Johnson & Wales University
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Honors ;eses - Providence Campus College of Arts & Sciences
11-2018
e Partisan Delivery of News: A Content Analysis
of CNN and FOX
Kathy Ensor
Johnson & Wales University - Providence, KEnsor01@wildcats.jwu.edu
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Ensor, Kathy, ";e Partisan Delivery of News: A Content Analysis of CNN and FOX" (2018). Honors eses - Providence Campus. 33.
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Johnson & Wales University
Providence, Rhode Island
College of Arts & Sciences
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Honors Program
The Partisan Delivery of News: A Content Analysis of CNN and FOX
Advisor: Emily Lynch
Kathy Ensor
November 16, 2018
Ensor 3
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to determine how political party affiliation impacts how
news is delivered in America. I will be researching how partisanship affects television news and
the commentators’ ability to report the news. Scholarly conversations regarding political party
preferences acknowledge that partisanship has more significance than in the past as the two
parties have become more polarized. The mode of delivering news also has an important role
because each delivery method emphasizes unique factors: television utilizes tone and
supplemental images, magazines and newspapers can use only verbiage, and social media is
often more dramatic in order to catch attention and be a quick read. I hypothesize that television
news is presented in a manner that is biased due to political affiliation. Using research gathered
through a content analysis of transcripts of Fox News and CNN, I will add to the discussion on
the influence of how news is conveyed when political leanings are involved. Results of the
content analysis found that both Fox News and CNN contain political bias. Both objectively and
subjectively, the networks consistently make negative comments on the members and policies of
the other party and have polar opposite opinions of President Donald Trump.
Ensor 4
Introduction
What is the impact of political affiliation on the delivery of news? It is necessary to
answer this research question because news media bias has become an increasing concern over
the past couple of decades. Bias in the news is an issue for democracy because this could mean
Americans are missing the full story. Instead of delivering the facts, some information already
includes opinion or ideas that favor one party, causing viewers to be misinformed. According to
a study that was featured on the front page of both the New York Times
and the Washington Pos
t,
the number of analytical stories was growing while the “straight news” stories decreased (Micu).
Prior research discusses the differences in methods of delivering news, but lacks an
analysis of the differences within each delivery method, such as between newspaper competitors.
For this reason, I will conduct a content analysis on the delivery of news through television
between the two most popular channels: Fox News and CNN (Micu). I randomly pick two dates
in August 2018 and analyze the transcripts from the 6pm and 9pm show from both networks.
The objective part of the content analysis will be fulfilled by counting the number of times the
news outlets mention Democrat, Republican, President Trump, the opposite network, and guest
speakers. The subjective aspect is measured through an ideological ranking between liberal and
conservative, support for the opposite political party, support for the President, and support for
the media. I found that CNN was much more critical of the President, while Fox only supported
him. Additionally, each network typically mentioned the other political party far more often than
their own, which indicates they are more critical of the other. Although both networks brought in
a similar number of guest speakers, CNN featured guests from both political parties, adding to
Ensor 5
the political conversation, while Fox News highlighted only Republicans, giving viewers a
limited picture.
My paper will be structured as follows. First, my literature review focuses on three topics
to give the reader a general understanding of partisanship and media: political affiliation,
delivery, and interpretation of news. Next, I explain the methodology, and then I carefully
discuss the results, including the tables of my content analysis, followed by the results with
interpretations. Lastly, I will give a conclusion that presents a summary of the paper, including
improvements to make in the future.
Ensor 6
Literature Review
Introduction
Politics can be a controversial topic, yet it can also be a key characteristic of one’s
identity. In America, there are two main political parties, Republicans and Democrats. Political
scientists know that partisanship is the psychological identification with a political party while
political ideology is an individual's belief system about the government. In my paper, however,
the term “Republican” will be used interchangeably with “conservative” and likewise
“Democrat” with “liberal” because there were no significant differences found in research
(Rempala). Though there are only two parties, their respective political ideologies have gone to
extreme and opposite ends while partisans have more disagreements than ever (Barthel). This
polarization is now impacting how Americans receive news as well. News providers, such as
television news sources, have political leanings that put a slight twist on the delivery of
information. On the other end, viewers, listeners, and society as a whole are allowing their
political beliefs to impact how each person interprets the information they are given. Political
affiliation affects both the delivery and interpretation of news and is negatively impacting the
way Americans receive trustworthy information. By the end of this review of the research on
partisanship and news, the reader should understand previously established information on the
topics of political affiliation, delivery and interpretation of news in order for all of the
information to be used together in the later parts of this project.
