2,3,4 1,6 demystify local leaders 7,8 2,3,4 5 1,6 get information out quickly 1,2 5,6,7 8 3,4 investigate government 1,2,3 claims 4,7,8 5,6 build local traditions 3,6 and identifications 7,8 1,4 2,5 develop intellectual and 1,2, cultural interests 8 7,3,4 ‘ 5 6 attract advertising audience 1,2 5,7,8 3,4,6 be skeptical of public 1.3 4.5.8 2 6f officials interpret external events 1,2,3 4,5,7 8 6 to community analyze and interpret 1,2,3 4,5,7 8 6 complex problems (continued) J 259 Table 44 (continued) Item SA A IB D SD NA emphasize community values 1 6,7 3,4,8 2,5 and interests be skeptical of businesses 4,8 provide practical 7,8 information* The numbers represent ID numbers, NOT frequencies, and were used to attempt to discern patterns of responses. *This item was not on the first pretested form. Table 45 Demographics of Pretest Respondents Population Circulation ID Number Age of Community* in Thousands 1. 35 36.6 24 2. 33 18.2 8.7 3. 33 108.7 57.5 4. 40 9 7.6 5. 39 168 44.4 6. 75 14.5 8.2 7. 76 12.7 10 8. 55 3.7 11.8 *Population is from Editor & Publisher Yearbook for the community base listed and is in thousands. 260 The demographics in Table 45 indicate that the pretest instrument reached a sample with some diversity. An informal comparison of the demographics with the responses did not uncover any particular relationship. Predictions of the gatekeeper profiles are discussed in Chapter IV. Pretest of the Coding Scheme The pretest of the coding scheme involved a nonrandom sample of 23 front pages from 7 dailies. Procedures followed were similar to those discussed under ”Coding" in the text, but the coding pretest attempted to find the most efficient and most useful (in terms of information) method of identifying the news attributes. Therefore, procedures were adjusted during the pretest until the final procedures were determined. Substantive changes are noted in the text. Specific major changes included adding "smallness" to the magnitude definition, dropping "visual" as an attribute, and completely revamping the method used to mathematically determine the overall profile of the front page. Sampling Changes as a Result of the Pretest As discussed under "Sampling," the newspapers were stratified by circulation rather than by population of the base city. Pretest information confirmed that circulation can be either greater or smaller than the newspaper’s base 261 of publication. Circulation is a better indicator of newspaper influence than the city size. As a result of the pretest sampling, the decision was made to define circulation of the newspaper and population of the newspaper’s base community by using those figures cited in Editor & Publisher Yearbook. These figures will be consistent for all of the dailies and will reflect what the newspaper itself considers population base and circulation (which should be ABC verified for all but the smallest dailies) rather than an arbitrary cut-off point used without any knowledge of the local area. Because of the pretest response rate, the decision was made to oversample by 50 percent. 262 Pretest: Letter 1 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ODLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION ARTS AND SCIENCE PHD. "MILAN IN THE MASS MEDIA EAST LANSING ' MICHIGAN - «AM Many people today have ideas about how the media should function and what role the media should play. But no one is asking you —- the journalist -— what that role should be. That's what this questionnaire is all about. If you can spare about ten minutes, we'd like to know how you feel about the many roles the media seem to be playing today. Your opinions will help provide insight into the feelings many journalists have about the media and their function. Your newspaper has been carefully selected to represent the many dailies in the country. 323 were asked to respond because you probably decide regularly what general news goes into your newspaper -- especially the front page. f someone else on your newspaper is the one responsible for your front page content, please pass this questionnaire on to him or her. It is very important that the person on your newspaper who,is most responsible for news decisions about the front page complete this questionnaire. - So, please, give us about ten minutes. There are no right or wrong answers and no person or publication will be connected to any specific answers. We just want to know how you feel. Thank you for your help. You should find a stamped, addressed envelope to return the completed questionnaire. dially, Janet A. Bridges % 1701 Drake Drive Commerce TX 75428 (214) 886-4703 Yes, the addresses are correct. I am in the Mass Media Ph.D. program at Michigan State University but make my home in Commerce Texas where I teach on an adjunct basis at East Texas State University. Pretestx Letter 2 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLECE OF COMML'MCA'DON ARTS AND SCIENCES LAST LANSING - MICHIGAN - 6.5.24 PHD. "MEAN LN THE MASS MEDLA I'm sure that when the story of the hostage crisis broke you had many obligations with a much higher priority than completing a questionnaire on the function of the media. Do you remember receiving a letter and questionnaire about your feelings about the role the media should play in today's world? If you noticed it at all, you probably put the questionnaire in a pile of other "obligations" and are only now beginning to sort through the buildup. - At least I hope the questionnaire reached your desk. It left here about three weeks ago. I know you are busy, but if the questionnaire didn‘t reach you —- or if it has been mislaid —— would you please try to find ten minutes to complete this new copy? Your answers are needed for our project because you are unique, yet you are still representative of others on newspapers very similar to yours. And we need to know how vou feel about the media and its functions. Your newspaper was carefully selected to represent the many dailies in this country. You were asked to respond because you probably are the person who decides regularly what general news goes into your newspaper and on the front page. If someone else on your newspaper is the one responsible for your front page content, please pass this questionnaire on to him or her. It is very important that the person on your newspaper who is most responsible for news decisions about the front page complete this questionnaire. Yes, we have been receiving responses to the questionnaire. BUT, we need yours. Please take ten :inutes, circle the responses which best represent vour views. insert the questionnaire in the envelope and put it in the mail. Thank you for your help. A stamped, addressed envelope should be enclosed. C dially. Janet A. Bridges Yes, as we told you, the addresses are correct. I am in the Mass Media Ph.D. program at Michigan State University but make my home in Commerce Texas where I teach on an adjunct basis at East Texas State University. MSU- an ‘v',’ " —. 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What do you feel is your function here? Vould you please tell us a little about yourself? How many years have you worked in the news business? ___——————— Do you hold a college degree? What was your field or major? Please give your age your race your sex Your newspaper is (title) Thank you for your help. Please place the completed questionnaire in the enclosed envelope and send it back to us. If your envelope has become separated from the questionnaire, please mail the completed questionnaire to: Janet A. Bridges 1701 Drake Drive Commerce TX 75428 267 Open-ended Responses to Pretest Questionnaire The questions had two forms: "General": "If you had a chance, how would you describe the function of the media if the world were an ideal? Please write a few lines in the space below." "Yours": "How would you describe your newspaper’s role in your community? What do you feel is your function here?" 01: 02: 03: General: Function would be to clearly and fairly report information that is newsworthy, educational or entertaining and to explain to the public how those things are going to affect their lives. Yours: Our role in the community is to reach a real understanding of what is happening in our community and then report it to our readers. This holds true for governmental reporting, education, leisure, sports and the arts. General: Ideally, the media would provide the public with an accurate picture of what’s happening in the world. The press would function as a reliable, trusted source of news that the public could utilize in making informed decisions. Yours: The newspaper’s role in the community is to keep its readers informed on local, state, national and international events, particularly events that have a bearing on their lives. The newspaper also is responsible for putting the news in perspective and explaining its significance when possible. My job, in concert with other editors, is to pick the best stories and art of the day. Those stories should affect or be of interest to the largest possible segment of our readers. General: Can’t be answered within 10—minute time limit or this space. Yours: 1. Report news of interest and importance in the community. 