Print Mass Media Coverage of the Promise Keepers: The First Five Years
Print Mass Media Coverage
of the Promise Keepers:
The First Five Years
Submitted to the Mass Communication & Society Division,
AEJMC Convention,
Baltimore, Maryland, Aug. 5-8, 1998
By Dane Claussen, M.S., M.B.A.
Teaching Assistant & Doctoral Student, Henry W. Grady College of
Journalism & Mass Communication, The University of Georgia
President & Principal, American Newspaper Consultants, Ltd., Athens, Ga.
P.O. Box 3028, Athens, GA 30612; 706-357-0167(H & FAX); 706-542-6190(O);
[log in to unmask]
"Think about something tender. Think about something sacred. Think about
something that makes you cry. Think about a romance that made you love every
living creature, a loss you didn't think you could bear, a death that opened the
bottomless pit of mortality below you. Now imagine talking about it to someone
you barely know standing in a noisy bar in Grand Central Station at rush hour.
That's what it's like trying to discuss what's called 'the men's movement' in
the media.1
Promise Keepers, founded in 1991 by then-Colorado University football coach
Bill Mc-Cartney, is (or was, since its recent near shutdown) a metropolitan
Denver-based, fundamentalist-led national Christian men's organization. Growing
through huge public meetings (usually tens of thousands of men in a stadium),
books and other written materials, a magazine, and local chapters, it asks
American men to make and keep commitments to their God, themselves, their wives,
their children, their parents, their friends, their worship and fellowship,
their work, their neighbors and community, those in need, and for the future,
all within the context of a literal reading of the Bible2. PK is just one of
many Men's Movement organizations, which began forming about 25 years ago, and
many Christian men's organizations. (PK also has various similarities to earlier
religious revivals, such as the Social Gospel era's Men and Religion Forward
Movement; the earlier Muscular Christianity generally, and the Rev. Billy Sunday
and his followers in particular; and Dwight L. Moody and his.)3
McCartney founded PK with a summer 1991 meeting of 4,200 men in Boulder, CO. By
1996, it had an annual budget of $65 millon, 300 employees, and a national
network of representatives and offices. In 1997, it expanded into several other
countries, and in October 1997, it held a Washington, D.C.,"rally" called "Stand
in the Gap" that attracted half a million men. PK and Strang Communications
co-publish the bi-monthly New Man magazine, and various books--What Makes a
Man?: 12 Promises That Will Change Your Life, From Ashes to Glory, Seven
Promises of a Promise Keeper--have sold thousands of copies. All emphasize a
literal reading of the Bible, love, optimism, forgiveness, friendship, ethics,
morals--including criticism of materialism and racism. More controversial have
been directions to reverse the church's "feminization"; criticism of "political,
social, entertainment, homosexual, and occult movements" and "the sexual
revolution"; and male assertiveness, self-control, independence, stability and
self-confidence.4
James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, attributes this latest Christian
men's movement to men "who are recognizing that success in business, achieving
all their goals, and making huge amounts of money are not going to satisfy
them." Christian Business Men's Committee spokesman Robert Tamasy noted that
"today's economic insecurities, epitomized by corporate downsizing, look a lot
like the Depression era, when CBNC began amid a heightened spiritual need."
Historian Timothy Weber said PK is an attempt to slow or stop trends seen as
destructive, such as divorce and illegitimacy.
PK received its first Lexis-Nexis recorded mention in second quarter 1992, but
was mentioned by U.S. print media only four times per quarter or less until
second quarter 1994 (35 mentions). Coverage quantity increased dramatically if
unevenly after that, with 153 and 112 mentions in the last two quarters of 1994;
91, 279, 380 and 382 mentions, respectively, during the four quarters of 1995,
and 303 during first quarter, 1996. Additional coverage of PK may be hindered by
its apparent lack of cooperation with the media. Many PK articles contain little
or no comment from PK spokespersons, and a Christianity Today article noted: "PK
did not respond to numerous requests to be interviewed for this story."5
McCartney's books say little about media coverage, but what they do say is
negative.
The purpose of this study was to formulate hypotheses based on past research on
religious and social movements and test them through content analysis of
newspaper and magazine stories.