Ensor 7
Political Affiliation
An individual’s political affiliation has become an increasingly important characteristic
within the past few decades. The combination of the growth of technology and the rise in
political involvement of millenials on these platforms has allowed for political beliefs to become
more public and part of one’s identity. However, liberals and conservatives have very different
belief systems.
Two of the key components that divide liberals and conservatives from one another are
that conservatives typically resist change and justify inequality more than liberals (Rempala).
This is seen as conservatives typically oppose socially progressive issues that liberals support,
such as same-sex marriage or the legalization of marijuana. Also, conservatives push for tax cuts
for the wealthy to stimulate the economy, but it also allows for the separation and inequality of
socioeconomic classes. They tend to keep with tradition and how things were done in the past,
along with stricter adherence to what is right and wrong, seen when conservatives embrace a
more literal interpretation of the Constitution (Kemmelmeier). Markus Kemmelmeier, Professor
of Social Psychology at the University of Nevada-Reno, adds that conservatives are threatened
by uncertainty and complexity, while liberals’ ideology is that of the opposite: liberals embrace
change and uncertainty, and they have a higher tolerance for the unknown.
Society typically believes that political views are influenced through exposure to certain
environments and cultures such as geographic location, age, or socioeconomic status (Smith).
Children commonly grow up to have similar political interests as their parents. However, some
phobias, preferences, and behaviors have been proven innate, and researchers have begun to
Ensor 8
investigate if political dispositions are linked in genetic DNA as well (Smith). Along with DNA
findings, political affiliation has been studied to determine its linkage with the brain.
Brain research scans as recent as 2013 show that conservatives show (1) larger and more
active amygdala - associated with decision-making, (2) less insular cortex activation -
self-awareness of one’s physiological reactions to affective experience, and (3) smaller anterior
cingulate cortex - known to monitor uncertainty (Rempala). These results help explain
conservatives’ characteristic resistance to change. Previous researchers Adorno,
Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford have conducted studies that linked conservative
ideology with lower levels of cognitive functioning (Kemmelmeier). This refers back to
conservative beliefs requiring less cognitive activity due to resistance to change (Kemmelmeier).
Kemmelmeier conducted an experiment correlating college students’ political affiliation with
their scores on the SAT and ACT, which are considered good indicators of cognitive ability.
Students described their political orientation on a range from “far left” to “far right”, which were
then compared to their test scores. Results found a negative, linear relationship between
conservatism and cognitive ability and that political extremists have greater cognitive ability than
those in the middle of the political spectrum (Kemmelmeier). However, it must be noted that the
study was conducted using students from the top-25 universities in the country and therefore
little variance between age or socioeconomic status was present. Additionally, college students,
especially of elite universities, are more involved in politics than the average American, resulting
in voter turnout rates that typically surpass the national average (Kemmelmeier).
Another divide is the Democrat and Republican disagreement on media’s role in society:
whether the criticism of news organizations on political leaders keep them in line or keep them
Ensor 9
from doing their job, also referred to as the “watchdog role” (Barthel). According to the Pew
Research Center in a study from early 2017, there is a 47% point gap between Democrats and
Republicans on their support for the watchdog role, which is the widest gap in history by far
(Barthel). Comparatively, during the presidential primary season in early 2016, Democrats and
Republicans almost equally supported the role at 74% and 77%, respectively (Barthel).
Historically, Democrats are more likely to support the watchdog role during a Republican
presidency and vice versa (Barthel). This helps explain the drastic change in support as the
results directly correlate with the election and inauguration of President Donald Trump, who
changed the administration to Republican after eight years of a Democratic president, Barack
Obama.
The two parties have become so polarized that voicing one’s political opinion, or simply
identifying with one party over the other, is causing distress among family and friends that don’t
share the same beliefs (Marder). Many people “like” pages on Facebook that they support or
share an interest with, including political pages that give party updates and help users gather
information on which candidate to vote. However, researchers have found that many people are
reconsidering this simple “like” if it means publicly opposing views of their family and friends
due to the anxiety of what Facebook friends will think (Marder). Similar scenarios are
happening around the world. In the 2015 general election in the United Kingdom, the
conservative party won with 11 million votes, yet their Facebook page had only 450,000 likes
the day before the election (Marder). Another party in the same election had under 300,000 likes
but received over 9 million votes (Marder). Although Facebook users may benefit from the
additional information gained from “liking” the page, the social anxiety from potential negative
Ensor 10
responses or judgment from friends and family is enough of a deterrent for some (Marder). This
helps explain why a study found that 40% of Americans self-identify as independent, neither
Republican or Democrat, but their voting behavior corresponds with one of the political parties
(Rempala).
