How much does ownership matter? Deliberative discourse in local media coverage of the Terri Schiavo case

Abstract

This article contributes to a more systematic understanding of the role of newspaper ownership in deliberative processes by analyzing how inclusive local newspapers are of diverse perspectives on the Terri Schiavo case. Drawing on a content analysis of 1182 stories, we use multinomial logistic regression to analyze how ownership affects what ideas are included in the discussion as well as the tone with which they are discussed. We find that ownership indeed matters. Independently owned newspapers cover controversial ideas more often – even on the opinion pages. We also find that geography matters. Newspapers closest to the event epicenter include more stories and a broader range of perspectives regarding the Schiavo case. We discuss the implications of this research for understanding the role of economics in deliberative processes.