Agenda-Setting Theory
What kind of coverage PK has received is important because of PK's size and
scope, in addition to and in combination with media's ability to set agendas for
the public, policymakers, and other media--processes predicted and analyzed
through agenda-setting theory. Studies have concentrated generally on whether an
agenda-setting process exists, how it works, who it effects, and other rather
"technical" questions. Theory has evolved, however, to include how sources
influence the media's agenda, intermedia agenda-setting, and studying the
practices, values and traditions of journalism that influence news content, thus
launching what McCombs calls a "new, dynamic and theoretically-based media
criticism." As he explained, "News is not just rational discourse, not just
educational presentations on the issues of the day. News is tone and drama. News
communicates much more than the facts. A psychologist would say that news
messages are both cognitive and affective. A journalist would say that the news
is a blend of information and entertainment."6
McQuail said that the "agenda-setting hypothesis" is summarized by four main
points: public debate represented by action agenda, public opinion and political
choices forming that agenda, mass media content reflects those issues'
substances and priorities, and mass media content about those issues affects the
ways in which the issues are considered.7 The agenda-setting model has four
major characteristics: it concerns the importance or salience of public issues;
topics studied are usually constructed by researchers, not audiences; studies
have a dual focus on media content and audience perception; and studies deal
with ranking a list of issues or the rise and fall of one issue.8 Studies
conducted over 20+ years connect the importance attached to various issues by
the media and that attached to them by the public and politicians.9
The present study is based on several specific aspects of agenda-setting theory
and previous research findings: that an agenda-setting process does exist; that
how the media covers a subject is important because that coverage has effects on
what facts, opinions and attitudes the public has; that the media's coverage,
and thus the agenda it is setting, can be predicted based on factors that
influence media coverage; that changes in coverage and agenda-setting over time
are both a cause and result of agenda-setting processes; and that an intermedia
agenda-setting process does occur. An extensive literature review argued that
media vary in credibility, thus meaning some media may set agendas more than
others; that media reports and personal experience may diverge, meaning members
of the public may ignore or oppose the implicit media agenda; and the public may
not have the same values about news events as the media.10
Hoover, Hanley and Radelfinger found that readers think media don't cover
religion much unless it is "hard news" and also understood that logically, lack
of coverage doesn't necessarily mean media are non- or anti-religious. But
readers faulted print media for not covering religion enough (apparently
concluding that media frequently don't consider religion stories to be "hard
news" when audience members do). Readers understood that religion stories are
more likely to be covered when they could be structured like, or framed as,
political or economic stories, or when they are sensational or controversial.
Hoover et al. also found that church media relations personnel preferred
religion news be covered as hard news, because they believed that when
journalists think of religion news as feature story material, they will feel
less compelled to cover it.11
Research also has indicated that the agenda-setting process affects not only
various subjects, but also individual attributes of those subjects.12 Such
findings are related to the notion of framing.13 Page and Shapiro echoed
Gitlin's suggestion that how media cover a subject can affect the public's
opinions, and it is now increasingly accepted that "as a latent consequence of
telling us what to think about, the agenda-setting effect can sometimes
influence what we think."14 Gandy, writing on how sources set agendas, noted how
cooperativeness often leads to positive coverage.15
Coverage of Men/Masculinity, Religion, and Social Movements
Academic journal literature on other news coverage of men, men's movements and
masculinity, particularly in print, also is extremely limited. Fejes complained
that only five mass communications studies in the previous decade had "focused
primarily on men and masculinity," with scattered studies suggesting that men
are misrepresented in media: fictional entertainment television shows, TV and
print ads, and even some newspaper stories and photos.16 Only a few Men's
Movements-oriented articles have focused on mass media--almost entirely on
film.17
Both professionals and academics have devoted more attention to religion
coverage during the past 25 years, and continue to give mixed, uncertain and/or
critical reviews for coverage that was deemed insufficient, inaccurate, late,
negative or otherwise biased.18 But one critic enjoyed quoting 1930s New York
Herald Tribune City Editor Stanley Walker: "They [clergy] are the most touchy
set of quibblers who ever plagued a well-intentioned editor. Some will even find
fault with a stenographic report attested by a dozen albino notaries swearing on
a Gutenberg Bible."19 Only a few scholars have given religion coverage a
generally favorable report card.20
Key articles developed basic theories on media coverage of social movements
that said, in a nutshell, that media are slow to cover movements, and not very
good at it because, among other limitations, they represent the status quo.21 In