Delivery
The delivery is a significant part of characterizing news media. Traditional media
consists of television, radio, and newspapers. However, the rise of technology introduced new
media, which includes social media, adding features of convenience and accessibility. News is
most commonly delivered in three ways: social media, television, or through friends and family
(Barthel). Barthel found that Americans are keeping up with national news more often, with 40%
paying close attention now compared to 30% a year ago. About 4 in 10 Americans receive their
news from online, and most prefer a mobile device over a desktop (Barthel). It seems that 62%
of adults in America get news from social media like Facebook, the most popular place for fake
news stories to be shared (Belhadjali). Nonetheless, social media is a key factor in modern news,
giving people the opportunity to encounter news they did not purposefully seek out (Weeks).
When people find information that is similar to their own views, the person is more likely to
“like” or comment on the post compared to information that opposes their beliefs, where a
person would tend to remain silent (Weeks).
Television news media also comes in a variety of forms, the most popular being Fox
News, MSNBC, and CNN with 3.3, 1.8, and 1.1 million primetime viewers, respectively, as of
August 2018 (U.S. Cable News). Pfau stated, “watching television closely resembles
interpersonal communication because it emphasizes relational rather than content messages,
Ensor 11
source as opposed to content factors, and a more casual communication style” meaning that how
the information is delivered seems more important than the content (Micu).
Cable news channels such as Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN give Americans 24-hour
coverage of the news. Political scientist William Taubman, who worked for CNN as an expert
analyst during the Reagan-Gorbachev summit, believes that the reality of 24-hour access to news
is not as beneficial as advertised (Wattenberg 37). After suggesting multiple interviews with
Soviet citizens about their country’s struggles, Taubman realized that CNN believed itself to
have “forty-eight half-hour segments, each of which had to cover the world and pay for that
coverage with regularly scheduled features” (Wattenberg 37). Out of the few interviews that
were allowed, each only lasted a few minutes before being cut short by the words, “Wrap it up
and head for commercial” (Wattenberg 37).
The delivery of news has changed over time, but studies comparing networks is
somewhat outdated. A study was conducted during the coverage of the 2003 war in Iraq, and Fox
News averaged 4 million viewers each day compared to CNN’s 3.57 million (Micu). Some
believed that the delivery of news was changing, noting that, “more coverage was focused on
mediating what public people were saying, rather than simply reporting it” (Micu). Another
study that was published on the front page of both the New York Times
and Washington Post
,
found that the number of analytical stories were growing while the “straight news” stories
decreased (Micu). Also in 2003, Columbia University’s Project for Excellence in Journalism
performed a content analysis on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, analyzing 240 hours of cable
news programming (Wattenberg). Their findings showed that (1) written and edited stories only
took 11% of the broadcast time, (2) the role of the reporter is primarily to speak
Ensor 12
extemporaneously, (3) stories were frequently repeated, usually without any important new
information, and (4) the coverage of the news ignored many important topics and was spotty
(Wattenberg).
Alex Jones, director of the Shorenstein Center of the Press, stated that the, “conservative
ideology that drives its [Fox News’s] prime-time programming seems to be spreading more into
its news coverage” (Micu). Micu then determined that Fox News Channel seems to have a more
engaging coverage with a conservative slant, especially during the 2003 Iraq war coverage. A
2003 study from the Program on International Policy Attitudes reported survey results that
showed that viewers who got most of their news from Fox News showed that they had
significantly more incorrect beliefs about the Iraq War (Micu). Also, they were more likely to
think there was evidence that linked Iraq and al-Qaeda, that weapons of mass destruction were
found in Iraq, and that world public opinion approved of the U.S. going to war with Iraq (Micu).
Moreover, Fox News’ unique delivery style kept viewers more engaged, but the inclusion of
Republican analytical stories blurred the line between fact and opinion of what really happened
during the war.
