The Big Three's Prime-Time Decline: A Technological and Social Context

Hindman, Douglas Blanks; Wiegand, B A Kenneth

doi:10.1080/08838150701820924

Cited by 24 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Newspapers were identified by choosing the "major US newspapers" option in the LexisNexis database. Also, included was a TV network sample consisting of ABC, NBC, and CBS, which are the original "big three" networks in the US (Hindman & Wiegand, 2008). In comparative communication research, Wirth and Kolb (2012) stress the importance of sample equivalence, specifically construct or functional equivalence.…”

Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Presidential framing in the Christine Blasey Ford and Anita Hill cases

Blumell

Mulupi

2020

The Communication Review

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Anita Hill's testimony against Clarence Thomas in 1991 called attention to widespread sexual abuse in the US. Testimony from Christine Blasey Ford against Thomas Kavanaugh 27 years later underscored the lack of progress in its eradication. Using the cascading network activation model, this study identifies the episodic and thematic framing of both cases in relation to top down influencers. A content analysis (N = 901) of US newspapers and TV networks showed episodic framing dominated coverage in both cases. Both Bush and Trump successfully emphasized their nominee as deserving of SCOTUS. Trump also significantly contributed to the negative framing of Blasey Ford. Thematically, Republican-led framing focused on American values and maintaining the rule of law, whereas Democratic-led framing concentrated on raising awareness to the systemic problem of sexual abuse and threat the nominee posed to progressive rights. News coverage included challenging both presidents, but only for a total of 15.9% for Trump and 10.7% for Bush. On the other hand, Hill was challenged in 40.5% and Blasey Ford in 73% of news coverage. In sum, even with strong opposition, the cascade model's success indicates that White House messaging continues to usurp social justice issues. Background"This was an extremely hard thing for me to do, but I felt I couldn't NOT do it." (Vesoulis, 2018). An estimated 20.4 million viewers along with millions more online heard the words of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford during the Senate hearing for SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) nominee Brett Kavanaugh (Reuters, 2018). Kavanaugh was a Republican nominee put forward by Donald Trump (Reuters, 2018). Blasey Ford went on to testify that when at a high school party, Kavanaugh and his friend locked her in a bedroom, pinned her down on a bed, assaulted her while covering her mouth to muffle her screams, and attempted to rape her (Vesoulis, 2018). Blasey Ford also stated that she managed to run out of the room before being raped, and that "Brett's assault on me drastically altered my life" (Vesoulis, 2018). Less than two weeks later, the US Senate confirmed Kavanaugh to SCOTUS (Daniel, Lee, & Simon, 2018).For many, the story was familiar. Nearly three decades earlier, 27 million people (Rucinski, 1993) listened to Anita Hill say in a Senate hearing for SCOTUS nominee Clarence Thomas, "It would have been more comfortable to remain silent . . . I felt that I had to tell the truth. I could not keep silent" ("Nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas," 1991). Thomas was a Republican nominee put forward by George H.W. Bush. Hill accused Thomas of sexually harassing her at work when he was in a managerial position at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC, Totenberg, 2018). The US Senate also confirmed Thomas to SCOTUS (Totenberg, 2018).This study examines the framing of news coverage in the Hill and Blasey Ford cases to identify the influencers, the wider implications of the framing, and to compare and contrast both cases.

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Section: Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Presidential framing in the Christine Blasey Ford and Anita Hill cases

Blumell

Mulupi

2020

The Communication Review

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“…The study also examined content in broadcast news transcripts, again using the Nexis database. Following Golan (2006), network news broadcasts included what scholars (e.g., Hindman & Wiegand, 2008) have termed the Big Three-ABC, CBS, and NBC. The study also followed Myrick, Major, and Jankowski (2014), who added content from CNN to network news broadcasts.…”

Section: Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coverage of the Russian Doping Scandal in the New York Times: Intramedia and Intermedia Attribute Agenda-Setting Effects

Denham

2018

Communication & Sport

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When it publishes a major investigative report or exposé, a prominent news organization can transfer the salience of both an issue and its attributes to other news outlets. Major investigations can also affect how reporters in the same outlet think about an issue in the news. The present study examines intramedia and intermedia agenda-setting effects in the context of sport, drawing on allegations of a state-sponsored doping program in Russian athletics. In May 2016, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, a former doping official in Russia, described the program to reporters at the New York Times, and the ensuing front-page story impacted coverage both internally and externally. The current study considers the implications of these effects for sports journalism and individual athletes.

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“…These regulations required television stations to be politically neutral. Furthermore, television during this era was dominated by the “big three” networks—the American Broadcasting Company, the Columbia Broadcasting System, and the National Broadcasting Company (Hindman & Wiegand, 2008). Since these networks faced little competition, they did not have an incentive to differentiate and provide biased news to viewers in order to carve out a market.…”

Section: Tv and The Effect Of Partisan Newspapersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Did Television Reduce the Effect of Partisan Press on Electoral Politics?

Song

2018

American Politics Research

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In this study, I examine whether the effect of biased media can be reduced when voters have an alternative source of political information. Specifically, I investigate whether the introduction of television mitigated the effect of partisan press on U.S. presidential elections from 1944 to 1964. I first show that newspaper coverage of presidential campaigns during this period was affected by newspapers’ party affiliations and their readers’ political preferences. The main finding of this study is that television decreased the correlation between the circulation of partisan newspapers and parties’ vote share. The results suggest that the existence of centrist media can make voters less susceptible to partisan media.

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The Big Three's Prime-Time Decline: A Technological and Social Context

Cited by 24 publications

References 37 publications

Presidential framing in the Christine Blasey Ford and Anita Hill cases

Presidential framing in the Christine Blasey Ford and Anita Hill cases

Coverage of the Russian Doping Scandal in the New York Times: Intramedia and Intermedia Attribute Agenda-Setting Effects

Did Television Reduce the Effect of Partisan Press on Electoral Politics?

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