Network news coverage of high-profile crimes during 2004: A study of source use and reporter context

Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

Volumn 83, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 901-916

  Carpenter, Serena ^a   Lacy, Stephen ^a   Fico, Frederick ^a  

^a MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CRIME; MASS MEDIA; MEDIA ROLE; TELEVISION;

EID: 34047271155     PISSN: 10776990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769900608300411     Document Type: Article

References (75)

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4. The term "high-profile" is used because these crimes gain an extraordinary amount of attention from news media outlets. They typically involve nationally recognized celebrities or crimes that gain national attention because of their unusual nature.
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53. Schudson, The Sociology of News.
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56. The dates selected were January- 13, 16, 23; February- 2, 23; March- 8, 12, 19, 24; April- 8, 15; May- 4, 20; June- 8, 9, 16; July- 19; August- 10, 12; September- 15, 22; and June 9 commercial network newscasts were not used because the programming was preempted by the ceremonies remembering President Ronald Reagan. NewsHour was studied on this date. September 15 was used as a substitute for June 9 for the network newscasts. A previous study found that a sample of 24 dates with two dates randomly selected from each month would provide a sample that represented the year's content. (See Daniel Riffe, Stephen Lacy, Jason Nagovan, and Larry Burkum, "The Effectiveness of Simple Random Sampling in Broadcast News Content Analysis," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 73 [spring 1996]: 159-68.) For the PEJ data, there were two dates selected from every month. However, one of the two dates in July was not available because of a mistake in coding. This left at least two dates from eight of the nine months, plus an additional ten dates past the two per month found to be representative. These additional ten dates would compensate for any bias introduced by missing one of the July dates.
57. Nick Madigan, "Michael Jackson is Indicted on Child-molesting Charges," New York Times, 21 April 2004, sec. A, p. 5.
58. John M. Broder, "On Eve of Jury Selection, Jackson Begs for Fair Trial," New York Times, 31 January 2005, sec. A, p. 1.
59. John M. Broder and Nick Madigan, "Jackson Cleared after 14-Week Child Molesting Trial," New York Times, 13 June 2005, sec. A, p. 1.
60. Kirk Johnson, "The Bryant Trial: Anatomy of a Case that Fell Apart," New York Times, 3 September 2004, sec. A, p. 14.
61. Kirk Johnson, "In Kobe Bryant Case, Issues of Power, Not of Race," New York Times, 26 August 2004, sec. A, p. 12.
62. Kirk Johnson, "As Accuser Balks, Prosecutors Drop Bryant Rape Case," New York Times, 26 August 2004, sec. A, p. 1.
63. Nick Madigan, "California Man Arrested in Death of Wife," New York Times, 19 April 2003, sec. A, p. 4.
64. Dean E. Murphy, "Outlines the Case Against Peterson," New York Times, 2 June 2004, sec. A, p. 2.
65. Marshall, "Jury Finds Scott Peterson Guilty of Wife's Murder."
66. Constance L. Hays and Leslie Eaton, "With Smiles and Kisses, Stewart Trial Commences," New York Times, January 21, 2004, sec. C, p. 2;
67. Constance L. Hays and Leslie Eaton, "Stewart Found Guilty of Lying in Sale of Stock," New York Times, March 6, 2004, sec. A, p. 6.
68. The operational definition for source transparency emphasized whether the journalist has provided information so the audience can decide for themselves whether to believe the information in the story. It counts the number of sources up to four that have had the relationship of that source defined. A source is any person or organization (through a spokesperson or published report) that has been quoted directly or indirectly (paraphrase) in the story. This includes quoted sources on video. If poll data is given in a story, the data are not counted as a source but are dealt with under data transparency To be transparent, a source must be named and have one or more of the following: (1) title of source given; (2) degree to which the source has at least one of below: (a) direct level of knowledge, such as being an eyewitness, (b) identified professional qualification other than title, (c) personal experience, such as participating in event. For an organization to be transparent, statements representing it must be attributed to a person who meets the criteria listed above for an individual source to be transparent. For a report to be transparent, it must reveal who did the research, who paid for it, when it was conducted and why it was conducted. A story must include all of these to count.
69. The operational definition for use of anonymous source emphasized the presence or absence of sources who are not named by name. A source is any person or organization (through a spokesperson or published report) that has been quoted directly or indirectly (paraphrase) in the story. This includes quoted sources on video. Anonymous applies even if a description is applied, such as "a source close to the president."
70. The operational definition of multiple viewpoints emphasized the effort of the news organization to present a balanced story by presenting multiple viewpoints. This applies to stories about events or issues that involve controversy. Controversy involves both physical and ideological conflict. Stories should be included if they explicitly involve controversy or if there is the implication that they could involve controversy. Stories that are factual should be excluded. A story topic/ issue is not the same as a viewpoint. A viewpoint involves taking a position about a topic/issue. A story could have multiple topics but not conflict. It could have multiple topics and only one of the topics have conflict. Journalists cannot constitute a side of a conflict. The asking of contrary questions does not represent another side of a controversy.
71. This involved figuring the agreement for the three pairs of coders that are possible for three coders.
72. Most of the variables involved three coders. However, because of project deadlines, the multiple viewpoint variable was coded with two.
73. Coder reliability figures are as follows: (1) Big Stories: Intercoder Agreement = 96%, Scott's Pi = .94, (2) Multiple Viewpoints: Intercoder Agreement = 95%, Scott's Pi = .92, (3) Source Transparency: Intercoder Agreement = 93%, Scott's Pi = .91, (4) Anonymous Sources: Intercoder Agreement = 93%, Scott's Pi = .86.
74. The small number of evening news cases resulted in several cells in the contingency tables that either had zeroes or fewer than five cases when morning and evening coverage was compared. This would have created unreliable Chi-square figured and disallowed accurate inference. All the tables with the four dependent variables were reduced to two-by-two tables and comparisons were run between morning and evening coverage. None of the differences were significant at the p < .10 level.
75. Project for Excellence in Journalism, "The State of the Media Project 2005."