An in-depth study, analysis or review exploring the media
Special Reports
1st Jun, 2012 1:34pm
Executive SummaryReporters consider most risky products newsworthy, but tobacco gets
far more coverage than any other risky product, including such illegal
drugs as cocaine and marijuana. This is one conclusion of a special
year-long, two-part study of news coverage of risky products. The
study, conducted by the Media Research Center's Free Market Project,
analyzes network morning and evening news shows between August 1, 1995
and July 31, 1996. The study found:
Tobacco as a risk problem is…
1st Jun, 2012 1:25pm
Executive SummaryHigh-circulation women's and family magazines use most of their ink
to focus on lifestyle issues -- relationships between dating and
married couples, parenting, home decorating, fashions and personal
care, and dieting. Surprisingly, many also deal with public policy
issues relating to government activism and women's and families' health
and safety.
A joint Consumer Alert / Media Research Center study of 13 women's
and family magazines analyzed the October 1995 through September…
1st Jun, 2012 1:19pm
Executive SummaryWhat kind of messages about business and the American workplace does
prime time tele-vision send to viewers? To find out, the Free Market
Project of the Media Research Center (MRC) analyzed 17 weeks of prime
time fare over 26 months -- a total of 863 sitcoms, dramas, and
made-for-TV movies on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. The MRC found that:
TV businessmen commit more crimes than those in any other occupation.
Of the 514 criminals on TV during the study period, 150 (29.2 percent)…
1st Jun, 2012 12:49pm
Executive SummaryAccording to the National Council on Economic Education, 79 percent
of Americans get their information about the economy from television.
When the network news shows fail to provide context in economic stories
or simply leave basic economic facts out of their reports, most
Americans remain uninformed. Timothy Lamer, Director of the MRC's Free
Market Project, identified five important economic facts that network
reporters routinely ignore:
The wealthiest Americans pay most of…
1st Jun, 2012 12:37pm
Executive SummaryPolls from groups as diverse as Greenpeace and Citizens for a Sound
Economy show that most climate scientists are skeptical of claims that
the climate change of the 20th century has been a result of greenhouse
gas emissions. This is news to network reporters. A study from the
MRC's Free Market Project demonstrates that over the past five years
reporters have presented a highly distorted picture of the global
warming debate. Specifically, researchers found:
1) Thirty-nine of…
31st May, 2012 1:46pm
Executive SummaryMajor media figures reprimanded themselves for going "too far" with
too little information on the Monica Lewinsky story. But a Media
Research Center analysis of past TV coverage by Tim Graham presents
five Clinton practices that deserve investigation in the Lewinsky case
that the network news has downplayed or ignored in non-sexual scandals:Hush Money for Friendly Witnesses. Before disgraced former
Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell testified before Whitewater
counsel…
31st May, 2012 1:30pm
Executive SummaryA recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, reported in the April 9 Wall Street Journal,
asked Americans which they would prefer: a candidate who advocates
cutting taxes, or a candidate who favors more spending on education and
child care. Only 39 percent preferred a tax-cutting candidate, while 55
percent wanted a candidate who would spend more money.
One possible explanation for the relatively low popularity of tax
cuts is that they get bad press. Network news reports…
31st May, 2012 1:16pm
Executive SummaryWhen Hillary Rodham Clinton urged the media to investigate the "vast
right-wing conspiracy" against her husband, the donations of Richard M.
Scaife became the subject of unusual media scrutiny. Scaife drew
controversy not by funding conservative policy analysis, but by funding
investigative journalism which reflected badly on the President.
Investigative journalism on the the President was considered an
essential civic duty in the Reagan years. Current reporting suggests
it’s…
31st May, 2012 1:09pm
Executive SummaryThe January 21, 1998 version of this Special Report has been
updated with additional research and analysis. The MRC re-released the
revised copy on July 22, 1998.
As the 25th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade fades and the Congress and
President engage in another passage-and-veto cycle on partial-birth
abortions, the Media Research Center asked: Do the national media
report fairly on abortion? In a broad overview of five years of
studies, a team of MRC media analysts has documented…
31st May, 2012 12:56pm
Executive SummaryMay 14, 1999, updated from April 26 edition: If TV anchors
regularly suggest viewers should worry about everyday threats like
spoiled hamburgers or "monster" sport utility vehicles, why can’t they
report on the threat posed by the Chinese theft of secrets that may
make their nuclear missiles arrive with better aim and increased
deadliness? The nation’s most prestigious newspapers have published
scoop after scoop detailing the connections between Chinese
contributions and…