Scholars have established that news is delivered differently depending on the network, as
a New York Times
article reads, “Officials at MSNBC emphasize that they never set out to create
a liberal version of Fox News” (Steinberg). While Fox News denied any political bias in its
programming, MSNBC admitted that they were managing to add viewers while the country was
voicing their dissatisfaction with President Bush (Steinberg). Moreover, MSNBC was having
success gaining viewers with the same negative opinions on the President, which probably would
build up to the network having political leanings if that is what generates success.
Ensor 13
A prime example of political leanings between news stations can be seen in the titles of
articles. On December 2, 2003, American troops fought a battle in the Iraqi city of Samarra. Fox
News reported the story beginning with the following paragraph:
In one of the deadliest reported firefights in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s
regime, US forces killed at least 54 Iraqis and captured eight others while fending off
simultaneous convoy ambushes Sunday in the northern city of Samarra (Gentzkow).
The New York Times
article on the same event read:
American commanders vowed Monday that the killing of as many as 54 insurgents in this
central Iraqi town would serve as a lesson to those fighting the United States, but Iraqis
disputed the death toll and said anger against America would only rise (Gentzkow).
The English-language website of the satellite network Al Jazeera (AlJazeera.net) reported the
story as:
The US military has vowed to continue aggressive tactics after saying it killed 54 Iraqis
following an ambush, but commanders admitted they had no proof to back up their
claims. The only corpses at Samarra’s hospital were those of civilians, including two
elderly Iranian visitors and a child (Gentzkow).
All three networks based their articles on the same underlying facts; however, each story gives
drastically different impressions of what happened. Using the same foundation and simply
changing the delivery of news through selective wording, news providers are able to manipulate
the effect of the story. In their study on media bias, Gentzkow and Shapiro found that a channel
tends to misrepresent information to fit the standard of viewers’ prior opinions.
Ensor 14
Interpretation
Interpretation of news is how each person perceives information. It is shown that viewing
human faces activates certain regions of the extrastriate cortex in your brain (Kaplan). When
someone sees a face, neural systems retrieve associated memories, assess emotional content, and
determine the significance of the face, including politicians (Kaplan). A researcher scanned the
brains of registered Republican and Democratic voters as they viewed faces of George Bush,
John Kerry, and Ralph Nader during the 2004 presidential campaign - a highly emotional and
significant campaign to American voters at the time (Kaplan). Twenty registered voters (10
Republicans and 10 Democrats) from the Los Angeles area participated, viewing 25 pictures of
each candidate for 5 minutes and 8 seconds total and completing a questionnaire on their
perceived strength of a number of emotions (Kaplan). Republicans gave significantly higher
ratings of their positive emotion in response to George Bush’s face compared with Democrats,
who had a more negative emotional response (Kaplan).
In a similar study, researchers were able to predict the outcomes of elections for the U.S.
Congress based solely on facial appearances (Todorov). Participants that did not know the
candidates were given pairs of black-and-white headshots of the winner and runner-up of the
2004 election and were asked to pick which one they perceive as more competent. These
inferences of competence correctly predicted the winner of the Senate and House elections in
71.6% and 66.8% of respondents, respectively (Todorov). These findings were also linearly
related to the margin of victory (Todorov). The significance of these results is that people are
predisposed to have certain beliefs, regardless of merit or reasoning. Party affiliation, ideology,
and a candidate’s overall campaign should play the biggest role in determining which candidate
Ensor 15
receives a vote; however, these findings suggest that a quick judgement on facial appearance
may be the biggest factor.
Americans are also divided on how they interpret many topics related to the media. Issues
such as (1) whether news outlets favor one side in political coverage, (2) whether people trust
national news media, and (3) the extent to which national news organizations are doing a good
job keeping viewers informed are being debated more than ever (Barthel). The great majority of
both Democrats and Republicans perceive the relationship between the media and the Trump
administration as unhealthy and getting in the way of Americans’ access to political information
(Barthel).
Not only has society begun to distrust the news, but the term “fake news” has become a
common phrase to describe this deliberate disinformation. According to a CNN online report in
June 2017, Donald Trump had a fake Time
magazine cover hanging in at least five of his golf
clubs (Belhadjali). The May 2017 issue of Newsweek
Magazine reported that two thirds of
Americans think that the mainstream media publishes fake news (Belhadjali). More specifically,
a Harvard-Harris poll published that 53% of Democrats, 80% of Republicans, and 60% of
Independent voters believe that the news media publishes stories that are not true (Belhadjali).
