"How bias shapes the news: Challenging The New York Times' status as a " by Barbie Zelizer

Departmental Papers (ASC)

Title

How bias shapes the news: Challenging The New York Times' status as a newspaper of record on the Middle East

Author(s)

Barbie Zelizer, University of Pennsylvania

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of this Version

December 2002

Comments

Postprint version. Published in Journalism: Theory, Practice, and Criticism, Volume 3, Issue 3, December 2002, pages 283-308.
Publisher URL: http://jou.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/3/3/283

Abstract

This article addresses bias in the American press and shows how the inevitability of reporting from a point of view challenges the possibility of a newspaper of record on the Middle East. Examining 30 days of coverage of the Intifada, it both shows that coverage of events varied across three mainstream US newspapers - The New York Times, The Washington Post and Chicago Tribune - and demonstrates that in the case of the newspaper most often called a newspaper of record - The New York Times -coverage varied in distinct ways from other mainstream newspapers. The article thus considers how the Times reputation and influence converge with its record in creating a broader impression about the perspective of the US press on the Middle East.

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