Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 5-2010 Editorial Pages and the Marketplace of Ideas: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Three Metropolitan Newspapers Jacob Smith Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Jacob, "Editorial Pages and the Marketplace of Ideas: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Three Metropolitan Newspapers" (2010). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 724. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/724 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EDITORIAL PAGES AND THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS: A QUANTITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF THREE METROPOLITAN NEWSPAPERS by Jacob Smith A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Communication Approved: _________________________ _________________________ Dr. Edward C Pease Dr. Roberta Herzberg Major Professor Committee Member _________________________ _________________________ Dr. Cathy Ferrand Bullock Dr. Byron R. Burnham Committee Member Dean of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2010 ii Copyright © Jacob Smith 2010 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Editorial Pages and the Marketplace of Ideas: A Quantitative Content Analysis of Three Metropolitan Newspapers by Jacob Smith, Master of Science Utah State University, 2010 Major Professor: Dr. Edward C. Pease Department: Journalism and Communication This study was conducted to identify the nature of the content devoted to the 2008 presidential election in the editorial pages of three newspapers. The research sought to discover what percentage of the content was specific to the election, whether this election- centered content focused on the campaign or on specific issues, what issues were covered, and the role in which the author was writing. This study used a comparative quantitative content analysis to examine this content appearing during the final three months of the 2008 campaign in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Dallas Morning News, and the San Francisco Chronicle, three major U.S. metropolitan newspapers with regional focus. The results provided insight into whether a marketplace of ideas exists in the editorial pages of the selected newspapers. Analysis of the election-related material revealed that each newspaper devoted a substantial portion of their editorial pages to the election. However, of that election-centered material, the majority was focused on the campaign, or “horse race,” devoting much less to the discussion of substantive policy issues. The exception was the San Francisco Chronicle, which devoted almost 50% of its election-centered material to substantive issues. Only a handful of issues dominated iv the issue coverage in each newspaper: money, social issues, and defense/foreign policy. The general format for the editorial pages in each newspaper allowed for only a limited amount of diversity with the role in which an author is writing (i.e. the newspaper’s own editorial writers vs. letters to the editor written by citizens). The majority of columns, the portion of the editorial pages where a diversity of authors has the potential to exist, were made up by authors identified by only a handful of roles. (120 pages) v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Edward C. Pease, my major professor, for all of the much needed guidance, direction, and (most importantly) patience during each arduous stage of this study. I would also like to thank Dr. Cathy Ferrand Bullock, for the endless pep talks and the invaluable assistance with method and statistics, and Dr. Roberta Herzberg, for her refreshing insight into the philosophical underpinnings of this research. This study could not have been accomplished without the long hours put in by my dedicated coders, Storee Powell and Kevin Mouritsen. I am deeply indebted to Jarrett Rush of the Dallas Morning News for the time and energy spent in providing me with the necessary articles from the newspaper. I am very grateful for the friendship and editing abilities of Mathew Chayes. I wish to thank my family and friends for the constant reassurance and support they have provided me over the last couple of years. Finally, I wish to thank my beautiful bride, Elly, for her unwavering support and tolerating the endless nights of worry. I love you and could not have made it through this without you. Jacob Smith vi CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… v CONTENTS……………………………..……………………………………………………………………..…………………………. vi LIST OF TABLES………………………………….……………………………………………………..…………………………….. viii INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………. 1 LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………. 3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 27 METHOD…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 29 Newspapers………………………………………….…………………….……………………………………………… 29 Sampling……………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………. 30 Dates………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………… 31 Unit of Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………….……………………. 31 Codebook Categories…………………………………………………………………………………………………. 31 Coders……………………………………………………………………………………………….….……………………. 33 Intercoder Reliability……………………………………………………………………….………………………… 33 Personal Communication with Editors………………………………………………………….……………. 34 RESULTS………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….……………………….. 35 Frequency of Article Type……………………………………………………………………………….…………. 35 Content of the Editorial Pages Specific to the 2008 Election………………………………….…... 36 Election Related Content Devoted to the Campaign and Issues……………………..………….. 39 Issue Frequency…………………………………………………………………………………….…..……………….. 41 Who Wrote the Piece and In What Role Are They Writing………………………………………….. 46 Authors and Issues…………………………………………………………………………………..…………………. 48 DISCUSSION…………………………………………………………………………………………….……….…………………….. 54 Implications from Research Question 1………………………………………………………………………. 54 Implications from Research Question 2………………………………………………….…………………… 56 Implications from Research Question 3………………………………………………….…….…………….. 66 Implications from Research Question 4………………………………………………..…………………….. 70 Study Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research……………………….…..………………… 74 vii REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………………….……..…………………… 78 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………….…………………………..…………………. 83 Appendix A: Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 84 Appendix B: Codebook………………………………………………………………………….…………………. 107 viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page A1 Frequency of Article Type in Each Newspaper…………………………………….………………………. 85 A2 Frequency of Election Related Content by Month and Newspaper……………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….. 86 A3 Frequency of Article Type in Each Newspaper’s Election-Related Content……………………………………………………………………………………….…………….……………….. 87 A4 Frequency of Election-Related Content in Each Newspaper’s Article Type………………………………………………………………………………………..….…………………… 87 A5 Frequency of Campaign-Specific content by Month in Each Newspaper………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………….. 88 A6 Frequency of Campaign Specific Content by Article Type……………………..…………………….. 89 A7 Frequency of Campaign-Specific Content in Each Newspaper’s Article Type………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 89 A8 Frequency and Ranking of Issues for Each Newspaper………………………………………………… 90 A9 Frequency and Ranking of Issues in August for Each Newspaper………………………………… 90 A10 Frequency and Ranking of Issues in September for Each Newspaper…………….……………. 91 A11 Frequency and Ranking of Issues in October/November for Each Newspaper…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………….. 91 A12 Frequency and Ranking of Issues in Editorials for Each Newspaper…………..………………… 92 A13 Frequency and Ranking of Issues in Columns for Each Newspaper…………..……….………… 92 A14 Frequency and Ranking of Issues in Letters to the Editor for Each Newspaper………………..…………………………………………………………………..…………………… 93 A15 Frequency and Ranking of Authors for Each Newspaper…………..……..…………………………. 94 A16 Frequency and Ranking of Authors in Columns for Each Newspaper………....………………. 95 A17 Frequency of Authors in Campaign-Specific Content for Each Newspaper…………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………….. 96 A18 Frequency of Issue-Specific Articles Authored by Citizens………………….……...………………. 97 ix A19 Frequency of Issue-Specific Articles Authored by Editorial Board……………..………………… 97 A20 Frequency of Issue-Specific Articles Authored by In-House Columnists………..……………. 98 A21 Frequency of Issue-Specific Articles Authored by Syndicated Columnists………………………………………………………………………………………..………..………………. 98 A22 Frequency of Issue-Specific Articles Authored by Members of a Non-Profit Organization…………………………………………………………………..……………..………….. 99 A23 Frequency of Issue-Specific Articles Authored by Writers………………………..…………………. 99 A24 Frequency of Issue-Specific Articles Authored by Educators………………………...………….. 100 A25 Frequency and Ranking of Authors in Articles Focused on Defense/Foreign Policy………………………………………………………………..………..…………………. 101 A26 Frequency and Ranking of Authors in Articles Focused on Energy…………..………………… 102 A27 Frequency and Ranking of Authors in Articles Focused on Healthcare…………….……….