2. Provide a forum for an exchange of ideas. 3. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. 04: 05: 06: 07: 08: 268 General: Tell all the truth, all the time. Yours: Balanced function of informing, criticizing and cheerleading. General: To inform, explain and analyze in a way that allows the publication to hold a mirror to the world and the viewer to recognize the picture. Yours: Same. General: NY Times & NBC or little Tennessee daily or weekly? Yours: Gather and print news -— not be a sorehead—— certainly not claim to be God, as do some (too many) Press Conference Reporters. General: Compliment individuals or forces making ideal situations, but would warn how disaster can strike. Emphasize correct steps in maintaining good situation. Yours: A watchman —- a voice of information and an opportunity for the public to be heard. NA . . 5.s. - 9"! APPENDIX B D Alabama, Anniston — Florence - Scottsboro Alaska, Fairbanks Ketchikan Arizona, Bisbee ~- Flagstaff Arkansas, Jonesboro California, Antioch Camarillo Eureka -- La Habra Lodi —- L Palo Alto Ridgecres Santa An Tulare —— Vista -— Walnut Cr APPENDIX B AILIES IN THE PROJECT - The Anniston Star - Times Daily - The Daily Sentinel ~- Daily News-Miner -- Ketchikan Daily News Bisbee Daily Review -— The Arizona Daily Sun*# -- The Jonesboro Sun -- Daily Ledger -- The Camarillo Daily News Times Standard -— (Orange County) Daily Star—Progress odi News—Sentinel —— Times-Tribunett t —- The Daily Independent 8 -— (Orange County) The Orange County Register Advance—Register Vista’s Morning Press eek -- Contra Costa Times 269 270 Appendix B Colorado, Denver —- Rocky Mountain News Montrose -- The Montrose Daily Press Salida -- The Mountain Mail Connecticut, Milford -- Milford Citizen New Haven -- New Haven Register Florida, Homestead -— South Dade News Leader Orange Park —- Clay Today Punta Gorda -— Charlotte Herald—News Georgia, Americus -— Americus Times-Recorder** Gainesville —~ The Times Valdosta -- Valdosta Daily Times Illinois, Decatur -— Herald & Review Jacksonville -— Jacksonville Journal Courier Indiana, Evansville —- The Evansville Press Frankfort -- The Times Greencastle —- Banner Graphic Lebanon —— The Reporter Iowa, Marshalltown ~~ Times-Republican Vinton -~ Cedar Valley Times Kansas, Hiawatha -- The Hiawatha Daily World Kentucky, Madisonville —- The Messenger Louisiana, Morgan City -- The Daily Review Maryland, Easton -- The Star-Democrat*t Rockville —- The Montgomery Journal Massachusetts, Marlborough —— Marlboro Enterprise .vw, . ’ ' ' ;;‘_i' _-,'>_}§'&-1i1:3 ,3 \zu -, . V _ > g, . , _ _ _ A , _ g , 7 _ 1 271 Appendix E Michigan, Ann Arbor -- The Ann Arbor News Big Rapids —- The Pioneer Cheboygan -— Cheboygan Daily Tribune Flint -- The Flint Journal Iron Mountain -- The Dailleews Lansing -- The State Journal South Haven —- South Haven Daily Tribune Minnesota, Crookston —- Crookston Daily Times Mississippi, Natchez -— The Natchez Democrat Missouri, Flat River —— The Daily Journal St. Joseph —- St. Joseph Gazette St. Louis —— St. Louis Post—Dispatch Nevada, Las Vegas -— Las Vegas Review-Journal** New Hampshire, Lebanon (White River Junction Vermont)—— Valley News Portsmouth —- The Portsmouth Herald New Mexico, Albuquerque -- The Albuquerque Tribune New York, Hornell -- The Evening Tribune Medina —- The Journal-Register Port Jervis —- The Tri—State Gazette Rochester —- Democrat and Chronicle Rochester -~ Times-Union Rome —- Daily Sentine1** Utica -— The Daily Press 272 Appendix B North Carolina, Greensboro -- Greensboro News & Record Lumberton -- The Robesonian Winston-Salem -— The Sentinel** North Dakota, Fargo (Moorehead Minnesota) —— The Forum Jamestown -- The Jamestown_Sun Ohio, Ashland —- Ashland Times—Gazette Canton -- The Repository Celina -— The Daily Standard Columbus -— Columbus Citizen Journa1** Findlay -- The Courier Kenton -- Kenton Times Oklahoma, Durant - The Durant Daily Democrat Idabel —- McCurtain Daily Gazette Lawton —— The Lawton Constitution Oregon, Baker -— Democrat-Herald Coos Bay -— The World Ontario —- Daily Argus Observer Pennsylvania, Chambersburg -- Public Opinion Clearfield —— The Progress Franklin -- The News—Herald Lehighton -— The Times News Meadville -- The Meadville Tribune Reading —— Reading Eagle Ridgway —— The Ridgway Record Uniontown -- Herald-Standard Warren -— Warren Times Observer 273 Appendix B Rhode Island, Woonsocket -- The Woonsocket Call South Carolina, Columbia —- The Columbia Record South Dakota, Watertown -- Watertown Public Opinion Texas, Baytown -- The Baytown Sun** Corpus Christi —- Corpus Christi Caller** Dallas -— The Dallas Morning News Edinburg -- The Edinburg Daily Review Greenville -- The Herald Banner Houston -- The Houston Post San Marcos -- San Marcos Daily Record Virginia (Virginia/Tennessee), Bristol -- Bristol Herald Courier Lynchburg —- The Daily Advance Newport News -- The Times—Herald Wisconsin, Beaver Dam -— Daily Citizen Fond du Lac —- The Reporter Racine —— The Journal Times West Virginia, Charleston —— The Charleston Gazette Fairmont -- The Times West Virginian *tDaily was not included in news analysis. APPENDIX C 274 APPENDIX C QUESTIONNAIRE AND CODING FORMS Appendix C contains the questionnaire, four letters, and coding forms used in this study. Coding forms for the content analysis are for one day only but are identical to the forms used for other days. Extra sheets with a similar format were used to code stories which did not fit in the allotted daily space. '7 3‘.;;_;..3,'.. ;»,;_ , 275 Letter #1 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION ARTS AND SCIENCES EAST LANSING ' MICHIGAN - PHD. PROGRAM IN THE MASS MEDIA Many people today have ideas about how newspapers should function and what role newspapers should play. But no one is asking you - the journalist —— what that role should be. That's what this questionnaire is all about. If you can spare about 10 minutes, we'd like to know how you feel about the many roles newspapers seem to be playing today. Your opinion will help provide insight into the feelings many journalists have about newspapers and their function. YOur newspaper has been carefully selected to represent the many dailies in the country. You were asked to respond because you probably decide regularly~ what general news goes into your newspaper -— especially the front page. If someone else on your newspaper is the one responsible for your front page content, please pass this questionnaire on to him or her. It is very important that the person on your newspaper who is most responsible for news decisions about the front page complete this questionnaire. So, please, give us about 10 minutes. There are no right or wrong answers and no person or publication will be connected to any specific answers. We just want to know how you feel. Thank you for your help. You should find a stamped, addressed envelope to return the completed questionnaire. Cordially, ‘2 {I arr/QC??? , /Janet A. Bridges ~/’ 1701 Drake Drive Commerce TX 75428 (214) 886-4703 Yes, the addresses are correctt I am in the Mass Media Ph.D. program at Michigan State University but make my home in Commerce Texas where I teach on an adjunct basis at East Texas State University. MSU i: an Affirmative Anion/Equal Opportunity Institution 276 Letter #2 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSYTY (‘01,! 5'0} OF COMMUNICATION ARTS AND HIIPINCI'ZS FAST LANSING ‘ MICHIGAN ' 488:! PH.” PROGRAM IN 1le MASS MEDIA Please help us find out how journalists think newspapers should function. Do you remember receiving a letter with a questionnaire asking about the role newspapers should play in today's world? At least I hope the questionnaire reached your desk. It left here about three weeks ago. I know you are busy. But if the questionnaire has been mislaid —— or if it didn't reach you -— would you please try to find ten minutes to complete this new copy? Yes we have been receiving responses to this questionnaire. But we need yours. Your answers are needed because you are unique, yet you are still representative of others on newspapers very similar to yours. Your newspaper was carefully selected to represent the many dailies in this country. You were asked to respond because you probably are the person who decides regularly what general news goes on the front page of your newSpaper. If someone else on your newspaper is the one responsible for your front page content, please pass this questionnaire on to him or her. It is very important that the person on your newspaper who is most responsible for news decisions about the front page complete this questionnaire. Please, take ten minutes and circle the responses which best represent your views. Thank you for your help. A stamped, addressed envelope for ‘the completed questionnaire should be enclosed. ially, n anet A. Bridges (214) 886—4703 Yes, the addresses are correct. I am in the Mass Media Ph.D. program at Michigan State University but make my home in Commerce Texas where I teach on an adjunct basis at East Texas State University. MM.) is an A/limative Admin/Equal ()ppm-tunn‘y Inxlilulinw Letter #3 277 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSLTY In] I lv(.