Examination of Bias in Reporting Stories About Gays in the Military, 1993-1995, and Women in Combat, 1991-1995 in Time, Newsweek, and U.s. News & World Report

Abstract

This thesis is a content analysis of bias in coverage of gays in the military and women in combat in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report. The actual time period covered in gays in the military was from January 1, 1993, to January 1, 1995, and women in combat was from January 1, 1991, to January 1, 1995. The author examined the three newsmagazines for extent of bias as well as for types of bias against gays in the military and women in combat. Proportions of coverage were calculated for the extent of bias. The types of bias were broken down into seven categories of adjective bias, verbal bias, adverbial bias, attribution bias, contextual bias, outright opinion and photographic bias. The biases were also determined to be either positive or negative.