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Media Frames and Fairness and Balance of
Five U.S. Newspapers' Coverage of Same-Sex Marriage
Xudong Liu
Louisiana State University
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Xigen Li
South Illinois University Carbondale
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Please contact:
Xigen Li
School of Journalism
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Carbondale, IL 62901
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A paper accepted for presentation at Association for Education in
Journalism and Mass Communication 2005 Convention
June, 2005
Media Frames and Fairness and Balance of
Five U.S. Newspapers' Coverage of Same-Sex Marriage
Abstract
A content analysis of 209 stories on same-sex marriage from
five U.S. newspapers found overall coverage of same-sex marriage was
fair and balanced. Source dominance of the stories was associated
with balance of the coverage. The study analyzed the relationship
between media frame and fairness and balance of the coverage, and
found that the stories framed as thematic were more likely to be fair
and balanced than the stories framed as episodic. The findings did
not support the general belief that prestige newspapers do better
than high circulation newspapers in fairness and balance of news coverage.
Media Frames and Fairness and Balance of
Five U.S. Newspapers' Coverage of Same-Sex Marriage
The debate over same-sex marriage has been constrained on
historical, philosophical, religious, moral, or emotional grounds for
a long time, but it has reached the main stage of U.S. politics
recently.1 The debate has generated noticeable media coverage. As
past studies suggest, how media cover an issue will affect the way
the public learn, understand, and even believe about the issue.2 How
a controversial issue is covered will also affect audiences'
evaluation of newspaper credibility.3 One recent study found that
unfair and imbalanced news stories lead to negative evaluation of the
credibility of the newspaper that publishes the story.4 Media
coverage of same-sex marriage offers a good opportunity to examine
the coverage of a controversial issue by the mainstream media. This
study will look at media frames and fairness and balance of the
coverage about same-sex marriage, and how source use and media frames
affect fairness and balance of the coverage.
Literature Review
To examine media coverage of same-sex issue, this study reviewed the
literature from the following aspects: factors that shape fairness
and balance of coverage, framing and source use, fairness and balance
in media coverage, and media coverage of homosexual issues.
What shapes fairness and balance of coverage?
One of the tenets of freedom for the public is to gain access
to all sides of information. One journalism norm that regulates
journalists' practice in news coverage is objectivity. Journalists
tend to view objectivity as the core value of the profession and they
make great effort to present different opinions equally with
"even-handed" terms.5 A fair and balanced story meets the premise
that the audience can access to all kinds of sources holding
different opinions.6
Perfectly unbiased coverage, however, is only the ideal goal
for the journalist to achieve. There are many factors, inside or
outside newsrooms, ideologically or practically, that may undermine
the ideal goal and lead to biased coverage. Individual journalists
take responsibility of the content of a story, since they are the
people who interview, choose sources, and decide on the position of
the sources in a story.7 But journalists are only one point in the
whole assembly line, while the producers, the editors, other
colleagues, all of whom can exert influence on their news decisions.
8 One study found that three social dimensions—personal backgrounds,
professional experiences and working context, —can contribute to
journalists' decisions on news.9
Shoemaker and Mayfield suggested that the positions of
powerful social actors and newsgathering organizations can all affect
the content of newspaper and television.10 Bennett argued that
organizational routines, though unintentionally, influence
journalists to bias the news.11 Another social factor that influences
journalists' performance is market, which shifts "journalistic values
toward stories that are increasingly dramatic, clear in message, and
simple of plot."12 Furthermore, newsroom socialization might
contribute to media bias. Pressure from newsroom, including daily
deadlines, equipment constraints, pushes journalists to turn to peer
interaction,13 and such interaction between journalists might help
them share the same value on an issue. The findings of another study
suggested that market-driven journalism will also unavoidably
undermine American democracy.14
Stories with different topics may also affect the degree to
which the story is biased in terms of volumes assigned to one side.