one case, for example, feminists received essentially no coverage in 1966-69,
mostly sensationalist coverage in 1970-72, and then selective and less
prestigious coverage in 1973-77--a result of the status quo's efforts to ignore,
then ridicule, and then minimize and mainstream the movement, respectively; this
suggested a sort of cycle for news coverage for social movements.22 Tuchman
added that media transmit both selected facts and opinions, and a construction
of ideas and activities, about a social movement, and that both transmissions
are affected by media idiosyncrasies.23 Shupe and Bromley, based on their
cults/sects studies, said that quoting former movement participants who are now
opposed is a major way in which media coverage of social movements becomes more
negative.24 Lieb found that the quoting of anti-feminist sources in women's
movement coverage increased much more quickly than the quoting of feminist
sources in feminism stories (presumably for "balance"), but Barker-Plummer
found, contrary to Gitlin, that movements and media have a dialogic relationship
that allows a movement to analyze its coverage and change strategies
accordingly.25
Literature Review Conclusions and Hypotheses
Agenda-setting theory suggests that PK coverage is likely to be positive and
detailed because it is growing quickly, positive or negative depending on how
seriously media choose to treat it; that coverage of earlier men's movements may
have influenced how the media would cover PK--both positively, both negatively,
or differently based on a perception that PK deserved opposite treatment;
different media will cover PK differently, but patterns will emerge; and the
less cooperative PK is with media, the more negative its coverage will be.
Studies of U.S. print media religion coverage overwhelmingly suggest that PK
coverage would be negative, incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. Studies of men
and masculinity coverage suggest that PK coverage would be negative to the
extent that media perceive PK members at not being typical men. Studies of
social movements coverage suggest that PK coverage would lag behind its growth
and significance; the more journalists perceive PK as being atypical, the more
negative coverage will be; PK would be covered as news if media could identify
its events, leaders, supporters and opponents, and perceive internal
homogeneity; PK would be covered seriously as news because it concerns men, not
women; coverage would be selective, therefore incomplete and to some degree
misleading or inaccurate; coverage could follow a pattern of initial black-out,
then sensationalistic or ridiculing coverage, then decreasing but more moderate
coverage; PK coverage would exaggerate disagreements and divisions within the
group; PK coverage would become increasingly negative over time as opponents
emerged; the less successful PK is at convincing media that men's roles and
issues need to be examined, the less coverage it would receive. Based on the
literature, this study tested three hypotheses:
H1: The majority of print media coverage of the Promise Keepers has been
negative.
H2: Print media coverage of the Promise Keepers has become increasingly
negative.
H3: Print media coverage of the Promise Keepers has been treated as "news" by
newspapers and magazines.
Method
Articles on PK were separated into three groups by media type: elite media
(Group One), other newspapers (Group Two), and other magazines (Group Three).
Articles about PK and McCartney were searched for with the words "Promise
Keepers and McCartney or Christian***" (allowing for "Christian," "Christians,"
or "Christianity" to be found) in the Lexis-Nexis database (NEWS, then ALLNWS).
No beginning date for the search was designated, but the ending date was
specified as March 31, 1996. Group One, the elite media, includes The New York
Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor,
The Los Angeles Times, Time and Newsweek . Group One included all articles on PK
except those about Bill McCartney that included very little or no substantive
content about PK. This found 402 paragraphs in 15 articles on PK. Group Two
included a systematic random sampling of other U.S. daily newspapers that are
indexed by the Lexis-Nexis database. Every fifth article was chosen for coding
after excluding: articles appearing in Group One; all articles published outside
the U.S.; obituaries, letters to the editor, calendars of events, and bestseller
lists; all articles with fewer than 500 words; all magazine articles (almost all
of which were included in Group Three anyway); all articles that did not include
substantive content about one or more men's movements; and all articles
appearing about PK in The Denver Post and the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News.
Articles about PK published in The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News were
excluded because of the large quantity of coverage about PK and Bill McCartney
appearing in those newspapers would have skewed the group of articles analyzed
away from being a geographically distributed national sample; because McCartney
was a winning football coach at the University of Colorado, and PK is
headquartered in the Denver metropolitan area, local coverage of McCartney and
PK was extensive. This search resulted in 1,371 paragraphs in 53 articles. Group
Three was all articles concerning PK indexed in the Readers Guide to Periodical
Literature, except Time, Newsweek and The New York Times Magazine (all were
included in Group One). Subject headings searched in the Readers Guide to
Periodical Literature were Men's Movement, Christian Men's Movement, Bill
McCartney, and Promise Keepers. This search resulted in 446 paragraphs in 17
articles about PK. The search of all publications found 2,219 paragraphs in 85
articles about PK.
