Abstract
The issue of quality programming for children has occupied a prominent place on the policy agenda for the last several years. The study reported here examined newspaper coverage of this issue from the beginning of July 1995 to the end of February 1997. Using a multi-method design, the study explored the way in which a social issue can be accorded different statuses on the news agendas within a single newspaper. This contrasts with typical agenda-setting research, which assumes a single news agenda for a single media organ. Although the scope of the study did not allow for an assessment of the effects of this coverage on audiences or policymakers, it was able to examine how theories of news work and news production may explain differences in coverage within a newspaper. It also represents a comprehensive analysis of national newspaper coverage of a social issue concurrent with significant developments in policy, in this case, new federal guidelines for airing children's educational programming.
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