|- l)!‘ (HAHII‘NIIA HH.N AHI\ AND .5! II'NCI’S \ Iv'\.\l LANSINO ‘ \IIL'IIKIAN ' IHK.‘ I'II.I) I'IUKJLAM IN I'III- MAS) \lI-I)I.v\ I wish there were some way to convince you how important your opinion is to our project. That's why I'm writing you again. If you remember my other two letters, we are trying to find out how journalists think newspapers should function. A lot of journalists have answered, but your opinion is still needed. Why? Your newspaper was selected through a scientific sampling procedure to represent the many dailies in this country. You are being asked to answer because you are probably the person who decides regularly what general news goes on the front page of your newspaper. If you are 323 the person responsible for the front—page content on your newspaper, please pass this questionnaire on to the person who is responsible. It is very important that the person on your newspaper who is most responsible for news decisions about the front page complete this questionnaire. I assure you that neither you nor your newspaper will be associated with any comments or answers you provide. There are no right or wrong answers. We only want your opinion. I know you are busy. But please, if you have mislaid the original questionnaire, take ten minutes now and circle the responses on this new copy. A stamped, addressed envelope for the completed questionnaire should be enclosed. Thank you for your help. Cordially, I “.”.,f/ Laws {—3 'Janet A. Bridges (214) 886- 4703 Please don't let the addresses confuse you. I am in the Mass Media Ph.D. program at Michigan State University but make my home in Commerce Texas where I teach on an adjunct basis at East Texas State University. M \I l n .m sl/Itrmallm- Arlmn ([5:1qu - )n'mrltm-W Iii-”Null"!!! 278 Letter #1} MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSYTY EAST LANSING ' MICHIGAN - 48824 COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION ARTS AND SCIENCES PHI). PROGRAM IN THE MASS MEDIA Thank you for agreeing on the telephone to complete our questionnaire about the perceptions journalists have about newspapers and their function. As you requested, I am sending another copy of the questionnaire for you. Please circle the responses which best represent your view. Then place the completed questionnaire in the enclosed stamped, addressed envelope and return it. As I mentioned in earlier letters, neither you nor your newspaper will be associated with any comments or answers you provide. There are no right or wrong answers. we want your opinion. Thank you for your help. Cordially, ([vd’Vfl 4%? anet A. Bridges (214) 886-4703 MSU it an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 279 ww¢c_A >wu.u can zo___o o— wwwnauzo¢~w munc(m_n wax_um wwmu< muzm z. >guz:u»m m;o_~u< u_u;_ no 4zo< z< mm c» maug¢mm1w2 «Cu ~z<_u0n1_ m_ —_ .m~ wuzo4c201»m z. >4czcawm .>__z:izoo u:~ z. mstumzcu .o 44>‘_ :;_2 < m. was:_ :o_:\ to m_mgaw_z_ oz: mu=a<> uxp m~_m<:azw c. waweaamxuz neg _z<_xcgz_ m. ~_ .3— wwxc4azoupm z. >4czox—m v .mzuanoaa xwaazoo no :o_~aaz< wa~>oua ck neua4020¢~w wwxc4020:»w .>__z::zco saves w:_ c» m_zu>w auaw¢ _wuanw_z_ o» mauaaumxw: go. pzaaacar_ m. p. .N_ wwxa(m_a wwaoJozozum z_ >Juzoz»m .mzo_—u< x_wz_ no 4(u__mw.m >a_z<_mzou oz_um >n ma<_u_uuo u_aa=¢ ac >xamzw>n< 2‘ we o. uxwaaamxwz sou _za_xoax_ m. __ _a— wuzo«m_a ww¢o40zoapm z_ >4ozozhm .mzwm_»zw>a< o. u>_.o4920mhm wwuoJuzcn»m .u_4n:a at. no w—muxm.z_ 4(33—439 D:< Jwn a» man_:::a_m uumoau:ou_a .aeoa :_u_z_.1 oga c..:; c. vacucawr.: you _z._aor1_ w. __ .r wwasau:oa.n ._:w:zaw>ou u;— >n moat m_zuru_<_n o:< w1_asu w__onu_m :_ >4czo-hn .vaxu_=o u_4n:u w:— o_ zo__«za0u:_ _wc o. wauaaamxuz so. _x<_aoaz_ m. »_ .m wuaa.c:0¢_m _._ >au=0¢—u .mzwa__z=::ou moz30uzzm _«z_ u:a__m.z w:_ J:_~_:_=_: >a Baa—u:x_w .<.gom Jaan uz— o~=_ aaaa_>_=:_ u:— w_ancw_:_ a.u= o. wuwa<¢uxwz sou .x-bcou:_ a. ._ .m wuzc.o::x_m z. >4on¢_u .aw___¢u> we _o::¢u .2u—20u 4<:_u<_m c— muug.¢:Oa_w z. >4o:O¢—n .zo__01a a» wuuazau:3u_n .._ >Jo:Ox_m .auuaau>ua oz_um 44_»m w_ __ ”4.x: >u_dom Jss=o=_m z_ sauzou_m .u_4m:a wan—mac; —wua.x w:— 0. among—:— no m. . 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A- e- 1’ ‘ssue No of Print :3 Coder Jo-Jag—Yr CCIJHE“ Der‘n ‘ I12, (I #17: tory ID I2; /(;- /7I ”VI /'7 :10 5231 123 .251 QS’I .QL I371? .eng’ch ”9’17 3541' (unruzu-ZSI (26-27)Ize-29,(30.L~/3I31(32.33I:_1-.1) (M_1-\ ()R.1QI\- ii In. ham—u- as) Inches (Hundredth: . I id‘th (alumna-5)) H»-5‘“<9-91‘ (52-65>M6-"7; (7o— '13 «7A 77°)I (e -¢)uo-n) (1n-17,'[;-_,«._. I22.?§)dzt.29V Columns 8’ 99-5 (Tenths) (VJ? (11.71 xix—in'i‘J-«l‘ “.7.“ 4.5.37) :ug.5o\(5i.n) (5&-_'~t‘.($"-5’H Ibo—or (1)—119‘ (06-65)(ba.91\ Proximity I (72) (73) (7“) (ZgJB IE; 4(77 (D) (9) (10) (All (12) (I?) I1“; (I?) Prominence Dup g'5 15) (1mm?) (19) I20) (21) I72) (23) (c4) (dai (25} (277 (2:) “w Timeliness (30) (31) (32) (33) (3“) I351 IJOT I (387 (33} (“CI (“T7 (‘44:) W Impact (34) (5:) (“5; I4// (44 Key) (:0) IEII 56) I53) (5‘) (Ks; (30' Magnitude I50) I59) (00) (b1) (ca) TbJ) «b»; (55; (0c) (07) (05) (by (70) ..LY Conflict I72) I73) I74) k7§gé8(9g7 I7’ I5} (9) (IO) I11) (12) (17) I1“) I Oddity “ ' Lib) (IN I16 119) (40) (11} T47) (U) (2. (25; {4h} 1m (25) (m Art V [30) (31) (32) 33) (3“) I357 307 37 (35) (39) (“0) (“1) (U7) Ififij‘ Comments Coding Form: 283 Content Analysis -- Back-up Coder {I I' " ‘lamc of Eraser 1.“) _.- _‘ 5:. ’2‘ 7 IS’u‘? Code“ 3'O—_2 I-Year / / ,—~ I k \3 / (IEJ BK) ‘j " Stor/ I? I I I fir I I — I/>I/é /7 A? ,L, 24;: (1.23IQI4,;S 24. .27 24» I I I I I I I . I , I ' I ' r . I Proximity I I I I I ‘ . I i (“*1 IN) I~:)II-»7) TM) Iw) Raw (3»; Ina; m, n; Prominence I IJW ”I I I , I (58) (55) 00) (61) (o?) (03) (EU? 0:) (06) (b. )I(Oh) va) 7GJ‘I‘7) Timeliness I ? I I I I (H) I7); (/--I Upr (‘3) z) NI NO; (LLJI(LZI .ITJ,‘ I”, If? 33393“ I ! Impact DI I I (16) (lo) (19) (20) I2l) (22) I(23) (75) I26,I(27) Ian) (5m ,I «"7 ;-f Marnitude \' I - ()4),(322 (EBIVIBM (35) UL) (37) 33) (39) (“0)!(41) I19) (33, if) 3' ,, Conflict J I I #735877 '47) (ha) (no) (so) (51) (52) (53) (5‘4) (55) (56) <57) 7,, a“ ,, Oddity >1 "WW I'Iso) (61) (62) (63) (6MII65) (66) (67) (68) (6°) (7m (71) RM "2‘3 ' I 79-8 -lI Comments I I l ? APPENDIX D APPENDIX D OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS AND CODER NEWS ATTRIBUTES: INSTRUCTIONS General Coder Instructions so corrections will be IMP: Please use a soft pencil possible. Do not code in ink. folder, not the other coding 1. Fill in the ID from the forms. 2. Check the flax on the newspaper with the 93x on the Use Monday’s form for Monday papers, Tuesday’s coding form. form for Tuesday papers, 3. Record the date from the paper itself. the codes are as follows: For each news dimension, etc. 4. l - the dimension is present 2 — the dimension is absent 9 - missing data, because of some missing or unclear item, the presence or absence of the dimension is not codable. Check the story numbers against the numbers on the form. 5. Each story is boxed and numbered in red. 6. When finished, be sure the number of stories coded matches the number of stories marked on the newspaper. or dimension is brought out on an If a new element dimension as present. Code 7. unless the inside inside page, do not code this information from the front page only 284 does NOT become proximate the story and/or to understanding material is essential to the story. Proximity events or institutions Proximity concerns "people, and in the immediate coverage area" (Ryan Tankard, p. 105). This is the local story about locals. In order to define the local area so a cut-off point is clear and consistent, the following apply: 1. If the Editor & Publisher Yearbook indicated that a newspaper serves more than one city, the E&P listing is considered the local base. 2. The local base is the city or cities of record plus a geographic area which extends no more than 30 miles from a physical spot considered the center of the local area. If questions arise about the boundaries. measure the 30 miles on a map. 3. Local angles, as opposed to local sub'ects, are evidence of impact (see below). A sidebar for a nonlocal story with local impact could have a local subject and would therefore be "proximate," but the main story would not. Specific decisions made during coding: If a topic or program is being broadcast on a television station received locally, that topic or program if the topic or program had not been proximate before. If a city is the county seat and no place for action by a county body is noted, the assumption is that the action took place in the county seat and is therefore proximate. If a city is the state capital and a state action is noted without noting a place for the action, the assumption is that the action took place in the state capital and is therefore proximate. Coders disagreed on proximity (and therefore the score will eventually be the mean) about movie reviews. Is the story proximate if the story doesn’t mention the movie is playing locally but ads indicate the movie is playing? If a story seems to have a local tone (a judgment) and the firm or institution mentioned was not identified as local, telephone information was asked for a local listing. the story is