Old-growth forests on network news: News sources and the framing of an environmental controversy

Journalism and Mass Communication Quaterly

Volumn 73, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 53-65

  Liebler, Carol M ^a   Bendix, Jacob ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0002499227     PISSN: 10776990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769909607300106     Document Type: Review

References (74)

1. Tony Atwater, Michael B. Salwen, and Ronald B. Anderson, "Media Agenda-Setting with Environmental Issues," Journalism Quarterly 62 (summer 1985): 393-97; Kris M. Wilson, "Learning About Global Warming from the Media" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Kansas City, MO, 1993).
2. Tony Atwater, Michael B. Salwen, and Ronald B. Anderson, "Media Agenda-Setting with Environmental Issues," Journalism Quarterly 62 (summer 1985): 393-97; Kris M. Wilson, "Learning About Global Warming from the Media" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Kansas City, MO, 1993).
3. Michael J. Robinson and Andrew Kohut, "Believability and the Press," Public Opinion Quarterly 52 (summer 1988): 174-89.
4. Christine R. Ader, "A Longitudinal Study of Agenda Setting for the Issue of Environmental Pollution" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Kansas City, MO, 1993).
5. Ader, "A Longitudinal Study"; Atwater, Salwen, and Anderson, "Media Agenda-Setting."
6. Ader, "A Longitudinal Study"; Atwater, Salwen, and Anderson, "Media Agenda-Setting."
7. Wilson, "Learning About," 31.
8. Thomas A. Arcury, Susan J. Scollay, and Timothy P. Johnson, "Sex Differences in Environmental Concern and Knowledge: The Case of Acid Rain," Sex Roles 16 (May 1987): 463-72.
9. See, for example, Jacob Bendix and Carol M. Liebler, "Environmental Degradation in Brazilian Amazonia: Perspectives in U.S. News Media," Professional Geographer 43 (November 1991): 474-85; Lee Wilkins and Philip Patterson, "Risk Analysis and the Construction of News," Journal of Communication 37 (summer 1987): 80-92.
10. See, for example, Jacob Bendix and Carol M. Liebler, "Environmental Degradation in Brazilian Amazonia: Perspectives in U.S. News Media," Professional Geographer 43 (November 1991): 474-85; Lee Wilkins and Philip Patterson, "Risk Analysis and the Construction of News," Journal of Communication 37 (summer 1987): 80-92.
11. Michael R. Greenberg, David B. Sachsman, Peter M. Sandman, and Kandice L. Salomone, "Risk, Drama and Geography in Coverage of Environmental Risk by Network TV," Journalism Quarterly 66 (summer 1989): 267-76.
12. Wilkins and Patterson, "Risk Analysis."
13. Marilee Long, Jocelyn Steinke, John Kalter, Amy Schwaab, Andrew Savagian, Nazima Jaffer, Jae Shim, and Wayne Wenzel, "Explanation in Newspaper Science Section News Articles" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Boston, MA, 1991).
14. Bendix and Liebler, "Environmental Degradation."
15. Marshel D. Rossow and Sharon Dunwoody, "Inclusion of 'Useful' Detail in Newspaper Coverage of a High-Level Nuclear Waste Siting Controversy," Journalism Quarterly 68 (spring 1991): 87-100.
16. Dan Berkowitz and Douglas W. Beach, "News Sources and News Context: The Effect of Routine News, Conflict and Proximity," Journalism Quarterly 70 (spring 1993): 4-12; Jane Delano Brown, Carl R. Bybee, Stanley T. Weardon, and Dulcie Murdoch Straughan, "Invisible Power: Newspaper News Sources and the Limits of Diversity," Journalism Quarterly 64 (spring 1987): 45-54; Leon V. Sigal, "Sources Make the News," in Reading the News, ed. Robert K. Manoff and Michael Schudson (NY: Pantheon Books, 1986), 9-37.
