Media Coverage

Many Americans likely believe that the media exists as an unbiased information storehouse to which they, as voters, can turn in order to help inform their decisions regarding candidates and initiatives on the ballot each election year. In cases of particularly politically charged measures, such as California's 1994 Proposition 187 and Arizona's 2004 Proposition 200, however, this is not necessarhly the case. Alericans tend to forget that major newspapers are, by and large, privately owned and are under no legal obligation to fairly represent both sides of every story in their reporting. On first glance, it appears two particular newspapers carrying major coverage of Propositions 187 and 200 -- the San Francisco Chronicle and the Arizona Republic -- make such an attempt, but with close analysis, their bias is revealed. The question that is particularly relevant to this study is whether or not the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have influenced the level or position of media reporting on immigration issues facing American voters.

Looking first toward coverage of California's Proposition 187 in the San Francisco Chronicle, one finds an overwhelming bias against the initiative that voters overwhelmingly approved in the 1994 election, but which was eventually overturned by the a federal court five years later and never enforced. Considering articles that appeared over a five-week pe

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of non-enforcement to the sudden expulsion of kids from school" (Saunders, 1994, para.9). Despite the fact that she cited the "No" side earlier in the piece as saying that expulsion from school would be unlikely because it is unconstitutional, Saunders herself either ignored that statement or effectively discredited that source by asserting the expulsions would in fact take place and found it necessary to warn the general public of the fallout of such a change in policy. Finally, a third article titled, "Prop.187 Challenged in Court/Demonstrators Protest Passage," was written by Isabel Williams appeared on the front page, A1. The article has a seemingly (and surprisingly) neutral tone on first examination, but the sources Williams used in reporting "both sides of the issue" reveal her bias -- this time in a pro-187 direction. In reporting the pro-187 side of the court battle raging over the recently approved initiative, Williams (1994) quotes sources such as then-Governor Pete Wilson and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (R-Huntington Beach). On the contrary, Williams (1994) posited 12-, 13-, and 14-year old students, who believed they have "political rights" even though they ard not of legal age to vote, to largely voice the anti
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Francisco Chronicle, Arizona Republic, R-Huntington Beach, Dianne Feinstein, Head Court, Media Coverage, Magic Kingdom/Disillusioned, Arizona University, Isabel Williams, Prop200 Vote, proposition 187, arizona republic, san francisco chronicle, francisco chronicle, proposition 200, san francisco, yoachum 1994, saunders 1994, credible sources, prop 200, immigration issues, march 17 2005, arizona republic electronic, republic electronic version, reporting immigration issues,
Approximate Word count = 2034
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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