News Source Use in the Crash of 1987: A Study of Four National Media

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Abstract
Employing content analysis, this study examines coverage of the stock market crash in 1987 for October and November by CBS Evening News, Newsweek, The New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. The news media published/presented 167 crash stories, citing 1022 sources from business, government, academic life, Wall Street, lobbyists, and others. Sources differed, with the government sources mentioning causes of the crash — most often the national debt — while business and lobbyist sources focused more on effects. Print media favored Wall Street sources — and used more sources in general — while CBS favored government sources. This study finds, as hypothesized, that news media favor high prestige sources, and that use of different sources resulted in distinctly different slants. Public views of the crash would have been shaped as much by the sources cited as medium read/viewed.

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