For example, one study found that when covering horse-race-topics
event in 1996 presidential election, news stories showed a preference
for Dole in volume.15 When reporting conflict issues, such as gay
rights or abortion, some uncontrollable outside factors may become
salient to affect journalists in presenting a balanced news story. A
study found that when conflict happens, one side of the controversy
usually controls information tightly while the opposing source seems
more open to journalists.16 In such cases, even if the journalists
try to get more balanced information, the outcome may still be slanted.
Framing and Sources
Framing, according to Entman, involves selection and salience.
To frame is "to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make
them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to
promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral
evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described."17
Previous research has considered framing of news from
different perspectives, such as strategy versus policy, ethical
versus material, episodic versus thematic frame.18 Among these
frames, there are issue-specific frame used to convey specific event,
rather than present them as categorized issue.19 Other frames can be
generalized to all events, such as conflict frame, which is most
frequently used to cover international issues. Human-impact frame is
also preferred by American journalists in their coverage.20
Same-sex marriage is a complicated issue for journalists to
deal with. When journalists are not sure if they can deal with a
complicated situation, they simplify the issue in a way that they can
control. Different journalists use diverse frames to cover gay and
lesbian issues, which is perhaps because framing is a better way to
cover controversial issues given that the "power of framing comes
from its ability to define the terms of debate without the audience
realizing it is taking place."21 One study found that coverage of gay
rights was often framed as equality and morality issues.22
The influence of framing refers to that different frames can
lead to different responses among the public. Brewer, for example,
found that people exposed to "morality" frame in gay coverage will be
more likely to present their opinion on gay rights in the "moral"
way, and such positive correlation also exists between the public
opinion with an "equality" frame exposure.23
Numerous studies looked at how news coverage frames an event
or an issue. Sociological analyses of the news production process
reveal that media coverage of public affairs is characterized by a
limited number of dominant news frames.24 Iyangar used a two-frame
approach to analyze television news stories about poverty, thematic
versus episodic news frames, and found what people take to be the
causes and cures of poverty depends significantly on how television
news presentations frame the issues.25
When journalists deal with controversial issues, such as
same-sex marriage, they are more likely to rely on sources to
complete news stories.26 Sources play an important role in shaping
their stories. There were cases in which sources can help coverage
stick to the right track. For example, Colby and Cook found that
nightly news coverage of Aids "tend less to sensationalize than to
reassure, largely because journalists depended on government
officials and high-ranking doctors to present them with evidence of
news."27 On the other hand, source bias might affect news coverage,
especially when sources try to dictate frames, which "can keep the
report in the track that they can manipulate in favor of their
opinion."28 Sigal claims that the media relies heavily on the
government officials to frame their articles, about half of their
front-page stories.29
Studies found that the elite media, such as The New York Times
and The Washington Post, though fundamentally independent, used
government official source in three quarters of their news coverage,
whereas only one-fourth of news stories were based on sources outside
the government.30 Because the official's goal is to present issues
and events in ways that might influence the public opinion and seek
support from the audiences,31 it is reasonable to argue that
officials with a governmental stance on same-sex marriage may try to
promote their views on the issue through media. High dependence on
official sources will unavoidably represent monotonic voices, which
will result in the coverage framed in certain ways. In the case of
local newspapers in San Francisco, where the local government
approved same-sex marriage, reliance on local government officials
will result in news coverage biased towards one side.
Fairness and balance in media coverage
As the "Fourth Estate", media's power and privileges also
carry with them great responsibilities because the coverage can lead
or in some cases mislead the public.32 In terms of the coverage of
same-sex marriage issue, one of the responsibilities of media is to
hold up a standard of "fairness and balance" in covering the
controversial issue, which does not favor one partisan in the debate
at the sacrifice of the rival's assertions.
