This article reports on an analysis of the coverage of the National Front (NF) and other overt forms of white racism in all British daily national and two local papers between 1976 and 1978. The relationship of this coverage to other race-related topics and to the overall racial framework of news items is shown. News topics were coded and analyzed to identify types of materials and the contexts of frameworks in which they are situated. Newspaper readers were interviewed to gather data on their perceptions. Findings indicated that the press emphasizes the problems created by black presence in Britain. Findings also revealed that the NF has had an indirect impact on political and public opinion on race relations by giving momentum to an ideological shift to the political right. The legitimate status conferred on the NF by the press has encouraged this shift. An analysis of readers' perceptions of press coverage revealed that the press can be most effective in conveying an anti-NF stance by highlighting the Nazi and violent image of the party and by diffusing this through the wider public. (Author/MK)