Since the classic Columbia University studies conducted in the 1940s, the role of the mass media in modern U.S. politics has been the subject of debate among political scientists. This paper contributes to that debate by examining news media coverage of American national political institutions: the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court. A content analysis is employed to offer a descriptive portrayal of news coverage of these political institutions. The conclusion was made that much of the news content is directly or indirectly related to the president--his actions, decisions, and policy initiatives. Public policy discussion dominated the news content, though varied in level of intensity across the three institutions. The divergences in the news portrayal across institutions continued in emphasis on conflict in the story and a supposed tendency to personalize national government news. Generalizations about news coverage about national government must be qualified by the nature of the institution and the nature of the medium. (Author)