The earliest PK story was from the Sept. 14, 1992, issue of Christianity Today,
the last from the March 24, 1996, issue of the Kansas City (MO) Star. PK
received coverage during 12 of the 22 quarters included in this study. The first
article was not until the third quarter of 1992, and PK also received no
coverage during the first, second and fourth quarters of 1993. The highest
quarter for coverage was the third quarter of 1995 (20 articles), followed by
the second quarter of 1995 and the first quarter of 1996.
The paragraph was selected as the primary context unit for two reasons. It
allows for easy tracking of positive and negative content in each story. Second,
in current U.S. print journalism--newspapers in particular--a single paragraph
is seldom more than two sentences and usually presents related views or facts.
The content analysis instrument, closely based on Lieb, coded for the following:
Date (calendar year quarter); Medium by Group; Type of Story (news or non-news
story; location by section and page also was recorded to help determine whether
story was news or non-news); Topic (primary) of the story (Leader, Secondary
Leader, Literature, National Organization/Move-ment, Local Events/Organizations,
Reaction to the Movement, Opposition to the Movement, Sociocultural Context, and
Other); Story Sources (Men's Movement Top Leader--such as McCartney; Men's
Movements Secondary Leader; Current Participants; Former Participants;
Government Officials; Religion Officials; Business Executives;
Educators/Intellectuals; Mass Media; Medical Personnel--physicians,
psychiatrists, psychologists; Miscellaneous--specified (later was further broken
down into Feminists, Spouses, and Others, for purposes of data analysis);
Numbers of paragraphs rated on each point of a five-point Likert scale
(Extremely Positive, Somewhat Positive, Neutral, Somewhat Negative or Extremely
Negative, based on information and/or opinions about the Men's Movements, its
leaders, philosophies, goals, methods, and other salient characteristics).26 To
be understood, a negative statement about an opponent of the Men's Movements was
scored as Positive.
Following van Driel and Richardson, Extremely Positive means the paragraph
defends and supports the group, and/or allegations of opponents are rejected;
there is no sign of suspicion or rejection of the group.27 Somewhat positive
indicates a somewhat positive approach to the group or unfavorable approach to
its opponents; some reservations and/or suspicions are implicitly or explicitly
evident, however. A Neutral ranking indicates that position-taking on issues is
avoided; no support for either the group or its opponents is voiced. A Somewhat
Negative ranking suggests that, although the group is not severely criticized,
it does meet with ridicule, suspicion, and/or doubts; no clear-cut support
exists for the group's opponents. An Extremely Negative ranking means the group
is rejected and attacked, and/or opponents of the group receive sympathy and
support. A Kansas State University assistant professor of journalism and mass
communications pretested the instrument.
To establish intercoder reliability, a trained graduate student coded 10% of
the articles on each subject from each of the three article Groups. Wimmer and
Dominick recommend that a Scott's pi coefficient of .75 is necessary to
demonstrate a sufficient level of reliability (p. 180). In this case, a Scott's
pi calculation produced a coefficient of .86.28
Results
H1. The data do not support this hypothesis. The mean average of 2,219
paragraphs composing 85 articles was 1.75. The mean is significantly positive
(t=-50.17; p < .05). For the 85 articles, the highest score was an average of 1,
which 3 articles were scored as. The lowest score was an average of 3.71, which
1 article was scored as. The mean average score of the 85 articles' mean
averages was 1.79. This mean is significantly positive (t=-18.67; p < .05).
Coverage overall was positive regardless of various factors.