When it comes to the coverage of conflict issues, balance and
fairness is usually considered as the norm.33 However, studies found
that the public's concern about media bias is rising, considering
that the media is slanted.34 Based on content analysis of 615 local
conflict stories in 15 newspapers, Fico and Drager found that news
stories were imbalanced to a high degree, although these stories were
generally fair. 35 Another study found that most news reports lacked
fairness and balance when these two qualities were defined as equal
treatment of different sides of controversy.36 When looking at
newspaper articles in the 1990s, Niven found an over 4-to-1 ratio of
stories alleged anti-conservative or anti-Republican bias to stories
alleged a bias in their favor.37
Levite suggested that the nature of the journalistic
occupation, the relatively well-paying and "cushy and enjoyable" job,
makes journalists more liberal.38 This liberal attitude would help
them deal with same-sex marriage more favorably and cover the issue
more balanced than those conservatives; this liberal attitude can
also explain why the coverage of gay and lesbian communities is today
less sensitive.39
Previous research found that media do better in fairness,
because fairness only means that one story does give credits to all
controversial sides, without considering the volume of text for each
side. As to balance, the media generally does relatively poorly,
especially when the newspapers cover public conflicts. One study
found that high circulation papers did the worst job in terms of
balance among all sides of controversy, though they are thought by
the public to be less biased.40 Another study found that prestige
press did a good job in fairness and balance, presenting to the
readers more unbiased articles on controversial issues and events.41
Media coverage of homosexual issues
During the last two decades, the public has changed their
attitude toward homosexuals gradually.42 The attitude change among
the public is partly due to the fact that "in general there has been
a change over time from overwhelmingly negative media portrayals of
lesbians and gay men to a wider variety of representations."43 A
survey conducted in 1991 found that senior newspaper editors
throughout the United States were careful and balanced on their
reporting on issues and concerns of interest to lesbians and gays, as
compared to gay and lesbian journalists who were not so satisfied
with the degree of the fairness or balance on such issues.44
Research on homosexual issues was mostly conducted from
sociological perspectives, whereas there were few studies that
examined media coverage of the related events and issue. The limited
number of studies that looked at media coverage of homosexual issues
suggests a prejudiced media. One study on gay parade found that, to
make the gay movement respectable, the media "stepped in to protect
homosexuals from themselves, censoring images which would be
distasteful to a mass audience." 45 By analyzing 356 stories about
gays and lesbians appearing in "Time" and "Newsweek" from 1947 to
1997, Bennett concluded that although unbalanced coverage had
steadily decreased during the past fifty years, prejudiced
allegations against gays and lesbians were still prevailing.46 Steele
observed that journalists tried their best to be balanced, by
obtaining neutral experts to interpret the controversial views on
gays military services, though in the end the coverage often
legitimated one point of view while marginalizing the other.47
Hypotheses and Research Questions
The stories that covered same-sex marriage by five U.S.
newspapers were analyzed in this study. Based on the literature
regarding framing, fairness and balance and source use in conflict
issue coverage. This study will test the following two hypotheses:
H1: Source dominance is associated with balance of same-sex
marriage coverage.
The literature suggests that news coverage is shaped by many
factors inside and outside newsrooms. Source dominance from one side
of the controversy is likely to affect balance of the coverage. It is
expected that story balance is contingent upon the level of source
dominance of the coverage.
H2: Prestige newspapers will do better in fairness and balance
of the same-sex marriage coverage than high circulation newspapers.
Previous studies found there was a difference in fairness and
balance in the coverage of controversial issues between prestige
press and high circulation newspapers. With the same-sex marriage, a
controversial issue involving people with a variety of stakes, it is
expected that prestige newspapers will make more effort in producing
fair and balanced coverage than high circulation newspapers.
This study will also answer the following research question:
RQ1: Is there a relationship between media frame and fairness and
balance of same-sex marriage coverage?
RQ2: Is there a difference in fairness and balance and coverage
frames among the five U.S. newspapers?
