This study proposes a new application of spatial theory of voting from political science to the field of mass communications. Using national survey data, a spatial model is constructed to test the relative placement of journalists to politicians and parties in a two-dimensional ideological space. The results support the expectation that journalists are driven to maximize their audience in the same manner that politicians maximize votes and thus are located near the center of the ideological space. Related to citizen assessments of politicians and journalists are dimensions of ideology and partisanship and evaluations of news media performance.
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