Likert Scale Ratings by Medium Type. Paragraphs. As shown in Table 1, more
paragraphs received a rating of 1 than any other rating, regardless of medium,
and paragraphs rated as 1 or 2 grouped together made up at least 69% of all
coverage regardless of medium. A cross-tabulation (8, N=2218) of medium type by
Likert scale ratings produced a chi-square statistic of 56.68, p <
.05--suggesting a statistically significant relationship. A one-way analysis of
variance with medium type as independent variable and Likert rating as dependent
variable supported this (F=13.46, with D.F.=2, p < .05, N=2219). Stories. A
one-way analysis of variance, using Likert values as the dependent variable and
medium type as the independent variable, showed the mean average of elite
publication articles to be 1.71 (t=-10.72, n=15, p < .05), for other newspapers
to be 1.789 (t=-13.45, n=53, p < .05), and for other magazines to be 1.85
(t=-8.89, n=17, p < .05). The F value equaled .23, p<.8 and therefore the
relationship between medium type and rating was not statistically significant.
Likert Scale Ratings by Article Length. A regression analysis of Likert scale
ratings and article length (as measured by number of paragraphs) was performed.
Although a fitted line (Y=1.84 - .00X; R2=.00) showed coverage tended to be
slightly more positive the longer the article, the relationship between article
length and Likert scale ratings is not statistically significant. A one-way
analysis of variance also showed no statistically significant relationship
(F=.69, D.F.=39, p=.88).
Likert Scale Ratings by Story Type. Paragraphs. Coverage was generally positive
regardless of whether it was handled as news or as other types of news-editorial
content. News coverage overall (mean average of 1.65, n=847) was slightly more
positive than non-news coverage overall (mean average of 1.82, n=1372). A
cross-tabulation of story type by Likert scale ratings produced a chi-square
statistic of 19.35, with p < .05; D.F.=4 (n=2219), suggesting a statistically
significant relationship exists between these two variables. A one-way analysis
of variance, treating story type as the independent variable and Likert scale
rating as the dependent variable, confirmed this, as it revealed F=11.55, with
D.F.=1, p < .05. Table 2 details Likert scale ratings of paragraphs by story
type. Stories. The mean Likert scale rating of news articles was 1.73 (n=30),
and the mean Likert scale rating of non-news articles was 1.82 (n=55). Story
type did not have a statistically significant impact on Likert scale ratings of
articles; a one-way analysis of variance between story type and mean Likert
rating revealed F=.46, with D.F.=1 and p=.5.
Likert Ratings by Source Type. Chi-square statistics and one-way analyses of
variance all showed no statistically significant relationships between average
Likert Scale ratings of articles and various types of story sources.
H2. The data do not support this hypothesis.
Likert Scale Ratings by Time Period. Paragraphs. Of the 12 quarters in which
the PK received coverage, the highest average score by paragraph for a quarter
was 1.46 (between extremely positive and somewhat positive) in the second
quarter of 1994. The most positive four-quarter period was calendar year 1994
(1.55, 1.46, 1.54, and 1.84, respectively). A cross-tabulation of Likert scale
ratings with quarters (44, N=2219) produced a chi-square statistic of 169.58, p
< .05, suggesting a statistically significant relationship exists between these
two variables. A one-way analysis of variance was performed (11, N=2218), using
Likert scale values as the dependent variable and time periods (quarters) as the
independent variable. This also suggested a statistically significant
relationship (F=4.37, p < .05). However, a regression analysis of these two
variables was performed and produced the fitted line: Y=1.47 + .01X (R2=.00),
where Y=average Likert values and X=time period. Although the line shows
coverage becoming slightly more negative over time, the slope of the line, and
therefore the relationship between these two variables, is not statistically
significant. Stories. A regression analysis of articles' average Likert values
by quarter was performed and produced the fitted line: Y=1.83 - .00X (R2=.00),
where Y=average Likert values and X=time period. Although the line shows
coverage becoming slightly more positive over time (in contrast to the
regression by paragraph, which again, showed coverage becoming slightly more
negative over time), the rate of change, and thus the relationship between these
variables, is not statistically significant. A one-way analysis of variance,
with time as the independent variable and Likert scale rating as the dependent
variable, also did not show a statistically significant relationship (F=1.39;
p=.19; N=84).
H3. The data do not support this hypothesis. Overall, 847 news paragraphs were
published about PK versus 1,372 non-news paragraphs.
Medium Type by Story Type. Paragraphs. PK coverage was handled differently by
medium. While non-elite newspapers and magazines handled PK coverage almost
entirely as non-news, elite publications handled it mostly as news. A
cross-tabulation (2, N=85) of medium type with story type produced a chi-square
statistic of 380.58, p < .05. A statistically significant relationship exists
between these two variables. A one-way analysis of variance (2, N=85) also
indicated a statistically significant relationship (F=229.37, p < .05). See
Table 3. Stories. Elite publications published the highest percentage of news,
and other magazines published the least. A one-way analysis of variance (2,
N=84) established the statistical significance of this relationship (F=4.34, p <
.05).