Research Method
Content analysis was used to test the hypotheses and answer
the research questions regarding newspapers' coverage of the same-sex
marriage. Content analysis is the most efficient way to detect
fairness and balance of the news coverage.48 Moreover, Fico and Coté
argued what content analysis revealed may illuminate broader
perception of public bias on a controversial issue.49
Sample
Five newspapers, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The
Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe,
were selected for analysis. The New York Times, The Washington Post
and Los Angeles Times are identified by trade journals and previous
studies as prestige press.50 The selection of prestige newspapers is
based on the assumption that they exert more influence on the public
because the public view their performance as superior to their
peers.51 A prestige press may even set news agenda of other media,
and the tone in the prestige coverage is likely to be duplicated.52
Among the three prestige newspapers, The New York Times is considered
as an elite newspaper that represents credibility of the U.S. press.
Besides being a member of the prestige press, Los Angeles Times is
close to the center of the controversy of same-sex marriage.
The San Francisco Chronicle and The Boston Globe are
identified by trade journals as large circulation newspapers. The
category excludes those prestige newspapers that also have a high
circulation. Compared to prestige newspapers, Lacy et al. found that
high circulation newspapers tend to do well in story balance, but not
so well in fairness.53 However, they also found that The San
Francisco Chronicle overrode some prestige press in giving two sides
of controversy on hot issues to the public. The San Francisco
Chronicle is right at the controversial center, where the municipal
administration issued same-sex marriage certificates. The coverage of
same-sex marriage by The San Francisco Chronicle will reveal to what
degree fairness and balance are affected by source use.
The time period selected for the study is from February 5 to
March 7, 2004. The period was selected because there was a new round
of hot debate on same-sex marriage. On February 25, 2004, when
President Bush called for a ban on same-sex marriages. Bush's
comments were swiftly condemned by Democratic Party leaders as an
attempt to write discrimination into the Constitution and by a gay
civil rights group as gay bashing.54
Lexis-Nexis database was used to collect stories on same-sex
marriage during the time period. The keywords "same-sex marriage" was
used to search for the news stories. Only the stories with a clear
theme about same-sex marriage were selected. Stories from wire
service and syndicates, and the editorials were excluded. A total of
209 news stories were selected, including 39 stories from The New
York Times (18.7%), 28 stories from The Washington Post (13.4%), 40
stories from Los Angeles Times (19.1%), 55 stories from The San
Francisco Chronicle (26.3%) and 47 stories from The Boston Globe (22.5%).
Measurement of variables
Framing, according to Entman,55 is defined as the salience of
a story which highlights some feature of an event or an issue while
overshadow other features. Media frame has been measured in different
ways. The research purpose and topic of news coverage determine the
proper measure of media frame. This study adopted the measure of
frame of news coverage from Iyengar. Frame of same-sex marriage
coverage is measured in two categories: "episodic" or "thematic."56
thematic frame of the news might consist of information bearing on
general trends (e.g., the gay right movement, the number of states
that recognizes same-sex marriages, changes in public view on
homosexuals, etc.) or matters of public policy (Bush's call for a ban
on same-sex marriage, court ruling on same-sex marriages, etc.).
These are essentially background or "takeout" stories in which the
object of the coverage is abstract and impersonal. In the episodic
frame, by contrast, same-sex marriage is covered in terms of personal
experience; the audience is provided with a particular instance of an
individual or individuals related to same-sex marriage such as a gay
couple who went through the process of obtaining same-sex marriage license.
Source dominance, which is operationally defined as the
situation that individuals, organizations, or documents quoted in a
news story as sources make the side that they represent more
prominent in the story. Source dominance identified the situation
that the sources representing one side had a clear advantage over the
other side. Source dominance in this study is coded into three
categories: only pros sources included, only cons sources include and
both pros and cons sources included.
Newspaper status refers to how a newspaper is conceived by the
public in terms of its social position. Newspaper status contains two
categories: prestige and high circulation.
