A study compared newspaper coverage of the women's suffrage movement in the 1920s with coverage of efforts to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and early 1980s, to see if the similar movements with different outcomes were treated similarly or differently by the press. A content analysis of relevant articles in the "New York Times" and "Indianapolis Star" was conducted for both time periods. The unit of analysis was the paragraph, and for each story the headline, story length, and placement by page were noted. Categories examined included content (reports or opinions), orientation (event or issue), and tone (favorable or unfavorable). The analysis revealed the following results: (1) actual press coverage (story content) was very similar for both amendments in both papers, (2) tone of coverage was more positive for the suffrage amendment, (3) the suffrage amendment earned more coverage, with 60% more stories than the Equal Rights Amendment and some 90% more inches over more coverage days, (4) the suffrage amendment earned more "favorable" stories, with nearly 42% located on the front page, and (5) no difference was noted in coverage in terms of event or issue orientation. (HTH)