No abstract

Significant events happen daily around the world, but only some of these are reported in the U.S. news media. A content analysis of the New York Times, and ABC, CBS, and NBC found that the Times covered only about a fourth of a sample of world events and the networks mentioned only about a tenth. This study finds that events which are deviant in certain ways from U.S. national values and which occur in nations of political and economic significance to the United States are more likely to be covered in the news.

Behind the “conventional wisdom” of mainstream television news lies a structured pattern of sources: newsmakers, experts, and commentators. This study uses network analysis to examine the interconnections of these sources‐defined as joint appearances—within and across programs to produce a cohesive “framework,” Supporting an elite model, a single cohesive “insiders” group, knit together by officials, accounts for most of these sources and spans a number of key national issues. This news framework provides an important conceptual approach to understanding how the boundaries of public affairs discourse are staked out by the choice and positioning of news sources.

No abstract

Journalists operate under an ethic that includes a respect for truth as demonstrated by the accuracy of the information delivered to the public (Sartori 1987). On the basis of that accuracy, it is assumed, public opinion is formed in a democracy. Accuracy is closely related to the journalistic norms of fairness and objectivity and to the credibility of producers of news (→ Fairness Doctrine; Objectivity in Reporting; Journalists, Credibility of). The “mirror” metaphor for the journalistic norm of the accurate reflection of facts may be popular among journalists, but every mirror reflects some distortion (Romano 1986; Ettema and Glasser 1998). In news production, deadlines and time constraints can distort accuracy (→ Reality and Media Reality).