Fairness and balance are two related features of news
coverage. Fairness usually means the simple inclusion of the other
side in stories about conflict. Balance concerns how equally sides to
a conflict are treated relative to one another.57
Fairness in this study is defined as the characteristics of
coverage that involves both sides of controversy, supporting or
opposing same-sex marriage, in direct assertions or cited sources. If
a story contains both sides of a controversy, it is considered fair,
whereas if it only contains one side of controversy, it is regarded as unfair.
Balance is a more complicated feature that may have different
meanings to different journalists or readers. For example, although
the coverage of 1996 presidential campaign was well balanced when
measured with content analysis method, it is found that over 40%
percent of respondents still believed that the media coverage favored
Democrats or Republicans in presidential election.58 Therefore,
balance is difficult to be measured in ideology sense, whereas it can
be measured with story structure, to what extent the whole story
treats the controversial opinions equally. Balance in this study is
operationally defined as the characteristics of coverage that
involves equal amounts of paragraphs with assertions for either side
of controversy in a story. The more one-sided assertions a story
involves, the less balanced the story is.59
The balance was measured by three components: (1) which side
of controversy dominates the first paragraph; (2) which side of
controversy dominates the second through the fifth paragraph; (3)
which side dominates the fifth to tenth paragraph. By using these
components, the study assumes that readers would read a story from
top down. A study found that less than forty percent of readers will
read over the tenth paragraph in a story. 60 Therefore, the dominance
of one side appeared after the tenth paragraph would be ignored.
An index was created using the three components of balance.
The index assigns weight co-efficiency to each component item of
balance according to their importance in a story. Because the upper
paragraphs grab more attention of readers, they were assigned a
higher value of co-efficiency. The first paragraph, paragraph 2
through 5 and paragraph 6 through 10 were assigned 1, .75 and .5
respectively. If a measurement unit contains the same amount of
dominance from both sides, it was assigned 0. For example, if the
first paragraph is dominated by pro same-sex marriage source, 1 will
be assigned, otherwise it will be -1. The balance index is the sum of
the three components. For example, if the value of each component for
one story is 1, -.75, and .5, the balance index for that story will
be .75, which suggests that the story is biased on the pro same-sex
marriage side. For a specific story, the closer the index value is to
zero, the more balanced the story is.
Two coders participated in the intercoder reliability test.
Fifteen stories from the sample were randomly selected to test
intercoder reliability. A graduate student was trained with the
coding protocol and coded the fifteen stories with one of the
authors. Scott's Pi was used to calculate the intercoder reliability
of nominal variables. All variables achieved a Scott's Pi of .75 and above.
Findings
Of the 209 news stories from five newspapers, the majority did
well in overall fairness. 182 stories (87.1%) contained sources from
both sides (pros or cons). Seventeen stories (8.1%) involved pro
same-sex marriage sources, and only 7 stories (3.3%) involved con
same-sex marriage sources. When looking at the source used based on
paragraphs, 76 stories (36.4%) contained sources from both sides (pro
or con). Eighty-six stories (41.1%) involved pro same-sex marriage
sources, and 47 stories (22.5%) involved con same-sex marriage
sources. There were more paragraphs dominated by pro same-sex
marriage sources than con sources.
The aggregate scores of balance in the five newspapers go from
plus 2.5 to minus 2.25, with a range of 4.75. The plus side is pro
same-sex marriage, and the minus side is con same-sex marriage. The
higher the absolute value, the less balanced the coverage, with a
score of zero as neutral, or perfectly balanced. The mean of balance
for all stories is .36, and the median is .5. Both are close to 0,
which means that news stories on same-sex marriage were generally
balanced. By segregation, 18.2% of the news stories had a score of
zero; 47.3% fell in the range of ?1, whereas 52.7% fell outside the
range of ?1.5. (Figure 1)
Figure 1
Balance of same-sex marriage coverage
by five U.S. Newspapers
(N=209)
Mean=.36, Median=.50, Skewness =-.32.
