Abstract
This study compared news coverage of Presidents Carter and Reagan at times of crisis. Using content analysis to examine stories sampled from the New York Times and Washington Post, this study found news stories became more wordy in crisis times. For Carter this was when Iran captured hostages in November 1979, and for Reagan it was the revelation of arms sales to Iran in November 1986. The study found news stories were not especially readable before or after crises, but these stories did tend to use action verbs. The study found that in crisis the president tends more often to disappear while spokesmen, such as press secretaries, speak for him.
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