The media has a substantial influence on the shape of public opinion, and it is important to understand how the landscape of media is changing, as well as how news coverage portrays issues, individuals and groups of people. The Project for Excellence in Journalism through Pew Research Center recently released two studies, one examining where local news comes from in Baltimore, and another looking at coverage of Latinos in the news. Pew Research Center also released findings from an important new study on race relations, which we will discuss further in the upcoming Public Opinion Monthly report. To see more analysis of public opinion pertaining to race relations, please see the Public Opinion Monthly November Roundup.
Where is the News Coming From?
A recent study by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism examined the “modern news ecosystem” of Baltimore to gain an understanding of how people get news about their communities and the role of alternative news sources such as blogs and new media. In this study, they found that traditional media outlets – print, television and radio – are producing fewer new stories and doing less original reporting, but new media has not, as yet, picked up the slack. Fifty-three media outlets producing local news were identified, and six news threads were studied. More than eight in ten local news stories were redundant, only 17% of the stories included new information.
New media is not producing original stories as much as it is increasing the speed with which stories are disseminated, as well as expanding the breadth of distribution. The media network has expanded, resulting in more options by which a consumer can get their news, but ultimately the news they receive is likely a reproduction of previously published information. Further, ninety-five percent of stories containing new information came from “old media”, most notably from newspapers. A majority (63%) of of these stories were initiated by statements issued by government officials, and only 14% were initiated by the press. It is unclear whether the findings from this media snapshot of Baltimore can be generalized to the rest of the country, but additional reports could provide greater insight on a larger scale.
Latinos in the News
Another study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism conducted a media content analysis exploring the coverage and portrayal of Latinos as they constitute a quickly growing sector of the US population, and are the largest minority group in the country. The study examined over 34,000 news stories from 55 American news outlets during a six-month period from February to August of 2009, and found that only 645 stories – or 2% of the news content studied – contained “substantial references” to Latinos. Of these, a mere 57 stories focuses on the lives and experiences of Latinos in the US. Consequently, a significant takeaway from this study is that the portrayal of Latinos in the media most often “comes as bits and pieces inside coverage of other news events.”
The biggest storyline referencing Latinos was regarding the nomination and confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, accounting for 39% of news coverage related to Latinos, with almost half of all storylines related to Sotomayor mentioning her heritage. Trailing far behind at just 15% of relevant coverage of Latinos was the Mexican drug war, then the outbreak of H1N1 accounting for 13% of storylines. Immigration came in fourth place, making up just 8.4% of news coverage of Latinos.
Regarding Sotomayor, the historic nomination of the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice was largely portrayed as a story of achievement, despite the partisan debate over her experience, qualifications and philosophy. In the coverage of immigration, Latinos were mentioned more than any other ethnic group, with 34% of coverage on immigration referencing Latinos, compared to 3% referencing Asians. Most people associate immigration with Latinos as they make up nearly half (47.4%) of all US immigrants. Immigration policy was the most common theme, and though it was hotly debated on the campaign trail in 2008, it largely fell off of the radar in the first year of the Obama administration. Finally, stories that dealt with the experiences and lives of Latinos in the US commonly focused on the impact of the recession, with several pieces discussing declining remittances to relatives in home countries.
Read more at The Opportunity Agenda website.