H1 that source dominance is associated with balance of
same-sex marriage coverage was supported. Analysis of variance was
used to test H1. Source dominance included three categories: only pro
sources included (8.1%), only con sources include (3.3%) and both pro
and con sources (87.1%). F = 11.58, df = 3, 208, p < .01. Eta squared
= .15. The mean of balance for the stories with only pro sources
included was 1.94; the mean of balance for the stories with only con
sources included was -1.82; the mean of balance for the stories with
both pro and con sources was .29.
H2 that prestige newspapers will do better in fairness and
balance of the same-sex marriage coverage than high circulation
newspapers was not supported. There were 107 stories (51%) from
prestige newspapers and 102 stories (49%) from high circulation
newspapers. Two analyses were conducted to test the hypothesis.
Crosstab analysis was used to examine the relationship between
newspaper status and fairness (X 2 = .94, df = 1, N = 206, p > .05).
The result indicated there is no relationship between newspaper
status and fairness. An independent sample t-test was used to test
the relationship between newspaper status and balance. The mean of
balance for prestige newspaper was .45, and the mean of balance for
high circulation newspaper was .27 with a mean difference of
.18. The t-test result (t = .79, p > .05) suggested there is no
relationship between newspaper status and balance.
This study also answered the following research question:
RQ1: Is there a relationship between coverage frame and fairness and
balance of same-sex marriage coverage?
There is a relationship between coverage frames and fairness
of same-sex marriage coverage. In terms of fairness of the coverage,
There were 88.3% of stories contained sources from both sides of
controversy, whereas 11.7% of the stories were dominated by pro or
con sources. Ninety-four stories (46%) were framed as thematic, and
112 stories (54%) were framed as episodic. Crosstab analysis was used
to test relationship between coverage frame and fairness of the
stories. The result indicated there is a relationship (X 2 = 4.66, df
= 1, N = 206, p < .05). Although the stories were predominantly fair,
the stories with episodic frame tended to be dominated by either pro
or con sources more than stories with thematic frame. (Table 1)
Table 1. Relationship between coverage frame and fairness in percentages
Fairness
Frame
Total
Thematic
Episodic
Biased
6.4
16.1
11.7
Fair
93.6
83.9
88.3
X 2 = 4.66, df = 1, N = 206, p < .05.
There is a relationship between media frame and balance of same-sex
coverage. An independent sample t-test was used to find difference in
balance of same-sex marriage coverage between the stories with
thematic and episodic frames. The result indicated that there is a
slight difference in balance of the coverage between the two coverage
frames (t = -2.02, p < .05). The mean of balance of the coverage for
thematic frame was .12, and the mean of balance of the coverage for
episodic frame was .58 with a difference of .46.
RQ2: Is there a difference in fairness and balance and coverage
frames among the five U.S. newspapers?
There is no difference in fairness of the coverage of same-sex
marriage among the five U.S. newspapers. The result of Crosstab
analysis indicated that all five newspapers were predominantly fair
in their coverage of same-sex marriage. Differences in fairness of
the coverage between and among the newspapers are negligible (X 2 =
2.35, df = 4, N = 209, p > .05). However, The Boston Globe was
clearly deviated from other newspapers with significantly more
stories that were dominated by either pro or con sources (17% vs.
average 11.7%). (Table 2)
Table 2. Difference in fairness and coverage frames among five U.S.
newspapers in percentages
Fairness
Newspaper
Total
NYT
WP
LAT
SFC
BG
By Fairness
Biased
7.9
7.4
12.5
11.1
17.0
11.7
Fair
92.1
92.6
87.5
88.9
83.0
88.3
X 2 = 2.35, df = 4, N = 209, p > .05
By Frames
Thematic
51.3
50.0
35.0
54.5
40.4
46.4
Episodic
48.7
50.0
65.0
45.5
59.6
53.6
X 2 = 4.75, df = 4, N = 209, p > .05
There is no difference in balance of coverage among the five
U.S. newspapers. Analysis of variable was used to test the difference
of balance among the five newspapers. The result indicated that there
is no difference in balance of coverage (F= 1.34, df = 4, 208, p >
.05). The average mean of balance of the coverage is .37, with mean
of balance for The New York Times .19; Washington Post, .78; Los
Angeles Times, .48; The San Francisco Chronicle, .51, and -.01 for
The Boston Globe.