17. Dan Berkowitz and Douglas W. Beach, "News Sources and News Context: The Effect of Routine News, Conflict and Proximity," Journalism Quarterly 70 (spring 1993): 4-12; Jane Delano Brown, Carl R. Bybee, Stanley T. Weardon, and Dulcie Murdoch Straughan, "Invisible Power: Newspaper News Sources and the Limits of Diversity," Journalism Quarterly 64 (spring 1987): 45-54; Leon V. Sigal, "Sources Make the News," in Reading the News, ed. Robert K. Manoff and Michael Schudson (NY: Pantheon Books, 1986), 9-37.
18. Dan Berkowitz and Douglas W. Beach, "News Sources and News Context: The Effect of Routine News, Conflict and Proximity," Journalism Quarterly 70 (spring 1993): 4-12; Jane Delano Brown, Carl R. Bybee, Stanley T. Weardon, and Dulcie Murdoch Straughan, "Invisible Power: Newspaper News Sources and the Limits of Diversity," Journalism Quarterly 64 (spring 1987): 45-54; Leon V. Sigal, "Sources Make the News," in Reading the News, ed. Robert K. Manoff and Michael Schudson (NY: Pantheon Books, 1986), 9-37.
19. Harvey Molotch and Marilyn Lester, "News As Purposive Behavior: On the Strategic Use of Routine Events, Accidents, and Scandals," American Sociological Review 39 (February 1974): 101-12.
20. Brown et al., "Invisible Power"; D. Charles Whitney, Marilyn Fritzler, Steven Jones, Sharon Mazzarella, and Lana Rakow, "Source and Geographic Bias in Network Television News 1982-1984," Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 33 (spring 1989): 159-74.
21. Brown et al., "Invisible Power"; D. Charles Whitney, Marilyn Fritzler, Steven Jones, Sharon Mazzarella, and Lana Rakow, "Source and Geographic Bias in Network Television News 1982-1984," Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 33 (spring 1989): 159-74.
22. Julia B. Corbett, "Has Environmental Reporting Gone Global? Coverage of Atmospheric Ozone in Canadian and U.S. Newspapers" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Kansas City, MO, 1993); Michael R. Greenberg, Peter M. Sandman, David B. Sachsman, and Kandice L. Salomone, "Network Television News Coverage of Environmental Risks," Environment 31 (March 1989): 16-20, 40-44; Conrad Smith, "News Sources and Power Elites in News Coverage of the Exxon Valdiz Oil Spill," Journalism Quarterly 70 (summer 1993): 393-403.
23. Julia B. Corbett, "Has Environmental Reporting Gone Global? Coverage of Atmospheric Ozone in Canadian and U.S. Newspapers" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Kansas City, MO, 1993); Michael R. Greenberg, Peter M. Sandman, David B. Sachsman, and Kandice L. Salomone, "Network Television News Coverage of Environmental Risks," Environment 31 (March 1989): 16-20, 40-44; Conrad Smith, "News Sources and Power Elites in News Coverage of the Exxon Valdiz Oil Spill," Journalism Quarterly 70 (summer 1993): 393-403.
24. Julia B. Corbett, "Has Environmental Reporting Gone Global? Coverage of Atmospheric Ozone in Canadian and U.S. Newspapers" (paper presented at the annual meeting of AEJMC, Kansas City, MO, 1993); Michael R. Greenberg, Peter M. Sandman, David B. Sachsman, and Kandice L. Salomone, "Network Television News Coverage of Environmental Risks," Environment 31 (March 1989): 16-20, 40-44; Conrad Smith, "News Sources and Power Elites in News Coverage of the Exxon Valdiz Oil Spill," Journalism Quarterly 70 (summer 1993): 393-403.
25. Daniel Riffe, Brenda Ellis, Momo K. Rogers, Roger L. Van Ommeren, and Kieran A. Woodman, "Gatekeeping and the Network News Mix," Journalism Quarterly 63 (summer 1986): 315-21; Guido H Stempel III, "Topic and Story Choice of Five Network Newscasts," Journalism Quarterly 65 (fall 1988): 750-52.
26. Daniel Riffe, Brenda Ellis, Momo K. Rogers, Roger L. Van Ommeren, and Kieran A. Woodman, "Gatekeeping and the Network News Mix," Journalism Quarterly 63 (summer 1986): 315-21; Guido H Stempel III, "Topic and Story Choice of Five Network Newscasts," Journalism Quarterly 65 (fall 1988): 750-52.
