Media Bias in Presidential Elections: A Meta-Analysis

TLDR

The study examines partisan media bias in presidential election campaigns, focusing on gatekeeping, coverage, and statement bias. The authors performed a meta‑analysis of 59 quantitative studies on partisan media bias in presidential election campaigns from 1948 onward. The analysis found no significant biases in newspapers or newsmagazines, and only small, likely insubstantial coverage and statement biases in television network news.

Abstract

A meta-analysis considered 59 quantitative studies containing data concerned with partisan media bias in presidential election campaigns since 1948. Types of bias considered were gatekeeping bias, which is the preference for selecting stories from one party or the other; coverage bias, which considers the relative amounts of coverage each party receives; and statement bias, which focuses on the favorability of coverage toward one party or the other. On the whole, no significant biases were found for the newspaper industry. Biases in newsmagazines were virtually zero as well. However, meta-analysis of studies of television network news showed small, measurable, but probably insubstantial coverage and statement biases.