There is no difference in coverage frames of same-sex marriage among
the five U.S. newspapers. The result of Crosstab analysis indicated
that all five newspapers were similar in their selection of the
frames for same-sex marriage coverage. Differences in frames of the
coverage between and among the newspapers are minimal (X 2 = 4.75, df
= 4, N = 209, p > .05). The New York Times, The Washington Post and
The San Francisco Chronicle were almost evenly divided in their
selection of thematic and episodic frames. Los Angeles Times (35% vs.
65%) and The Boston Globe (40.4% vs. 59.6%) were deviated a little
from other newspapers. (Table 2)
Discussion and Conclusion
This study analyzed media frame and fairness and balance of
the coverage of same-sex marriage. It found that the overall coverage
of same-sex marriage by the five U.S. newspapers was fair and
balanced. The study also revealed that source dominance of the
stories was associated with balance of the coverage. Several new
findings shed light on how newspapers covered a highly controversial
issue of national importance and how frame of the stories may affect
fairness and balance of the coverage.
The finding of H1 indicated that source dominance was
associated with balance of same-sex marriage coverage. Whereas there
are a variety of factors that may shape fairness and balance of news
coverage, the results of this study indicated that source dominance
is obviously an important factor. When covering a controversial
issue, fair use of sources is central in producing balanced coverage.
This study found that source dominance was not a major problem of the
five U.S. newspapers in covering same-sex marriage. Only 11.7% of the
stories were dominated by either pro or con sources, whereas 88.3% of
the stories contained both pro and con sources. What is important to
learn from the finding is that when sources from one side of the
controversy dominate the stories, the coverage is likely to be imbalanced.
Previous studies suggested that prestige press do well in
fairness and balance. The result of H2 is consistent with what
prestige press usually does with fairness and balance.61 Contrary to
previous studies' findings that media generally do relatively poorly
with balance, this study found that the five U.S. newspapers all did
relatively well with balance, and there was no difference in fairness
and balance of coverage between prestige and high circulation
newspapers. The results may be a reflection of sensitivity of the
journalists when they covered a highly controversial issue like
same-sex marriage. The issue involved fierce battle between mayor of
San Francisco and California state government, and between different
interest groups, and people of different political beliefs. Even
president Bush took a stand and was actively involved in the debate.
When same-sex marriage was no longer an issue about the attitude
towards homosexuals, instead an issue affecting all people in society
if same-sex marriage is accepted by more states, the more careful
consideration of fairness and balance by journalists is not a
surprise. The result may suggest that importance of a topic and
public involvement in the issue may be factors affecting fairness and
balance of coverage, which could be further investigated through
studying more newspapers including the smaller newspapers and the
newspapers in conservative areas.
Framing, the specific concepts and terms used to present
choice or decision options—has been found to exert powerful effects
on judgment and choice.62 The news can be framed specifically using
different terms or reporting from different angles. New coverage with
different frames can lead to different responses among the public.
