Primary News Source Changes: Question Wording, Availability, and Cohort Effects

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Abstract
This reanalysis of Roper public opinion data from the 1937–1987 period reflects the answers of approximately 45,000 randomly selected Americans. The study compares the effects of question wording, media availability, and birth year in surveys that ask about preferred media. Between 1937 and 1987 the U.S. public's primary news source shifted from newspapers to radio and then to television, according to Roper data. This analysis finds that a high percentage of the variance can be accounted for by question wording, availability, or birth year. Findings suggest that television has displaced radio more than newspapers, compatible with the idea of a functional equivalence between TV and radio.

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