On top of it all, 91% of a study agreed that fake news affects Americans and leaves them
confused either a great deal or some (Belhadjali). Only 5% of people trust news found from
social networking sites (Barthel). Americans have become increasingly skeptical of the news,
making interpreting it nearly impossible when there are sometimes no facts to base it on.
A survey conducted via email during the Iraq war asked respondents their top choice for
news about the war and 44.7% said cable news was their top choice (Micu). The study
Ensor 16
questioned the patterns of Fox News viewers and found that 63% were Republican and only 11%
considered themselves Democrat, much lower than CNN or other cable news channels (Micu).
Fox News also had significantly more male viewers than those of other news channels (Micu).
Micu found that a source that takes a more extreme stance than the audience on the same side of
an issue will be interpreted as more genuine and competent than one that takes a moderate
position. Likewise, a source that takes an extreme position on the opposite side of an issue will
be interpreted as more genuine but less competent than one that takes a moderate stance on the
opposite side of the issue (Micu). Three conclusions were made from the study: if Fox News
viewers share the same ideology as Fox News, then they are more likely to (1) approve more of
President Bush’s decisions than viewers of CNN or other cable news channels, (2) to show
increased interest in the war than CNN or other cable news channel viewers, and (3) to be
optimistic about the outcome of the war than viewers of other cable news channels (Micu). Other
studies also found that 88% of consistent conservatives trust Fox News (Mitchell).
Dissonance arousal is the desire to avoid information that might prove your views wrong,
which often leads people to engage in selective information seeking, a practice that is seen
increasingly in today’s media and political climate (Vraga). Selective exposure is seeking only
information that confirms one’s beliefs and avoiding ideas that do not (Vraga). Ideas and
behaviors not aligned with one’s party affiliation are especially troublesome and likely to lead to
selective information seeking (Vraga). Vraga believes that political views do not simply
determine how a person responds to incoming information, but they also signal differences in
worldviews and orientations. According to selective exposure, viewers would prefer to watch
and listen to news reports that align with their beliefs, so over time, individuals from one party
Ensor 17
would become loyal to one channel because they have not been challenged or upset enough to
switch. Likewise, someone that does not agree with how an anchor presents the news would not
continue to watch that show because it challenges their ideas, resulting in the viewer likely
finding a new source for their news. Both dissonance arousal and selective exposure help explain
why Fox News has considerably more conservative viewers, which leads us to believe that the
network is conservative leaning.
Conclusion
Each political party believes in a different ideology; conservatives are known for their
resistance to change and uncertainty, while liberals are more likely to embrace change and are
more progressive. These beliefs are now supported by studies on the cognitive activity of the
brain (Kemmelmeier). Beliefs have become extremely judgmental, to the extent of feeling social
anxiety on social media about others’ perceptions (Marder). News is typically delivered through
social media, television, or through friends and family. Research found that Fox News has
conservative ideology and the viewers of Fox News do as well (Micu). However, it should be
noted that this was only studied during the time of the Iraq war and there were no in depth
studies of other news channels. Interpretation of news is influenced by the individual. A study
scanned the brains of 20 participants and found that the brain releases negative emotions when
viewing a face of the opposite political party (Kaplan). The widespread and unfortunately
popular “fake news” concerns most Americans and as a result social media is not trusted
(Belhadjali). Dissonance arousal and selective exposure are vital in understanding how
Americans are not allowing themselves to correctly interpret information, regardless of delivery
(Vraga).
Ensor 18
After preliminary research, there seems to be a gap when it comes to information on the
delivery of news. Detailed studies have examined Fox News, but ignore MSNBC and CNN.
Researchers have failed to explain the process or methodology behind delivering news, or how
political leanings affect what stories are covered. My research will aim to dive deeper into the
delivery of news and uncover more information about the influence of political affiliations. I
hope to discuss what is specifically done differently between news providers through verbiage
and noting any attitudes present when discussing topics or stories.
Ensor 19
Methods
I conducted a content analysis in order to hone in on the delivery of news. There are
various modes of delivering news including television, newspaper, radio, and social media. I
picked television because it is one of the most popular sources (Gottfried and Shearer) and has
transcripts available online that are easily comparable between news channels. By analyzing the
transcripts of various news shows, I was able to take note of common themes and verbiage in
both a quantitative and qualitative manner.