The results of this study showed a connection between framing and a
key aspect of news coverage of a controversial issue, fairness and
balance of the coverage. The stories of same-sex marriage were almost
evenly divided in two frames, thematic (46%) and episodic (54%), and
binominal test showed no difference (p > .05). The study found that
frame was both related to fairness and balance of the coverage. There
was a clear relationship between frame and fairness. Stories with
thematic frame tended to be fairer than the stories with episodic
frame. There was a slight difference in balance between the two
frames. Episodic frame was found to be less balanced than thematic
frame. The results indicated that stories with episodic frame tend to
be less fair and balanced, although the difference between the two
was relatively small. The results revealed the function of framing
from a different perspective. Here the function of framing does not
refer to how audience responds to the news stories with different
frames, but how framing may relate to one of the most important
aspects when evaluating the quality of news coverage, fairness and
balance in covering a highly controversial issue. The relationship
between framing and fairness was found to be more evident than that
between framing and balance of the coverage. The results also showed
that stories with thematic frame, which reported general trend or
matters of public policy, were more likely to be fair and balanced
than stories with episodic frame. When covering general trend and
public policy, the stories tend to be less sensational, and might
include more aspects that represent interests of the general public
and different interest group. A variety of sources are likely to be
used. When episodic framing is chosen, the coverage focuses on
personal experience, fewer sources or sources from one side are more
likely to be used. Journalists may need to make extra effort to draw
more diverse sources in order to keep the stories fair and balanced.
This study makes contributions to the understanding of
coverage of a controversy, media frames and fairness and balance in
the following aspects: First, the findings suggest that fairness and
balance of news coverage are not only determined by pro or con source
used and how the assertions of the conflicting parties were
presented. It is also affected by the coverage frame. Stories
presented in certain frame will result in that the facts be presented
in certain ways and the specific facts be selected. The story content
and angle defined by the frame will correspond to certain level of
fairness and balance of the coverage. Framing as a factor in
influencing the news content, will not only make certain aspects more
salient in a communicating text, and promote a particular problem
definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment
recommendation for the item described, it may also affect fairness
and balance of the news coverage which will eventually be perceived
by the readers.
Second, the study adds to the literature on media framing by
linking media framing to fairness and balance of the coverage of a
controversy. Most of the framing analysis focused on how journalists
select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient
in a communicating text. Other studies of framing effect looked at
how audience responds to the news stories with different frames. This
study examined how media frames adopted by the journalists may
influence the key aspect of coverage of a controversy. The results
brought a new dimension in understanding framing function and
coverage of a controversy by relating the two. Media framing could
direct audience attention to certain issues, whereas perception of
fairness and balance of the coverage could influence readers'
evaluation of the credibility of the newspaper that publishes the
story. This linkage between media frames and fairness and balance of
the coverage established through this study suggests that framing
does not work alone in influencing the audience. Although journalists
can manipulate the frames of the coverage, their selection of media
frames may affect perceived fairness and balance of the coverage of a
controversy, which will eventually influence audience's evaluation of
the credibility of the media involved.
Third, the study found both prestige and high circulation
newspapers did well with fairness and balance of the coverage and
there is no difference between the two in fairness and balance. One
possible factor that may contribute to this high level of fairness
and balance is the topic of a controversy. Same-sex marriage debate
was an issue that involved almost all aspects of the society,
including the president, who proposed a constitutional amendment. The
high level involvement of all parties and interest groups made it an
extremely controversial political issue of national importance. When
dealing with a sensitive issue like this, newspapers may exert more
cautions in keeping the coverage fair and balance.
This study only selects stories published in one month, which
may not reflect the coverage of same-sex marriage in the long run.
During the selected time period, there was a round of heated debate
on same-sex marriage, and the issuance of certificates to same-sex
marriage by San Francisco Municipal Government escalated the
conflict. President Bush was also involved in the debate. With such a
big event going on, it was helpful to find related stories to study.
However, the stories during this time period may bear different
characteristics from stories in other time period with fewer
conflicts. The selection of stories during this high-conflict period
represents a limitation of the study, that is, the study only looked
at the coverage of a controversial issue at one key point. The media
performance in their coverage of the controversy at this point may be
different from what they will do in their routine coverage of the
controversy in a long run. Moreover, fairness and balance here was
only analyzed through content of stories, whether or not they will be
perceived by audience as fair and balanced is another question.
Whether framing effect on fairness and balance and to what extent
these characteristics will affect readers' perception of the coverage
cannot be answered through a content analysis. Following study can
use experiment to further explore the effects.
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