ERIC Number: ED193714
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1980-May
Pages: 15
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Coorientation in the Network Television Newsprocessing System: Coverage of the United States House of Representatives.
Foote, Joe S.
A coorientation methodology was used to examine attitudes toward reporting news about the United States House of Representatives. Coorientation models are predicated upon the interrelationships of individuals in a communication system, measuring participants' attitudes in terms of agreement, accuracy, and congruency. Subjects included three executive producers of network news programs, four television news correspondents covering the House of Representatives, and the 112 members of Congress who answered the 34-item questionnaire used in the study. The results showed that members of the House of Representatives believed network coverage of their institution was simplistic, fragmentary, and inadequate, and that network news gathering routines failed to accommodate some of the most substantive and important issues addressed by the House. The correspondents defined important issues with a variety of choices, while the producers' perceptions were unanimous--reinforcing the stereotype that network television news is controlled by persons with a singular perspective of world events. House members were pessimistic about changing the status quo and had diminished expectations of increasing network access by sharpening their own communication skills. Overall, the coorientation method proved to be a valid instrument for attitudinally positioning the three groups involved in the network television newsprocessing system. (RL)
Descriptors: Attitudes, Communication Research, Legislators, Networks, News Media, News Reporting, Research Methodology, Television
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A