coded as If a local number was available, proximate. Clues for nonlocal stories (judgments —— for follow-up) are datelines, explaining the location of the story within the story itself, and use of the community name in the headline. W Timeliness concerns recent or immediate-future happenings-~the breaking, hard news as opposed to "soft" or indefinite future news. Timeliness is generally event—oriented. For coding purposes a timely story is one which occurred or (for a follow-up story) for which the original 287 event occurred no more than 48 hours before the story. For example, a feature about a murder victim on Thursday would be timely for a Tuesday murder but not for a Monday murder. This definition eliminates stories on which the interview itself is timely because the interview occurred within the 48 hours before publication even though the subject/event did not. For future stories the same rule applies. To be considered timely simply because the event is in the future, the event will have to be scheduled no more than 48 hours after the story was run. If an announcement or press conference concerns an event in the indefinite future and the announcement/press conference is made within 48 hours of the story, the story is coded as having timeliness as an attribute. This working definition of 48 hours gives the concept of timeliness a time limit of a working week (five days): two days before the story, the day of the story, and two days after the story. This definition excludes soft news that is made relevant because an event has its yearly anniversary and the newspaper checked on the lives of the participants, etc. A good writer can make any information timely; this definition focuses on the event itself -- the hard news. If a new event or new twist occurs on a continuing story, the 48-hour period begins again. For example, a crime could be the first event; an arrest or discovery of ‘— $W—+_k¥_~$;¥&;,ii . , I RA; ,,' , 288 new evidence would be considered a second event. A trial would be a new event, as would sentencing, even though both involved an "old" crime. A new angle or attempt to extend the "old" news would not be considered a new event. Something tangible, something concrete must happen before timeliness can be considered an attribute. Specific decisions made during coding: Some major events have identifiable time frames even though the time frame is not mentioned in the story. These known time frames should be considered when deciding whether timeliness is present or not. If the time element is missing and there is no prior knowledge, no timeliness is coded. Style is a problem with timeliness. If Wednesday’s paper said an event happened on "Wednesday" rather than "today," the assumption will be that this is a style error unless other information indicates that the story happened a week ago. Check carefully for other information. Coders disagreed on timeliness (and therefore the score will eventually be the mean) about movie reviews. Is the story timely if the story doesn’t mention the movie is playing locally but ads indicate the movie is playing? 12w Prominence, or known principal, is an attribute when the principal actor, issue or institution in the story is already "well known because of past publicity or position in the community" or soc1ety (Ryan and Tankard, p. 106). 289 Many prominent individuals or events are simple to recognize: the President, famous sports events such as the Rose Bowl, major holidays such as Thanksgiving, etc. Prominence is pg: an attribute when an international story is about a country per se. An official of a country may be prominent in his or her own right, or an igsgg may involve the country, but the country’s name itself would not constitute prominence. Local prominence is a judgment and may be difficult to assess. Clues can be use of an individual’s name in the headline, titles, and the story content itself. If the story has no news value beyond the subject (individual or event), prominence is suspected. Prominence is not an attribute for follow-up stories of events such as crimes, accidents, etc., where the participants had not been prominent before the event. A victim is not considered prominent on Wednesday because of a newsy accident on Monday. The perpetrator or victim would have to be prominent in his/her own right. The DeLoreans and Jack Ruby are examples of prominent individuals involved in crimes. Ruby is prominent Egg but was not then. DeLorean was prominent before his trial. Some crimes, especially the more heineous, become prominent events. This is a temporary prominence, but a national report of a murder trial in Oklahoma, for example, assumes national interest in the results. Thus the event becomes prominent at a later time. 290 Prominence does not exclude proximity. For example, in a Los Angeles newspaper the Rose Bowl is a prominent event and also a local or proximate event. Specific decisions made during coding: Announcements of local elections and candidates have prominence because the institution of the office generally has prominence. Dow Jones and other stock exchanges/stock markets are recognizable by name and are prominent. Official bodies have prominence (i.e., city commissions, county boards, etc.) because these are well known institutions in most communities. Prominence should be coded if the article is gbggi the official body or its action(s). This decision must be made considering the timing and the entire story. If the story is about something other than the body and its actions, prominence is not coded unless the official body is central to the story. For example: a story about late; effects of a Supreme Court decision is not prominent because of the Court; the Court is not the subject of the story. Prominence may be present because of something else in the story, but that is not the issue here. ‘ Middle and elementary school functions do not generally have prominence, while high school functions are looked at more closely for prominence. The lower—level schools are not generally as well known as the high schools and their 291 activities do not generally get the wide—spread attention that high school activities generate. The high school connection does not by itself make an event prominent, but prominence should be suspected, especially for sports events. Impact Impact includes "any physical or non-physical event which has an impact on a large number of readers now or in the near future. ‘Impact’ is used with effect or consequence in mind. The impact can be damaging or enhancing" (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). Impact may be obvious or may be a judgment. A local angle on a national, international or even state story would reenforce the impact attribute. The local angle is an indication of the editor who tries to ggkg news relevant to the reader, as compared to the editor who runs a local or proximate story. A story with impact could be accompanied by a strictly local sidebar. Impact is an attribute for stories about changes in tax structure, social security, local and state educational problems and rulings (e.g., low local test scores, funding changes, busing), and local weather. Political appointments should not be routinely considered as having impact unless the appointees’ views are noted and have relevance to the audience. Impact should not be confused with proximity where the story is about the local or with magnitude, defined below. 292 Specific decisions made during coding: Local weather has impact as an attribute, because weather conditions cannot avoid having some effect on the audience. For international stories impact must be identifiable, because nothing happens that doesn’t have some impact at some time, either direct or indirect. To differentiate, judgment must be selective. Except for endorsements of candidates and issues. impact for editorials must be judged by topic. Endorsements have impact because merely by endorsing the candidate, the newspaper is making the name more recognizable and some voters vote with a suggested ballot from their newspaper. Decisions of local decision-making bodies generally have impact. When these bodies (city commissions and councils, county‘ commissions and councils, school boards, for example) make decisions, look for impact rather than for a means of eliminating the attribute. Medical discoveries/life information have impact, because this information is supposed to be helpful and to bring information of relevance to the reader. Home and food information, however, needs to be more than just directions and recipes. In order to have impact, these stories should include information about savings in time or money, healthful effect of the information, etc. Public hearings will generally have some impact or the hearing would not have been public. Acceptance of budgets will certainly have impact, and rejection of budgets and vetoes will probably have impact. For local renovations, check for impact through money or jobs coming into the community. Rhetoric does not necessarily have impact by itself; be careful evaluating the effect. flaws Magnitude includes "any physical or non-physical event in which a