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"Reliable Sources" in Cable News: Analyzing Network Fragmentation in Coverage of Reform Policy
Bethany Anne Conway-Silva1, Jennifer N Ervin2, Kate Kenski3
1Department of Communication Studies, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA.
Journalism Studies
|June 4, 2021
Summary
Cable news outlets like CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC show varied sourcing in coverage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and Clean Power Plan (CPP). Source networks were fragmented, with politicians being a common exception, and CPP sourcing declined over time.
Area of Science:
- Media Studies
- Political Communication
- Social Network Analysis
Background:
- News media play a crucial role in shaping public understanding of significant policy initiatives.
- Understanding media sourcing patterns is key to analyzing agenda-building processes and political discourse.
- The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Clean Power Plan (CPP) were major policy developments with extensive media coverage.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze and compare the sourcing networks of major cable news outlets (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC) during coverage of the PPACA and CPP.
- To investigate variations in source diversity and network structure across different news channels and policy topics.
- To identify patterns in media sourcing related to agenda-building and political influence.
Main Methods:
- Utilized social network analysis (SNA) to map and quantify the sources cited in news coverage.
- Conducted two case studies focusing on news coverage of the PPACA and the CPP.
- Examined source diversity and network fragmentation across CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.
Main Results:
- Significant variation in the extent and structure of sourcing was observed across the three news outlets.
- CNN utilized the smallest source network, MSNBC the largest, with Fox News in between.
- Source networks were largely fragmented, with high-profile politicians being a notable exception across outlets.
- Sourcing for the PPACA remained relatively stable, while CPP coverage showed a decrease in the number of sources over time.
Conclusions:
- News outlets exhibit distinct sourcing strategies influenced by policy context and potentially driven by agenda-building processes.
- The fragmentation of source networks, barring prominent political figures, suggests limited diversity in information sources for major policy news.
- Temporal changes in sourcing for the CPP indicate evolving media dynamics or shifting news priorities during policy implementation.
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