27. Robert M. Entman, "Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm," Journal of Communication 43 (autumn 1993): 51-58. Others have also offered definitions of framing, e.g., W. Russell Neuman, Marion R. Just, and Ann N. Crigler, Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 60.
28. Robert M. Entman, "Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm," Journal of Communication 43 (autumn 1993): 51-58. Others have also offered definitions of framing, e.g., W. Russell Neuman, Marion R. Just, and Ann N. Crigler, Common Knowledge: News and the Construction of Political Meaning (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 60.
29. Zhongdang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki, "Framing Analysis: An Approach to News Discourse," Political Communication 10 (January-March 1993): 55-75.
30. Entman, "Framing."
31. Jonathan I. Lange, The Logic of Competing Information Campaigns: Conflict Over Old Growth and the Spotted Owl, Communication Monographs, no. 60 (Falls Church, VA: Speech Communication Association, 1993), 239-57.
32. The varying definitions of old-growth forest are summarized in Jack Ward Thomas, Eric D. Forsman, Joseph B. Lint, E. Charles Meslow, Barry R. Noon, and Jared Verner, A Conservation Strategy for the Northern Spotted Owl, Report of the Interagency Scientific Committee to Address the Conservation of the Spotted Owl (Portland, OR: United States Government Printing Office, 1990).
33. Andrew B. Carey, Scott P. Horton, and Brian L. Biswell, Northern Spotted Owls: Influence of Prey Base and Landscape Character, Ecological Monographs, no. 62 (Tempe, AZ: Ecological Society of America, 1992), 223-50; Eric D. Forsman, E. Charles Meslow, and Howard M. Wight, Distribution and Biology of the Spotted Owl in Oregon, Wildlife Monographs, no. 87 (Washington, DC: Wildlife Society, 1984), 1-64; Roland H. Lamberson, Robert McKelvey, Barry R. Noon, and Curtis Voss, "A Dynamic Analysis of Northern Spotted Owl Viability in a Fragmented Landscape," Conservation Biology 6 (December 1992): 505-12.
34. Andrew B. Carey, Scott P. Horton, and Brian L. Biswell, Northern Spotted Owls: Influence of Prey Base and Landscape Character, Ecological Monographs, no. 62 (Tempe, AZ: Ecological Society of America, 1992), 223-50; Eric D. Forsman, E. Charles Meslow, and Howard M. Wight, Distribution and Biology of the Spotted Owl in Oregon, Wildlife Monographs, no. 87 (Washington, DC: Wildlife Society, 1984), 1-64; Roland H. Lamberson, Robert McKelvey, Barry R. Noon, and Curtis Voss, "A Dynamic Analysis of Northern Spotted Owl Viability in a Fragmented Landscape," Conservation Biology 6 (December 1992): 505-12.
35. Andrew B. Carey, Scott P. Horton, and Brian L. Biswell, Northern Spotted Owls: Influence of Prey Base and Landscape Character, Ecological Monographs, no. 62 (Tempe, AZ: Ecological Society of America, 1992), 223-50; Eric D. Forsman, E. Charles Meslow, and Howard M. Wight, Distribution and Biology of the Spotted Owl in Oregon, Wildlife Monographs, no. 87 (Washington, DC: Wildlife Society, 1984), 1-64; Roland H. Lamberson, Robert McKelvey, Barry R. Noon, and Curtis Voss, "A Dynamic Analysis of Northern Spotted Owl Viability in a Fragmented Landscape," Conservation Biology 6 (December 1992): 505-12.
36. William Dietrich, The Final Forest (NY: Simon and Schuster, 1992).
37. These include Thomas et al., A Conservation Strategy; and U.S. Department of the Interior, "Determination of Critical Habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl," Federal Register 57, no. 10 (15 January 1992): 1796-1838.
38. These include Thomas et al., A Conservation Strategy; and U.S. Department of the Interior, "Determination of Critical Habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl," Federal Register 57, no. 10 (15 January 1992): 1796-1838.