large number of persons attended, or which involves large amounts of gains, expenditures or accomplishments. Magnitude is significant from a quantitative point of view . . ." (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). Magnitude can also be significant for the smallness of the quantity.1 losses, Smallness as magnitude is coded when the quantity is somewhat unique. For example, no one (or a handful) attended an event for which a large crowd was expected. No dollars were awarded in a judgment or punitive damages were limited to $1.00. There may be some difficulty distinguishing magnitude from oddity, and in some cases both attributes may be present -- septuplets, for example. Magnitude is an attribute for weather temperatures, stories about large lottery winnings, deficits, wasted funds, sports scores, and other numerical stories when the numbers are central to the story. Specific decisions made during coding: Lottery numbers reported without any other information do not have magnitude, because there is no numerical 29A dimension. The "winning numbers" have little dimensional meaning. Weather stories without temperatures or percentages/chances of whatever do not have magnitude. Almanac information has magnitude because the numbers have meaning and indicate dimensionality. Vote spreads have magnitude if the numbers are essential to the story. Magnitude should not be coded unless it is essential to the story, because nearly every story, if continued long enough, brings out some number, some statistic or some comparison. Unless these are included early and have an essential function in the primary subject of the story, magnitude should not be coded. Conflict Conflict describes "any open clash between persons, groups, animals or things or involving a clash with any of these four against nature. The conflict must be obvious with distinct 'movement against’ by one or both opposing forces" (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). Crime stories are the most obvious conflict, but this attribute could include weather extremes, political battles, and sports, for example. A controversial trial could have a conflict dimension while the announcement of the verdict or sentence probably would not. There must be movement back and forth for conflict to be an attribute. Sidebar stories about events with conflict (e.g., hype about a Rose Bowl game) will not be coded conflict unless the story is about the rivalry. Some judgment is needed. Specific decisions made during coding: If a crime story rehashes a substantial amount of the crime, conflict is present even if the actual event which precipitated the story is not a conflict. For example, a story about jury selection may be without conflict unless it rehashes a substantial amount of the crime. If a front—page story lists only statistics or scores without any supporting discussion, conflict is not present even if the game or games are discussed inside. If a sports story does not discuss a game, there is usually no conflict. For example, stories that discuss the future of a team usually have no game story and no conflict. "Game" refers to any sports competition, whether a swim meet, a tennis match or a track competition. It is too difficult to determine where a "push" in competition ends. The conflict does not have to be physical. Oddity Oddity is "an action or event that is rarer than just the unusual . . . or opposite from what we have learned to expect, and, thus, predict in our culture and in our time" (Atwood, 1970, p. 299). Other attributes should be actively excluded before oddity is coded. The "odd" event should be unusual or "peculiar" in itself (Webster’s dictionary [Gove, 1966] defines odd ". . . differs markedly from what is usual or ordinary or accepted: PECULIAR" (p. 1563).2 ,77, n- , -._}~;>‘~‘, 296 Except for the attribute magnitude and possibly timeliness and proximity, oddity will probably be a solitary characteristic when it is present. For example, Siamese twins are an oddity, and many features about individuals are run strictly because the subject is "unusual" or an oddity. The definition does not exclude multidimensionality but merely cautions that oddity should be used with care. *‘I—x rag-=2 3 ~_ :zgni 297 ENDNOTES 1Smallness was added as a result of pretesting. 2The news characteristics identified by Burgoon, Burgoon and Atkin’s sample of Journalists included a composite "interest." This newsy dimension included the characteristics of "unknown or aberrant facts,. . entertaining, . . . emotion arousing,...peop1e would tal about it" (question #1). APPENDIX E APPENDIX E OPEN-ENDED RESPONSES BY THE MANAGING EDITORS The open-ended responses from the managing editors are arranged by codes. For each code, responses labeled "General" are responses to the question: "In your own words, what should be the function of a newspaper?" Responses labeled "Yours" are responses to the question: "How would you describe your newspaper’s function in your community?" 01 Local Emphasis 089 General: To serve its community Yours: As a conveyor of information -- local news that our readers cannot obtain from any other source. 084 General: The function of a newspaper is to cover as completely as possible the people, events and institutions in its community. Yours: See answer to #1. No one covers better than the news. 078 Yours: The is a medium—sized metro dedicated to local coverage. 076 Yours: To cover County in such complete news and totality that readers cannot feel complete in their day without it because of the information -- news and advertising —- it provides. 110 Yours: It’s the primary carrier of local news. 298 101 099 094 072 071 069 066 061 299 Yours: We are the local paper, serving as an adjunct to two major dailies and we must offer information and insight that is not offered elsewhere. Yours: We’re in the history business. In doing so, we offer the community a broader view of itself. General: To inform, lead and be an important part of the community. Yours: See above. Yours: local news. Yours: We are the county’s leading news medium and as such endeavor to provide the most comprehensive local news coverage to be found anywhere, as well as the top state, national and international news of the day. We feel an obligation to our readers as the newspaper of record and work hard to meet that obligation. Yours: We are THE source of local news, and for a 12— county area of South and North . We, on our editorial pages, discuss local and area issues 75 percent of the time, make endorsements in ALL elections and try to help our community grow in money, culture and lifestyle. If we don’t report the local news, who will? Dan Rather and his kind have no time or need to inform my readers of the things we feel they must and want to know about their own hometowns and states. However, our readers need national and international news. We pretend each day that we are their ONLY source of news and go from there. We have not arrived at our goal and never shall. We die when we quit trying to improve. General: To provide a continuing daily report on the events especially in the paper’s circulation area. ‘ Yours: We emphasize local news coverage and have staff members cover as many government, civic, community and school meetings as possible. Yours: We strive to achieve the ideals explained above [#10, idealism], paying close attention to issues, problems and ideas relating to those who read in Northern . We try to cater to all audiences, age groups, religious and racial backgrounds. General: To keep the public informed of what is going on in the community in an intelligent and, at time, entertaining manner. Its first function today must be to survive in a changing world. 058 057 056 055 048 046 044 041 300 Yours: the same. Yours: We are a local alternative to the big city newspapers. We emphasize local human interest and local issue stories. We try not to ignore national and international news. General: Provide complete information package for the reader with emphasis on local. Be a watchdog of local, state government. Provide a community forum for exchange of ideas, opinions. Yours: Source of local information. Community forum. Watchdog of local government. Yours: We concentrate on local news because as a community daily that is what our readers expect from us. Yours: To inform, to educate and to be a good citizen. By the latter, I do not mean Chamber of Commerce spokesman. We should mirror the community, back down to no one, and be the voice of reason on community issues. People want to call it "my" newspaper ... not "the" newspaper. We are a citizen of the city and county, and our paper should reflect that fact. Yours: We try to cover everything of news value in our community. The small size of our newshole is the only bar to printing news items offered us that are of interest to more than a few persons or a group. We keep people informed about government on local level, city, town or village. We are always looking for a success story as well as keeping an eye on the politicians. Yours: To provide a kaleidoscope of important state, national and international news while serving as our readers’ representative on local news, providing a complete and accurate picture of the local scene. Yours: Strong community newspaper. Local news comes first. The information source in this community. Yours: Offering local news has always proved an asset and my community appreciates that. Yours: A community leader. Yours: To serve as an integral part of the community, providing information services for which there is no other source. 