Prestige Newspaper Coverage of Foreign Affairs in the 1990 Congressional Campaigns

Abstract

This content analysis of four prestige newspapers' coverage of the first post-cold war congressional campaigns examined hypotheses concerning the amount and substance of international and foreign affairs coverage. As expected, although the news and opinion/editorial agenda of all four newspapers consisted of extensive coverage of the major international and foreign affairs stories taking place during the fall campaign period (such as the military build-up in the Gulf and the collapse of communism), coverage of foreign policy issues in the 1990 congressional races was conspicuously absent.