Article Length by Story Type. To find any relationship between whether an
article was treated as news and its length, a cross-tabulation (39, N=85) was
performed of story types and article length (by number of paragraphs). It
produced a chi-square statistic of 48.88, p=.13; no statistically significant
relationship exists between these two variables. A one-way analysis of variance
(39, N=84) also showed no statistically significant relationship (F=1.36,
p=.08).
Topic Type by Story Type. PK coverage was treated as non-news for every topic
type except Local Events/Organizations, which included the organization's
stadium rallies. A cross-tabulation of topic types by story types produced a
chi-square statistic of 12.51, with p < .05; D.F.=5 (N=85). A statistically
significant relationship exists between these two variables. A one-way analysis
of variance (5, N=84) also indicated a statistically significant relationship
(F=2.73, p < .05). See Table 4.
Time Period by Story Type. Paragraphs. The number and percentage of news
paragraphs did increase overall over time. A cross tabulation (11, N=2219) of
story type with time period produced a chi-square statistic of 626.57, p < .05.
A statistically significant relationship exists between these two variables. A
one-way analysis of variance (11, N=2219), with time period as independent
variable and story type as dependent variable, also showed this (F=78.94, p <
.05). See Table 5. Stories. News and non-news articles seemed to go through
cycles, with news articles dominating the Third Quarter 1992 through Fourth
Quarter 1993, then news for two quarters, then non-news for four quarters, then
news, non-news, and news, respectively, for one quarter each. The reason for
this pattern has not been determined, but may be related to the launching and
timing of the huge stadium events, which tended to get news coverage. A cross
tabulation (12, N=85) between type of story and time period by article produced
a chi-square statistic of 30.77, p < .05. A statistically significant
relationship exists between these two variables. A one-way analysis of variance
(12, N=84) also indicated a statistically significant relationship (F=3.4, p <
.05). See Table 6.
Source Type by Story Type. The two story types were cross-tabulated with each
of the article source types. Only two statistically significant relationships
were revealed. The fewer the religion sources quoted or cited, the more likely a
story was to be non-news. A cross-tabulation (8, N=85) of story types and use of
religion officials as sources produced a chi-square statistic of 16.98, p < .05.
A one-way analysis of variance (8, N=84) also showed a statistically significant
relationship between these two variables (F=2.37, p < .05). Perhaps oddly, news
articles tended to quote 2 to 5 religion officials, while non-news articles
tended to quote either less than 2 or more than 5. See Table 7. In addition, the
fewer the feminists quoted or cited, the more likely the story was to be a
non-news article. A cross-tabulation (2, N=85) of story types and use of
feminist sources produced a chi-square statistic of 8.74, p < .05. A one-way
analysis of variance (2, N=84) also showed a statistically significant
relationship (F=4.7, p < .05). See Table 8.
Story Type by Likert Scale Rating. Paragraphs. PK articles were treated
generally as non-news, regardless of whether they were positive or negative. A
cross-tabulation (4, N=2219) of story type by Likert scale ratings for
paragraphs produced a chi-square statistic of 19.35, p < .05. A statistically
significant relationship exists between these two variables. A one-way analysis
of variance (4, N=2219) confirmed the statistically signficant relationship
between these two variables (F=4.87, p < .05). In short, although Likert scale
values of paragraphs did not differ very much, non-news articles were more
likely to contain negative paragraphs. See Table 9.
Discussion
U.S. print media types are consistent over time in how they cover certain
subjects. This finding contradicts agenda-setting theory in several ways. Much
agenda-setting research and theory indicate that once a subject gets covered a
certain way, that later coverage will be similar, which suggests that coverage
would stay consistent. But it is just as possible that a certain tone has a
snowball effect on coverage, and that, for example, a subject that received 75%
positive coverage initially may over time see that coverage, all other factors
being neutral, become even more positive. Agenda-setting theory indicates that
as an individual, group or movement involved in a social issue gets more
coverage, its opponents will be sought out by the media to "balance" stories,
and that opponents will identify themselves and make themselves available to the
media. This should result in stories becoming less positive over time. This did
not happen in PK's case.
