COVERAGE OF THE 1993 ST. PETERSBURG MAYORAL ELECTION: A COMPARISON OF THE TAMPA TRIBUNE AND THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES VALERIE E.

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1 COVERAGE OF THE 1993 ST. PETERSBURG MAYORAL ELECTION: A COMPARISON OF THE TAMPA TRIBUNE AND THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES VALERIE E. KASPER A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts School of Mass Comlnunications University of South Florida May 1995 Major Professor: Robert W. Dardenne, Ph.D.

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Statement of Purpose Justification of Problem Research Question CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 3. BACKGROUND History of the St. Petersburg Black American Community Segregation The Police Force Voting St. Petersblrrg Tin] es 1993 Mayoral Race CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH DESIGN Methodology CHAPTER 5. RESULTS Articles Sentences HeadlinesISubheads Pictures CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS & DISCUSSION Role of the Press in Campaign Coverage LIST OF REFERENCES

3 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1. APPENDIX 2. ST. PETERSB IJRG TIMES DATA COLLECTION SHEET FOR SENTENCES ST. PETERSBIJRG TIMES DATA COLLECTION SHEET FOR HEADLINES APPENDIX 3. ST. PETERSB URG TIMES DATA COLLECTION SHEET FOR PICTURES APPENDIX 4. THE TAMPA TRIBUNE DATA COLLECTION SHEET FOR SENTENCES APPENDIX 5?'HE TAMPA TRIBUNE DATA COLLECTION SHEET FOR HEADLINES APPVDIX 6. THE TAMPA TRlB IJNE DATA COLLECTION SHEET FOR PICTURE APPENDIX 7. CODING SHEET

4 COVERAGE OF THE 1993 ST. PETERSBURG MAYORAL ELECTION A COMPARISON OF THE TAMPA TRIBUNE AND THE ST PETERSBURG TIMES VALERIE E. KASPER An Abstract Of a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science School of Mass Communications University of South Florida May 1995 Major Professor: Robert W. Dardenne, Ph.D. i v

5 The problem is that the role of the media is not precisely or uniformly defined regarding election coverage. In the 1960s, the role of the media was to report about the candidates. Journalists did little more than set the stage for the candidate, whose information dominated the coverage (Hallin, 1991). Between the elections of the 1960s and the elections of the 1980s, there was a significant change in coverage. The 1970s and 1980s were described by some as decades of media dominance (Hallin, 1991). During election coverage, the media set the agenda, decided on the issues, and in some cases predicted the outcome. The "character" issue and "horserace" coverage emerged. As character issues became a major part of election coverage, charges of bias came from political camps as candidates' personal lives were in the daily news. Horserace coverage also led to charges of bias from the critics and politicians..because of the charges of bias that emerged from the critics during the late 1980s and early 1990s, there have been recent attempts to change the way elections are covered. The majority of reform efforts in news coverage during elections was aimed at national elections. Perhaps, this is why few of these reform efforts were visible in the coverage of the St. Petersbutg Times or The Tampa Tribune during the 1993 mayoral race in St. Petersburg when former chief of police Ernest Curtsinger ran against incumbent David Fischer. The campaigns were covered by both Bay Area newspapers, the Times and the Tribune. Both newspapers endorsed Fischer; however, the 7'in.te.s and Curtsinger had an antagonistic past. The purpose of this study was to analyze the coverage both newspapers provided

6 the public during the local election. Through a content analysis, both newspapers were analyzed for biased reporting and the role they played in providing the public with information needed to make an informed decision. This study examined whether the coverage was balanced, whether the press gave either candidate preferential treatment, and whether the coverage the candidates received was extremely favorable, favorable, neutral, unfavorable, or extremely unfavorable. This type of analysis allowed not only the amount of coverage each candidate received to be studied, but also the type of coverage (extremely favorable, favorable, neutral, unfavorable, or extremely unfavorable) each candidate received to be studied. The analyzed articles from the 1993 St. Petersburg mayoral race were divided into the following areas: (1) articles, (2) sentences, (3) headlines and subheads, and (4) pictures. Overall coverage of the 1993 St. Petersburg mayoral race appeared to be biased unfavorably towards Curtsinger in both newspapers. The Times was more biased than the Tribirne, which may be attributed to the race being in its city. The Tribune had more neutral coverage than the Times. Major Professor: Robert W. Dardenne, Ph.D. Associate Professor, School of Mass Communications Date Approved: $+/&/h-

7 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Table 2. Table 3. Table 4. Table 5. Table 6. Table 7. Table /8. Table 9. Type of Story Type of Article Coverage Headline Analysis St. Pctersbrrrg Times Data Collection Sheet for Sentences St. Petersbutg Times Data Collection Sheet for Headlines Sf. Petersburg Times Data Collection Sheet for Pictures The Tanzpa Tribrtne Data Collection Sheet for Sentences The Tarnya Tribune Data Collection Sheet for Headlines The Tarnpa l'ribune Data Collection Sheet for Pictures