Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008

Evaluation via Formal Measurement

David W. D'Alessio

Accusations of partisan bias in Presidential election coverage are suspect at best and self-serving at worst. They are generally supported by the methodology of instance confirmation, tainted by the hostile media effect, and based on simplistic visions of how the news media are organized. Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008 by Dave D’Alessio, is a revealing analysis that shows the news media have four essential natures: as journalistic entities, businesses, political actors, and property, all of which can act to create news coverage biases, in some cases in opposing directions. By meta-analyzing the results of 99 previous examinations of media coverage of Presidential elections from 1948 to 2008, D’Alessio reveals that coverage has no aggregate partisan bias either way, even though there are small biases in specific realms that are generally insubstantial. Furthermore, while publishers used to control coverage preferences, this practice has become negligible in recent years. Media Bias proves that, at least in terms of Presidential election coverage, The New York Times is not the most liberal paper in America and the Fox News channel is substantially more conservative in news coverage than the broadcast networks. Finally, Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008 predicts that no amount of evidence will cause political candidates to cease complaining about bias because such accusations have both strategic potential in campaigns and an undeniable utility in ego defense.

Lexington Books

Pages: 156 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-0-7391-6474-7 • Hardback • March 2012 • $113.00 • (£87.00)

978-0-7391-6475-4 • Paperback • May 2013 • $55.99 • (£43.00)

978-0-7391-6476-1 • eBook • March 2012 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

Series: Lexington Studies in Political Communication

Subjects: Political Science / Political Process / Campaigns & Elections, Social Science / Media Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Political Communication

Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008

Evaluation via Formal Measurement

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Accusations of partisan bias in Presidential election coverage are suspect at best and self-serving at worst. They are generally supported by the methodology of instance confirmation, tainted by the hostile media effect, and based on simplistic visions of how the news media are organized. Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008 by Dave D’Alessio, is a revealing analysis that shows the news media have four essential natures: as journalistic entities, businesses, political actors, and property, all of which can act to create news coverage biases, in some cases in opposing directions. By meta-analyzing the results of 99 previous examinations of media coverage of Presidential elections from 1948 to 2008, D’Alessio reveals that coverage has no aggregate partisan bias either way, even though there are small biases in specific realms that are generally insubstantial. Furthermore, while publishers used to control coverage preferences, this practice has become negligible in recent years. Media Bias proves that, at least in terms of Presidential election coverage, The New York Times is not the most liberal paper in America and the Fox News channel is substantially more conservative in news coverage than the broadcast networks. Finally, Media Bias in Presidential Election Coverage 1948-2008 predicts that no amount of evidence will cause political candidates to cease complaining about bias because such accusations have both strategic potential in campaigns and an undeniable utility in ego defense.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 156 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-0-7391-6474-7 • Hardback • March 2012 • $113.00 • (£87.00)

978-0-7391-6475-4 • Paperback • May 2013 • $55.99 • (£43.00)

978-0-7391-6476-1 • eBook • March 2012 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

Series: Lexington Studies in Political Communication

Subjects: Political Science / Political Process / Campaigns & Elections, Social Science / Media Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Communication Studies, Language Arts & Disciplines / Political Communication

Author

Dave D'Alessio is an associate professor of communication sciences at the Stamford regional campus of the University of Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: On the Nature of Media Bias
Chapter Two: Forces Acting on the News
Chapter Three: The Challenges of Measuring Bias
Chapter Four: Are "The Media" "Biased"?
Chapter Five: Myths and Realities of Coverage
Chapter Six: Conclusions, Caveats, and Ruminations

Reviews

D’Alessio provides important perspective on a critical issue in presidential politics. Media Bias in Presidential ElectionCoverage, as a whole, presents one of our most comprehensive works on the subject.

— Presidential Studies Quarterly

Communications scientist Dave D'Alessio employs social scientific methods to examine media coverage across sixteen presidential elections from 1948 through 2008, evaluating potential bias based on party, ideology, type of medium, volume of coverage, tone or valance, and public or private ownership. . . .At the end of his study, D'Alessio synthesizes his findings and provides direction for future research. . . .The book contains the full data set, which will be a benefit for all subsequent examinations of media bias.
— International Social Science Review

"A thoughtful and sophisticated analysis of a complex issue."
— Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania

"This book is an important contribution to a significant topic: bias in news coverage of presidential campaigns. The book confirms and extends a previous study with substantially more data and with new data. This is an important resource for those interested in campaigns and in news coverage."
— William L. Benoit, University of Alabama, Birmingham