Agenda-setting theory indicates that as a social movement organization receives
coverage, it will review that coverage and adjust its media strategies
accordingly to attempt to get better coverage in the future. Groups can respond
to coverage overall and the emergence of opposition sources, to slow down or
reverse a trend toward more negative coverage, or, ideally, help get even more
positive coverage when they already are receiving positive coverage. But few
patterns of any kind emerged in sources in PK coverage, and patterns that did
emerge linked number of sources to length of article--no surprise since
journalists writing longer stories also usually have the luxury of more time to
find more sources. It is highly unlikely that PK altered their media strategies
just enough to keep otherwise increasingly negative coverage steady in terms of
tone. Again, anecdotal evidence suggests that PK, while not uncooperative with
the media, is not nearly as cooperative as it could be.
The public agenda set by the media apparently is the result of media workers
weighing and prioritizing a subject's characteristics in covering it. Thus, when
characteristics conflict with each other with regard to how news media usually
cover those stories, it should be possible to tell which characteristics were
assigned a higher priority in determining the coverage's nature. For example, it
was hypothesized, based on past research, that PK would receive negative, and
increasingly negative coverage. But data did not support this hypothesis.
PK should have received negative coverage because members were men not acting
in stereotypical ways; they were not advocating a stereotypical male message,
nor expressing a message in typical ways (Christian teachings, rather than as
politics, business or sports); they questioned the status quo in criticizing the
U.S. culture for being too unethical, immoral, racist, materialistic,
unfriendly, etc., and possibly represented a growing social movement within the
country's most powerful demographic (almost all white, middle-class men); they
were yet another conservative Christian organization emerging in the public
sphere; and for other reasons. Yet PK has received overwhelmingly positive
coverage.
One or more considerations in the minds of media workers must outweigh a
theorized predisposition to give PK negative coverage. Perhaps conservative
Christians are now seen by many media workers as the status quo or part of the
status quo, rather than as a threat to it. Perhaps media workers found it
difficult to be critical of an organization that is public, Christian,
anti-racist and promoting racial reconciliation, growing in popularity, causing
men to renew family and community commitments, denying that it is sexist and
saying as little as possible about homosexuality. As Silk argued, media are not
nearly as hostile or apathetic about Judeo-Christian values as popular belief
and commentary about mass media would suggest.29 Perhaps some media workers were
unaware of how conservative PK is, and would have written or edited stories
differently had they known. Perhaps media workers believe that the state of
society has become so grim that an organization like PK--even if the media
workers don't agree with all of the ways in which it has framed social problems,
causes, consequences and solutions--can only do more good than harm.
One characteristic of many PK articles was of note with regard to professional
norms and practices: every paragraph would be neutral or positive until about
two-thirds or three-quarters through the article, then would come one or two
negative paragraphs, followed by a positive conclusion. Other articles mentioned
criticism and opposition only in the middle; in any case, the pattern of a
positive beginning, positive ending, and mostly positive coverage overall
persisted. One sees in this pattern reporters believing that skepticism toward,
or opposition to, PK can't be ignored, but they don't want to give skeptics or
opponents more attention and certainly not more visible attention. It should be
noted that skeptics and opponents to PK have not been limited to isolated
individuals or extreme groups; they have included mainstream Protestant clergy
and seminary professors as well as authorized representatives of major feminist,
gay rights and other national organizations.
Social movements' coverage (conservative Christian revivals in particular) may
not be as negative as is commonly believed and as research and commentary
indicates. Whether this is because the media have changed, the movements have
changed, or both, is unknown and could be the subject of future research. Print
media are not yet taking PK seriously, although this may be changing. When media
believe a subject can affect the status quo, they begin covering it more
skeptically and often negatively, which is assisted and reinforced by
opposition's emergence; PK has been covered generally positively and
superficially. An alternative explanation is that media's experience with
mythopoetism "primed" them to cover PK more positively. A relationship may exist
between how media cover a subject and how popular it is. PK has many more
followers than many previous social movement groups ever did, and received more
positive coverage than many. Perhaps media illogically assume that anything that
is more popular must be more effective, or of higher quality, or otherwise of
more merit. Or perhaps local editors didn't want to have the 40,000 to 50,000
unhappy readers and would-be readers that might result from negative coverage.