39. Dietrich, The Final Forest; Alyson Pytte, "Timber, Spotted Owl Interests Find Middle Ground Elusive," Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 48 (September 1990): 3104-3108; Neil Sampson, "Updating the Old-Growth Wars," American Forests 96 (November/December 1990): 17-21.
40. Dietrich, The Final Forest; Alyson Pytte, "Timber, Spotted Owl Interests Find Middle Ground Elusive," Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 48 (September 1990): 3104-3108; Neil Sampson, "Updating the Old-Growth Wars," American Forests 96 (November/December 1990): 17-21.
41. Dietrich, The Final Forest; Alyson Pytte, "Timber, Spotted Owl Interests Find Middle Ground Elusive," Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report 48 (September 1990): 3104-3108; Neil Sampson, "Updating the Old-Growth Wars," American Forests 96 (November/December 1990): 17-21.
42. Thomas et al., A Conservation Stategy; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and cooperating agencies, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on Management of Habitat for Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl, vols. 1 and 2 (1994); Frances C. James, "Joint ESA/AIBS Review of President Clinton's Plan for the Management of Forests in the Pacific Northwest," Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 75 (June 1994): 69-75.
43. Thomas et al., A Conservation Stategy; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and cooperating agencies, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on Management of Habitat for Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl, vols. 1 and 2 (1994); Frances C. James, "Joint ESA/AIBS Review of President Clinton's Plan for the Management of Forests in the Pacific Northwest," Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 75 (June 1994): 69-75.
44. Thomas et al., A Conservation Stategy; U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service and cooperating agencies, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on Management of Habitat for Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forest Related Species Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl, vols. 1 and 2 (1994); Frances C. James, "Joint ESA/AIBS Review of President Clinton's Plan for the Management of Forests in the Pacific Northwest," Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 75 (June 1994): 69-75.
45. Daniel A. Hagen, James W. Vincent, and Patrick G. Welle, "Benefits of Preserving Old-Growth Forests and the Spotted Owl," Contemporary Policy Issues 10 (April 1992): 13-22; Claire Montgomery and Gardner M. Brown, Jr., "Economics of Species Preservation: the Spotted Owl Case," Contemporary Policy Issues 10 (April 1992): 1-12.
46. Daniel A. Hagen, James W. Vincent, and Patrick G. Welle, "Benefits of Preserving Old-Growth Forests and the Spotted Owl," Contemporary Policy Issues 10 (April 1992): 13-22; Claire Montgomery and Gardner M. Brown, Jr., "Economics of Species Preservation: the Spotted Owl Case," Contemporary Policy Issues 10 (April 1992): 1-12.
47. James D. Proctor, "The Owl, the Forest, and the Trees: Eco-Ideological Conflict in the Pacific Northwest" (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1992).
48. Mark P. Moore, Constructing Irreconcilable Conflict: the Function of Synecdoche in the Spotted Owl Controversy, Communication Monographs, no. 60 (Falls Church, VA: Speech Communication Association, 1993), 258-74.
49. See, for example, Mary H. Cooper, "Jobs vs. Environment," CQ Researcher 2 (May 1992): 411-18; Moore, Constructing Irreconcilable Conflict; James D. Proctor, "Environmental Ethics, Eco-ideologies, and the Possibility of Moral Realism" (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Atlanta, GA, 1993).
50. See, for example, Mary H. Cooper, "Jobs vs. Environment," CQ Researcher 2 (May 1992): 411-18; Moore, Constructing Irreconcilable Conflict; James D. Proctor, "Environmental Ethics, Eco-ideologies, and the Possibility of Moral Realism" (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Atlanta, GA, 1993).
51. See, for example, Mary H. Cooper, "Jobs vs. Environment," CQ Researcher 2 (May 1992): 411-18; Moore, Constructing Irreconcilable Conflict; James D. Proctor, "Environmental Ethics, Eco-ideologies, and the Possibility of Moral Realism" (paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Atlanta, GA, 1993).
52. Pan and Kosicki, "Framing Analysis."
53. In the discussion of quantitative results, "Sources" is used to represent "source appearances"; for example, one individual who was interviewed in two stories would be counted as two sources.
