A content analysis was performed on all of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Nine O'Clock News and ITV (Independent Television) News at Ten programs that were broadcast during Britain's year-long miners' strike--March 1984-March 1985--and a four-month sample of Channel 4 news to examine how television news covered a protracted story of industrial relations gone wrong. Three surveys were also conducted to ask the public their opinions on various aspects of the strike and its coverage by television news. These data were then analyzed to test hypotheses about balance, agenda setting, audience perception of the issues, adequacy of the coverage, and other research questions. Patterns that emerged from the data analyses led to the following conclusions: (1) the news emphasized the conduct of the strike rather than the causes of the dispute; (2) concerns that the media set the agenda for public perceptions of issues are not supported by the data; (3) there was little consensus on what issues had been underplayed on television news; (4) results of content analysis and the public opinion surveys support the notion that balance was usually achieved; (5) the review of current affairs and documentaries shows that deficiencies in the news were compensated for by other programs; and (6) bias is as much a characteristic of the viewer as an inherent feature of the news. The long-term consequences of the strike were identified by actors and commentators alike as being entirely negative, and their view was shared by the general public. (CGD)