(This possibility is compatible with both indirect public agenda-setting, and
sociology of news theory, by suggesting that media sometimes may be as likely to
cover something a particular way, in addition to making a decision whether to
cover the subject at all, based on existing or expected public pressure and
reaction.)
Future research is possible in many directions. Topics that can be explored
include how closely public attitudes and knowledge about PK match media
coverage; the exact nature of PK's media relations policies and practices, and
how they affected coverage; the role of journalists' personal feelings about PK
in how and whether PK received coverage; public attitudes about PK coverage; and
the quality of PK coverage as measured by professional norms (accuracy,
completeness, timeliness, fairness, etc.); reasons for the lack of coverage of
other Christian men's organizations; and explanations why PK received
significantly more and more positive coverage than earlier men's movement
groups.
Table 1: Promise Keepers Coverage Paragraphs by Publication Type, by Likert
Scale Rating
Ratings
Medium Type
1
2
3
4
5
Elite
279
44
27
48
4
Newspapers
917
128
170
127
29
Magainzes
252
59
37
77
21
Totals
1448
231
234
252
54
Table 2: Likert Scale Ratings for Promise Keepers Coverage Paragraphs, by Story
Type
Ratings
Story Type
1
2
3
4
5
News
586
91
66
92
12
Non-news
862
140
168
160
42
Totals
1448
231
234
252
54
Table 3: Promise Keepers Coverage Paragraphs, by Story Type by Medium Type
Medium Type
Story Type
Elite
Newspapers
Magazines
Total
News
277
551
19
847
Non-news
125
820
427
1,372
Totals
402
1371
446
2219
Table 4: Promise Keepers Coverage Articles by Story Type, by Topic Type
Story Type
Topic Type
News
Non-News
Totals
Top Leaders
0
7
7
Literature
0
1
1
Overall Movement
7
22
29
Local Event/Org.
22
21
43
Opposition
1
1
2
Sociocultural
0
3
3
Totals
30
55
85
Table 5: Promise Keepers Coverage Paragraphs by Story Type, by Time Period
News
Non-News
Totals
3rd Qtr. '92
0
31
31
4th Qtr. '92
0
6
6
1st Qtr. '93
0
0
0
2nd Qtr. '93
0
0
0
3rd Qtr. '93
0
41
41
4th Qtr. '93
0
0
0
1st Qtr. '94
22
0
22
2nd Qtr. '94
105
0
105
3rd Qtr. '94
20
71
91
4th Qtr. '94
0
170
170
1st Qtr. '95
0
155
155
2nd Qtr. '95
107
253
360
3rd Qtr. '95
260
258
528
4th Qtr. '95
57
201
258
1st Qtr. '96
276
186
362
Table 6
Promise Keepers Coverage Articles by Story Type, by Time Period
News
Non-News
Totals
3rd Qtr. '92
0
2
2
4th Qtr. '92
0
1
1
1st Qtr. '93
0
0
0
2nd Qtr. '93
0
0
0
3rd Qtr. '93
0
1
1
4th Qtr. '93
0
1
1
1st Qtr. '94
1
0
1
2nd Qtr. '94
3
0
3
3rd Qtr. '94
1
5
6
4th Qtr. '94
0
8
8
1st Qtr. '95
0
4
4
2nd Qtr. '95
4
11
15
3rd Qtr. '95
11
9
20
4th Qtr. '95
1
9
10
1st Qtr. '96
9
4
13
Table 7: Numbers of Religion Officials as Sources in Promise Keepers Coverage,
by Story Type
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
13
totals
News
6
8
8
3
3
1
0
0
1
0
30
Non
30
12
7
3
0
1
1
0
0
1
55
Totals
36
20
15
6
3
2
1
0
1
1
85
Table 8: Numbers of Feminists as Sources in Promise Keepers Coverage, by Story
Type
Story Type
Feminist Sources
News
Non-News
Totals
0
24
54
78
1
4
1
5
2
2
0
2
Totals
30
55
85
Table 9: Likert Scale Ratings for Promise Keepers Coverage Paragraphs, by Story
Type
1
2
3
4
5
Totals
News
586
91
66
92
12
847
Non news
862
140
168
160
42
1,372
Totals
1448
231
234
252
54
2219
NOTES
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