54. Leon V. Sigal, Reporters and Officials (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1973); Brown et al, "Invisible Power"; Whitney et al., "Source and Geographic Bias."
55. Leon V. Sigal, Reporters and Officials (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1973); Brown et al, "Invisible Power"; Whitney et al., "Source and Geographic Bias."
56. Leon V. Sigal, Reporters and Officials (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1973); Brown et al, "Invisible Power"; Whitney et al., "Source and Geographic Bias."
57. Herbert J. Gans, Deciding What's News (NY: Random House, 1979).
58. Proctor, "Environmental Ethics."
59. Doris A. Graber, Processing the News: How People Tame the Information Tide, 2d ed. (White Plains, NY: Longman Inc., 1988).
60. Our examination of visuals also revealed that the networks tended to use the same stock footage across the four-year time period. While this is not inherently problematic, it was troubling when on at least one occasion the forest shown was recognizably located in the Rocky Mountains rather than the Pacific Northwest.
61. Resumes for three members of these latter groups did not provide this information.
62. For example, when he was sourced, David Wilcove was Senior Ecologist for The Wilderness Society, held a Ph.D. from Princeton University in biology, and had authored or coauthored twenty-six articles on conservation biology. He was fonted only as "The Wilderness Society." Similarly, Jack Ward Thomas was fonted as "Biologist U.S. Forest Service." Thomas, the lead author of the interagency report on conservation of the spotted owl, held a Ph.D. in Forestry and had written more than 250 publications on wildlife biology. The other "expert" source appearing in the story was fonted as "Oregon Lands Coalition." The latter source was indeed an officer of the Oregon Lands Coalition, and the qualifications listed in that individual's bio include a high school diploma and descent from "three generations of lumbermen." Despite the apparently major differences in the expertise of these sources, they were all fonted in a comparable manner - there was no way for an audience member to distinguish among their qualifications, as NBC portrayed them as equally expert.
63. Anna M. Gillis, "The New Forestry," BioScience 40 (September 1990): 558-63.
64. See, for example, William Booth, "New Thinking on Old Growth," Science 244 (April 1989): 141-43; Frederick J. Swanson and Jerry F. Franklin, "New Forestry Principles from Ecosystem Analysis of Pacific Northwest Forests," Ecological Applications 2 (August 1992): 262-74.
65. See, for example, William Booth, "New Thinking on Old Growth," Science 244 (April 1989): 141-43; Frederick J. Swanson and Jerry F. Franklin, "New Forestry Principles from Ecosystem Analysis of Pacific Northwest Forests," Ecological Applications 2 (August 1992): 262-74.
66. For example, widely published experts such as Eric Forsman of the Forest Service, Jerry Franklin of the Forest Service and the University of Washington, and Charles Meslow of the Fish and Wildlife Service and Oregon State University.
67. See, for example, Hagen et al., "Benefits of Preserving"; Montgomery and Brown, "Economics of Species Preservation."
68. See, for example, Hagen et al., "Benefits of Preserving"; Montgomery and Brown, "Economics of Species Preservation."
69. Peter Koch, "Wood Versus Nonwood Materials in U.S. Residential Construction: Some Energy-Related Global Implications," Forest Products Journal 42 (May 1992): 31-42.
70. Dietrich, The Final Forest; Lange, The Logic of Competing Information Campaigns; Moore, Constructing Irreconcilable Conflict; Proctor, "The Owl, the Forest."
71. Dietrich, The Final Forest; Lange, The Logic of Competing Information Campaigns; Moore, Constructing Irreconcilable Conflict; Proctor, "The Owl, the Forest."
72. Thomas R. Vale, "Objectivity, Values and the Redwoods," Landscape 19 (winter 1970): 30-33; Thomas R. Vale, "Clearcut Logging, Vegetation Dynamics, and Human Wisdom," Geographical Review 78 (October 1988): 375-86.
73. Thomas R. Vale, "Objectivity, Values and the Redwoods," Landscape 19 (winter 1970): 30-33; Thomas R. Vale, "Clearcut Logging, Vegetation Dynamics, and Human Wisdom," Geographical Review 78 (October 1988): 375-86.
74. Thomas et al., A Conservation Stategy.