The Broken Quill: Journalism in Congressional Campaigns.

This study examines the way a national sample of political reporters (N = 71) covers congressional campaigns. Interviews with journalists, content analysis of news columns, and contextual features of each district (e.g., Federal Election Commission reports of expenditures, vote tallies) are combined to create an unusual view of the workings of the local press. Evidence is arrayed in chronological fashion: from newsgathering practices, through journalistic screening mechanisms, to news columns. Newsgathering techniques deserve scrutiny because they reveal novel insights into how much reporters know about c and idates and how much news space they capture. Newsmaking during campaigns is the result of interaction between two sets of organizational resources: the newspaper's (e.g., energy of the reporter) and the c and idate's (e.g., tenure in office or size of campaign war chest). Journalists' selective use of facts and events is shaped by professional st and ards of newsworthiness and expectations about audience interest. We examine these discretionary filters through which news events flow. Analysis compares the way journalists perceive congressional races, judge the merits and liabilities of the contenders, and write about the campaign in news articles. Reporters' subjective interpretation mediates between c and idate appeals promoted on the campaign trail and copy appearing in news articles. In particular, challengers' issue st and s and ties to electorally significant groups fade from view. News attention, for both incumbents and challengers, varies with competitiveness of race. Campaigns with tight outcomes receive vastly more coverage than less hotly contested races. Ironically, incumbents draw much more coverage than challengers in precisely those races where challengers have a chance of gaining victory--races with close outcomes. The most revealing way to underst and this incumbent-challenger gap is by examining types of reporting themes. Some news topics are treated in a balanced way; others are not. The findings offer clues to underst and ing the stronghold incumbents occupy in congressional contests. This research also highlights reportorial practices that might affect voters' ability to make reasoned choices at the polls.PhDMass communicationUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/158440/1/8125108.pd