Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Communication, Professional
Date of Award
5-2011
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
John M. King
Committee Members
Karen Harrington, Stephen W. Marshall
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which U.S. newspapers covered the chatter surrounding the 2009/10 healthcare reform debate at the expense of the substance. Also of importance was how the political leanings of newspapers influenced the coverage they gave the issue in terms of tone and page or story prominence. Newspaper endorsement data from Editor & Publisher magazine were used to determine the political leanings of U.S. newspapers based on the candidate they endorsed in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Newspaper articles related to the topic were retrieved from the Lexis-Nexis database and analyzed. The results showed that overall the healthcare reform debate received substantial coverage in U.S. newspapers; but the major part of the coverage was dedicated to the arguments, protests, and thoughts of people concerning the issue (90.3%) rather than the substance of the issue (9.7%). Implications of the results for media practitioners, communication scholars, and researchers were discussed.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Tetteh, Dinah A., "U.S. Newspapers Coverage of The 2009/10 Healthcare Reform Debate: A Content Analysis." (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1256. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1256
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.