039 037 035 034 029 025 023 021 017 301 Yours: Our readers look to us to keep them abreast of local activities ranging from disasters to social functions ... a recent survey indicated they are particularly interested in our editorials ... and they definitely feel this newspaper belongs to them. General: The newspaper’s primary function is to be a reliable source of information on community events including civic, educational, cultural and recreation. General: To inform, reflex and develop their community. We should be leaders and followers plus insure that we are giving our public as many untainted facts to allow them to make informed choice. Yours: We try, through reporters and editors, to keep the general guidelines I have set forth. General: To reflect both the positive and negative happenings of a community(ies) in a responsible and clear fashion. Yours: The source for local news and opinion with just enough regional, national and international news for the one—paper household. Yours: All of the above [#02 Information], plus a unique function -- We are somewhat isolated and have no wire service, so we are a newspaper of record for the kind of area that seldom has such an animal. Yours: A leader. The principal source of information in the community. Also some analysis of local problems and plans for future. Yours: This is a small newspaper just outside a large city with a large paper. The larger paper does not cover this county consistently. We try to emphasize local news of all types. We feel that by doing that we can give our readers something they can’t get anywhere else. General: To inform and entertain its readers by concentrating on the problems and strengths within its community. Yours: We are the voice of the community —— we inform it of what is taking place. Our pages are a forum for community members to use. We like names and faces, Eagle Scouts, good news, LOCAL news. Our news stories are straight down the middle —- any commentary, editorializing or analysis is placed in a column. We let the reader absorb the story and make up his or her 016 012 011 005 004 002 054 302 ‘ own mind. We never talk down to our public —- just eye-to-eye. Yours: With a major metro market very close to us, we strive to be as much of a LOCAL newspaper as possible. Our front page is entirely of that nature and we use our AP wire service as little as possible -— with the exception of sports. Yours: Daily journal of community highlights, both positive and negative. Yours: To inform County, , residents about County, . Yours: Local stress on all of above [#05 All Things/Multifunction]. Yours: The is a leader in its communities. We want people to look to us for answers to their questions. We encourage public discussion of public issues. Yours: To provide a viable link between local newsmakers and a community-oriented audience. It is our intention to augment metro and electronic media information with the best possible local coverage. Yours: EDITORIAL CONCEPT -— THE The is in a unique situation. Many of our readers read no other newspaper. That makes our task easy from a competitive standpoint, but it makes our obligation to serve our readers even more important. The must provide something for everyone. the emphasis of our coverage is local —- no one else is better staffed to cover the as well as The . While we should strive to include a wire report summarizing major stories of national, state and international importance, the strength of our coverage is of the and its people. In addition, The should be fun and entertaining. We should challenge our readers, spur their imaginations and engage their minds. We should not forget that our readers want more than just straight news. They want the neWSpaper to provide them with the things they talk about (gossip about) every day —— sex, money, politics, religion, scandal, television, movies, etc. If we are to compete successfully with TV, movies, cable, magazines and radio, we must capture the imaginations of our readers. 090 077 110 303 In addition to informing our readers about the basics of what is happening in the world and in their town, we will strive to provide an interpretation of what is happening through in-depth reports on major topics and analysis of events. We will provide a first-rate feature package. We will be easily accessible to our readers. We will have one unbending rule —— to seek to find a way to get something into the newspaper rather than trying to keep things out. We will recognize it is our readers who do our newspaper a favor by bringing information to us to publish. We will solicit comment and criticism from the readers. We will provide a public forum for discussion of issues of interest to our readers, and we will invite our readers to regularly contribute to our newspaper. The will be edited without regard to race, religion or socio-economic status. 02 Information General: To inform readers of matters affecting their lives whether it be the kickoff times for high school football games or a legislative decision. Yours: Our community function is to inform our readers. We try to do this. General: To inform. Yours: We inform. General: To provide a balanced news report that informs, inspires and entertains the reader; to be the "watchdog" of the public in monitoring the performance of public officials and handling of public funds; to care about the people in the area it serves and to serve the news needs of all those people. Yours: We strive to do all the things mentioned above. We want to be such a complete news vehicle that our readers do not have to turn to any other media for information. General: Basic function: to impart information to readers that helps them to better understand and live with the world around them. 109 107 104 099 097 092 091 071 069 065 304 General: To disseminate factually accurate information to the public. To provide well-rounded coverage of national, international, and local news, as well as entertainment and sports news. General: To deliver the news, all the news, promptly, accurately, fairly, without fear or favor. Yours: See above. General: To give readers the facts they need to intelligently make decisions and to be an information source they can count on to be as free as possible of news "management." General: To inform. General: The most important, among many, is to supply the public with information upon which decisions can be made. General: To serve and inform readers. To look for the good as hard and as often as to look for the bad. Yours: To provide our readership with a widely-rounded news report that helps them to make intelligent decisions,and to know what is going on in the world around them. General: To inform readers on timely basis what’s going on in their world, with emphasis on the news that’s more likely to impact their lives. General: The function of each newspaper is different in some respects. We put high priority on local, area and state news. On an average day our priorities are the same as those at The New York Times except the order is reversed, i.e., here we put local and area at top and then state, region, national and international in that order. Through this process we strive to become the only newspaper needed by our readers and to become the only news outlet they really need. We should lead, follow, give the readers some of news they NEED to know and news they WANT to know. We need to answer their needs from taxation questions to what plays on which channel tonight on TV. General: A newspaper should be a MIRROR of its community(ies). Certainly, that involves some analysis, some interpretation, some balancing. But we ought to do that by utilizing commentators outside the newspaper structure as well as by our own decision— making. Nobody elected us. We have no right to govern 064 062 056 055 047 046 043 042 305 and (contrary to popular belief) no Constitutional role. As an extreme example: If a mayor is corrupt, and the newspaper can demonstrate such corruption, it should do so. If an election is held, the newspaper should join with other community groups to monitor it to insure that it is a free, fair election. But if the electorate in its wisdom, after having been fully informed of the corruption, chooses to return the mayor to office, that’s fine. The newspaper’s role is informational and not governmental. Yours: We’re somewhere between a mirror and a bulletin board. We’re vital in our community insofar as telling it "what is happening." We’re also quite useful as a medium for the exchange of viewpoints, partially because we take strong editorial stands on local issues and state and national issues with specific local impact. But we attempt to spark discussion and encourage consensus; we don’t attempt to lead discussion or dictate consensus. General: To report the news and activities of the people, their government, their needs and their interests in an effort to keep them informed citizens of the country and the world. Yours: Providing a source of accurate information. General: To chronicle the day’s events in an unfettered manner so that readers may be better informed on those issues that affect them. General: Though it may sound a bit old fashioned, we strongly believe the chief function of our newspaper should be to inform our readers about the world in which they live, emphasizing local news, with a good helping of world and national news. Just good, old fashioned reporting, with an opinion page that takes a responsible role as a citizen of the community. - General: Provide information that is of interest to or impacts my readers. General: To provide citizens the information they need to participate in a free society. General: To provide the best possible news to area readers. General: To inform. Yours: Informative. General: To inform —— clearly and factually. 