A content analysis on labor coverage, 1979 through 1994, in the Muncie star and Evening press

This study tried to find support for the hypothesis that newspaper labor coverage has declined since the early 1980s. It used a content analysis of 240 issues of the Muncie (Ind.) Star and the Muncie Evening Press, a morning and an afternoon newspaper, measuring labor stories in terms of frequency and square column-inches. Labor stories were defined as news items that concerned wage earners or unionized personnel, including salaried union members. The period studied was from 1979 to 1994. Composite months were created for each newspaper representing the years 1979, 1984, 1989, and 1994, yielding eight bodies of data. Newshole from a representative sample of 40 issues, drawn from the larger sample of 240, was also analyzed to obtain daily newshole means in square column-inches for each of the eight bodies of data.To determine significance, data were compared using chi-square analysis. Newshole content did not significantly change for the Evening Press, but it did significantly increase for the Star from '79 to '94. No support was found for the hypothesis that the Evening Press's labor coverage would significantly decrease from '79 to '94. Also, no support was found for the hypothesis that the Evening Press's cumulative labor coverage over the years studied would be significantly greater than the Star's. However, the Star was found to have significantly decreased labor coverage in '94 when compared to '79, supporting the second hypothesis. When the increase in daily newshole mean was considered, this significant discrepancy was even more striking.The Star was found to have carried slightly more labor stories than the Evening Press over the period analyzed. This difference was not significant. Each newspaper experienced a decline in number of labor stories when comparing 1979 to 1994. The Star's decrease was found to be significant, but the Evening Press's decrease was not.The strongest support for the overall premise of declining newspaper coverage was that the Star's number of labor stories per year and the space devoted to those stories decreased significantly over the 15-year period while its newshole means increased.Also, while the Evening Press's labor coverage in square column-inches did not decrease, its number of labor stories per year did decrease uniformly over the four years analyzed.The Evening Press unexpectedly showed less labor coverage than the Star, in number of stories and in total space of coverage. However, its square column-inches per story mean was slightly higher than the Star's, suggesting that the Star carried more labor briefs than the other newspaper. This result can be explained by the Star's greater newshole means allowing it more space for briefs.Department of JournalismThesis (M.A.