041 040 039 037 030 029 027 025 023 021 020 016 011 010 306 General: To provide information the public needs and has a right to know in a timely and accurate manner. General: To inform citizens of this area in the best possible way about news of a local, state, national and international scope. General: To maintain a high level of informative news reporting first on the local level, next on the state level, third — on the national level and finally, on the national [sic] level . . . this is the function of our small town daily newspaper with a circulation just under 4,000. Yours: Our newspaper is a sharing of information, ideas and opinions in a people to people format. General: To inform readers, interpret the news and broaden readers’ understanding of their community and region, and of the world. General: To inform the readers of information they need; to scrutinize the government to protect the people from it; to maintain literacy among the citizens. General: To serve the public and provide a forum for news; uncensored news. General: Provide accurate, complete reports on events of all kinds and items of general interest to the community. General: To get news of interest or impact to the public. Yours: A leader in informing citizens on governmental issues and actions. A well—informed best friend. General: To inform. Yours: To inform. General: A newspaper should be able to inform a reader of what is happening around him -- from next door to around the world. General: To inform people about their world. General: To provide my readers with the news and information needed to be well informed as to what is happening in the community, state, and nation -— and world. 009 006 002 052 047 015 008 062 012 307 General: To inform the public of events on a broad scale, from national and international events to small community functions —— and to give readers a wide range of material, from which they may form their own opinions. General: To inform the public. Yours: We try to give our readers the best coverage of all the local, state, national and world news. General: To disseminate factual, well—written information to a diversified audience. Information, education and public awareness are the cornerstones of respected newspapers. 03 Includes Lightness General: To inform, entertain, question, occasionally boost, and God knows what else. Yours: See above. Yours: Paper of record; source of local information ranging from club meeting to expose; source of state, and to a lesser degree, national and world news; source of informed opinion; a stick to stir the snakes with on occasion. Yours: We’re a liberal paper in a conservative community, which creates plenty of opportunities for both trouble and fun. We’ve had our share of both. General: Print the truth and raise hell. Yours: See above. 04 Digestible Form of News General: To inform, and, if possible, to make the news understandable. General: Deliver news in digestible, comprehensible form to average reader. 009 006 002 047 015 008 062 012 308 General: To inform the public of events on a broad scale, from national and international events to small community functions -— and to give readers a wide range of material, from which they may form their own opinions. General: To inform the public. Yours: We try to give our readers the best coverage of all the local, state, national and world news. General: To disseminate factual, well-written information to a diversified audience. Information, education and public awareness are the cornerstones of respected newspapers. 03 Includes Lightness General: To inform, entertain, question, occasionally boost, and God knows what else. Yours: See above. Yours: Paper of record; source of local information ranging from club meeting to expose; source of state, and to a lesser degree, national and world news; source of informed opinion; a stick to stir the snakes with on occasion. Yours: We’re a liberal paper in a conservative community, which creates plenty of opportunities for both trouble and fun. We’ve had our share of both. General: Print the truth and raise hell. Yours: See above. 04 Digestible Form of News General: To inform, and, if possible, to make the news understandable. General: Deliver news in digestible, comprehensible form to average reader. 089 082 080 079 078 076 103 097 05 All Things/Multifunction General: To keep readers abreast of the news, its meaning, its significance to them. To give readers the feel as well as the facts and the significance of events. To stimulate thoughts about public events, to encourage dialogue. To amuse and entertain. Yours: In the directions indicated above, sometimes better than others. General: To serve its readers (community) by providing information to make life easier and more productive through news stories, graphics, entertainment and advertising. Yours: Same as above. General: The function of any newspaper basically should be to inform, entertain, instruct, analyze, and keep an eye on all forms of government, detailing the activities of all elected and appointed officials who handle taxpayer money. Yours: Same as the above. General: -~ practice good journalism; fair and factual reporting of the news —-being a part of the community we service—-being credible --being a community watchdog. In—depth reporting to analyze what events affect our readers’ lives --provide a publication of interest to advertisers -—be accessible to the community at large. General: Newspapers should inform, analyze and entertain its readers. It should be a local market place of ideas and opinions and at times a catalyst for action. But mostly it must capture the persona of a community and be its conscience. General: Serve the public by informing, educating, entertaining, through the reportage of news and features. General: Inform, entertain, analyze, and provide forum for public discussion of issues. Yours: Same. Yours: It is impossible for me to answer an open—ended question like this. In terms as broad as the question, my newspaper provides information to the public on an endless variety of topics. My newspaper is 091 059 051 031 310 particularly sensitive to actions by public officials, to championing social justice and equity, as we understand them, and to suggest what we believe to be improvements in the social, legal, cultural and political life of our community, state, and nation. (And my answer is less broad than your question.) General: The job of a newspaper is to report to its readers what is going on at the local, state, national and international level, and to interpret what the news means. It also has a role of providing food for thought, entertainment and coverage of persons, places and events that reflect the community and its problems, good or bad. It has a watchdog role in government. General: Your survey has suggested to me that newspapers have three important functions: 1) We should provide a broad array of useful, relevant facts (e.g., reports of new laws, weather forecasts, registration deadline for public school, business openings and closings). Advertising is an integral part of this information function. 2) We should provide a degree of entertaining information such as sports, entertainment calendars, human interest features, comics, etc. 3) We should endeavor to provide interpretive pieces that will help readers understand the confusion that is their total supply of information. The editorial page and a local columnist are important here. Yours: I would hope that we are striving to be these things above to our readers. Although we are not perfect in any, we are probably weakest in the function number 3. General: To inform readers about what is happening in the community. To help readers figure out what news events mean to them personally. To entertain readers. To look ahead for readers. General: Let me first comment briefly on the survey: I don’t understand questions 5 and 10, and would agree with 9 only if its meaning encompasses reportage of intellectual and cultural events, rather than some sort of attempted indoctrination as to the value of intellectual and cultural events. The function of a newspaper is pretty well summed up by positive answers to questions 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,12,l3,l4 and 16, plus its role as a public forum for citizens’ opinions. Yours: We function as indicated above. 017 013 009 005 026 311 General: A newspaper should be what some politicians are criticized for trying to be -— all things to all people. It should identify and serve its various constituencies. It must entertain. It must inform and enlighten. When necessary, it must tell the truth, no matter who it hurts. It must be in tune with its local community. General: To provide background and analysis of news events -- to report news relative to the community’s interests —~ to summarize world and national news in a simplified format -- to keep the public informed on issues that could be important to them -- to entertain. Yours: Same as above. Yours: To enlighten, educate, stimulate, and entertain. General: Teacher, interpretor, investigator, entertainer, informer, social director. General: To inform public of all issues of importance to the area; to provide background info and forum for debate so readers can understand issues and form intelligent opinions; to take a leading role in upholding causes and viewpoints of benefit to the people; and to entertain, especially because as we build readership and more effectively accomplish the other, more important functions. Yours: The same as above, although we certainly fall short at times due to lack of resources, experience, etc. 06 Try for Innovations Yours: We’re a leader in opinions. We are imaginative and innovative when it comes to providing our readers we [sic] news coverage which isn’t expected from a ‘small’ daily. We have been nationally recognized for our enterprise reporting projects. I feel we are taken seriously because of the results we can deliver to the advertiser and by our readers. As witness, we publish more than 60 letters per month, very high for a newspaper of 8,000 circulation. We’re responsive to community needs and requests. We’re visible. We’re dedicated. And our commitment here is one of ethics, innovation and towards growth of our newspaper and the community we serve. 096 027 081 072 058 050 044 024 010 087 , 1, =‘.._ 312 07 Advocacy General: To inform, entertain and influence readers in a timely fashion and to be an active participant in community affairs. Yours: See above. Yours: Unfortunately, our paper is partially used by those in charge to promote their ideas, friends and desires. But it serves a decent amount of necessary watchdog functions and provides news to the county. 08 Inform and Entertain General: To enlighten and entertain readers with information about people and events in their community and in their world. Yours: See above. General: Inform, Enlighten, Entertain. General: To inform and entertain the public. It is also important to act as a "watchdog" and to provide alternative opinions. General: In a small town, a newspaper ought to inform as well as it entertains on issues ranging from club news to events in Cairo. It does that job best as a friend. Yours: I just did in #1. General: Inform, educate and entertain. General: To be useful and amusing. To be accurate in reporting news and fair in affording a variety of opinions to be aired. Yours: Same as above. Yours: Provides news, features, ads which inform and entertain. 09 Inform and Interpret General: To inform; to serve a watchdog function; to help people understand and cope with events. 079 102 101 064 004 092 063 049 313 Yours: The paper of record in the county. Readers expect us to have the local news while providing a good mix of national and international. They expect excellence in all areas . . . for they let us know when we drop the ball. They expect analysis of the difficult issues and want to know our opinion of those issues in our editorials. We are fair, but we won’t pull any punches in our coverage. General: To responsibly inform its readers and respond to their need to understand news and issues with strict adherence to fairness and accuracy. Yours: Same as #1 above. General: To keep the public informed of local and world events, comment on them, offer readers a forum for their points of view and let the reader form his own opinion. Yours: With the resources at our command, we do the best job we can to meet our responsibilities in reporting and interpreting the news -- while not forgetting the reality that readers also seek entertainment and relaxation in the pages of our paper as well as hard news information. General: First and foremost, to deliver in a timely manner, hard news. Also to comment on issues of the day and to foster public opinion. Feature material should reflect the "human condition." A newspaper must also explain in clear and exact language, the intricacies of local government —- be it school board or city council. 10 Idealism Yours: A helpful and fresh voice which is also a worthwhile watchdog. General: A newspaper should stimulate thought, whether that be through news stories, editorials, columns, features or photographs. It should bridge the gap between peoples, races, organizations and other segments of society by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas. General: To inform, entertain and serve as an important part of the subscriber’s daily life. 045 042 040 028 026 314 General: To help effect a better world. Yours: Constructive, truthful endeavor to above goal. [Added: I cannot respond solely by circles on a form. To do so would be to denigrate my love for this profession. And what we do, think and are as journalists cannot be measured so myopically, so rigidly. You ask, for instance, whether it is important for newspapers to concentrate on news which is of interest to the widest possible public. I strongly agree, but are you talking about news that’s measured singularly or collectively? What happened in the Middle East, today is more important than what a local 4—H club did today, that is to more people in our readership. But 4-H activity as an integral part of our farm—based economy here in County carries a great deal of importance and important bearing. And it is ongoing and direct bearing. So we give this kind of news a collective high priority. Moreover, we follow up this high priority and interest with features, in—depth articles and etc. to expand understanding as to why 4—H activity is important to all residents. In that respect, we are not merely reactive to the news. Any news. My point is that without asking for attendant comment, the multiple-choice survey cannot come close to reflecting the ways of newspapering.] Yours: Informer and friend. Yours: It provides a strong, driving force of a positive nature. General: Inform, interpret, incite public interest/involvement. Yours: Aggressive, unyielding in the defense of the taxpayer and information. General: To advocate, to investigate and ggt to pontificate in the public’s best interest. To provide constant, consistent and useful community information. To be accurate. To be fair when a newspaper doesn’t have to be. To be clear. To be factual. To provide a balance towards the delivery of advertising messages and community news. General: The old slogan —- comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable —— still isn’t a bad idea. Daily value judgments tend to make total objectivity impossible, but genuine attempts at fairness aren’t. 014 109 104 030 095 019 315 General: The newspaper should: Provide information so people can make intelligent choices. Stand for something. Understand its role as history. Should maintain a high degree of integrity. 11 Miscellaneous Yours: We are the morning paper and as such have more of a "hard" news focus than our afternoon counterpart, which devotes more space to features. Our readership consists primarily of business and professional people who want to be updated on events each morning. We publish 7 days a week. Yours: See above [under "02 information"], plus be an alternative to heavily slanted news products put out by the owner of the other paper in town. Yours: Unfortunately, due to limited resources, it rises to the above functions [02 information] inconsistently. And many readers seem to prefer small town items -- e.g., social notes, group photos, police and court summaries —- to news, analyses, etc. Its function at the moment is at best mixed. I’m new here and I’m attempting to produce a professional product, but odds against are somewhat overwhelming. 12 Mentions Profit General: To inform, entertain, provide community leadership and make a profit. Yours: The is in the business of gathering, processing, marketing and distributing information and products to inform, entertain, educate and otherwise serve the needs of its customers, the community, staff and owners. General: 1. Protect readers. 2. Inform readers. 3. Entertain readers. 4. Stay in business. Yours: 1. Inform readers. 2. Entertain readers. 3. Protect readers. 4. Stay in business. B IBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Altheide, David L. and Robert P. Snow. 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