Once I determined the type of research I would be conducting and what platform I would
be examining, I needed to pick which news channels I would analyze. I narrowed the selection
down to compare Fox News and CNN for many reasons. These two channels were picked
because a previous study used the two (Micu et al). Additionally, Fox News and CNN are often
pitted against each other in the media and the reliability of either source has come into question
over the past few years. I decided on the times of 6pm and 9pm because these are the most
popular times that users get their news (“The Most Popular Times of Day Vary”). The 6pm show
is popular because some viewers like to turn on the news when they come home from work, or
watch the news before, during, or after dinner. CNN’s 6pm show is The Situation Room
with
Wolf Blitzer while Fox News’ is Special Report
with Bret Baier. The 9pm show was chosen
because this is often watched before people go to sleep. The 9pm shows are Cuomo Prime Time
on CNN, and Hannity
on Fox News. Lastly, two days in August 2018 were selected because one
date is not enough to notice a pattern.
Ensor 20
The content analysis was conducted by first choosing the month of August, as it is the
most recent, complete month. I then used a randomized number generator to pick a number
between 1-31 (days in August). I made sure that this date had transcripts available from all four
shows and then printed them so that I could begin the content analysis. Four dates were
discarded because they were missing at least one of the shows. Throughout each transcript, I
looked for both objective and subjective measures of political ideologies and biases.
Manifest content is objective as it is concrete terms contained in a communication. The
objective measure included highlighting every time the word Democrat, Republican, Trump, the
name of the opposite news channel, and the number of guest speakers that were featured in each
transcript. Synonyms for Democrat (liberal, left), Republican (conservative, right, GOP), and
Trump (president, Donald) were also included. Counting these specific words was intended to
help determine if there is a correlation between the occurrence of the word and possible political
leanings. I also counted the amount of guest speakers in each show to explore their influence on
the political leaning of the show. However, words being used often could mean the show was
either very positive or very negative, so subjective measures were also necessary.
Latent content is the underlying meaning of communication and therefore subjective. I
rated subjectivity using a scale from 1-10 in five different categories: liberal-conservative of the
transcript as a whole (1 liberal, 10 conservative), support-critical of the president (1 critical, 10
support), support-opposition of the other political party (1 support, 10 critical),
support-opposition of the media (1 support, 10 critical), and liberal-conservative of the guest
speakers (1 liberal, 10 conservative). Each rating was determined based on the verbiage of the
Ensor 21
transcript and positive or negative statements made about each political party, the president, or
the media.
Ensor 22
Results
After conducting the content analysis, I gathered objective and subjective measures based
on four news shows (The Situation Room, Cuomo Prime Time, Special Report, Hannity
) from
two channels (CNN and Fox News) on August 10th and 29th. See Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, and
Figure 2 on pages 28-31. On August 10th, CNN had four transcripts total, two from each show.
Meanwhile, Fox News only had two total, one per show. On August 29th, CNN had three
transcripts while Fox News still only had two. Additionally, the 6pm Bret Baier show on Fox
News was only seven pages both days, compared to the other transcripts that range from 21-29
pages. The difference in available data must be taken into consideration.
Objective
On August 10th, the usage of Democrat compared to Republican was fairly even with the
count either matching or having a variance of one, as seen in Table 1. Wolf Blitzer’s second
show used the term “Democrat” a little over twice as often as Republican, with a count of 9 to 4.
Throughout the entire Fox News Hannity
show, Hannity and guests used the term “Republican”
almost twice as often as Democrat, 29 to 17. These differences on August 10 could imply that
each show is talking about “their” party more often than the other, but the subjective analyses
may suggest otherwise.
On August 29th, CNN used Democrat almost equally with Republican except for a 7 to
11 gap in the second 6pm show. Fox News, however, used Democrat twice as often as
Republican in both 6pm and 9pm shows, 15 to 8 and 16 to 8, respectively. The August 29 count
Ensor 23
shows that Fox News is talking about the opposite party twice as often, which is most likely
negative.
On August 10th, CNN transcripts said the word “Trump” more often than Fox News
transcripts, especially in the 6pm show with Wolf Blitzer, pictured in Figure 1. During the two
half-hour shows, “Trump” was said 158 times (although the two shows repeat similar stories),
whereas CNN’s 9pm show said “Trump” 96 times. Compared to Fox News however, the 6pm
show said it 9 times and the 9pm show said it 65 times. On August 29th, CNN used “Trump”
249 times between the two shows in the 6pm time slot. The 9pm showing only mentioned him 47
times, while Fox News said “Trump” 14 and 63 times on their 6pm and 9pm shows, respectively.
Although the stories that were covered in both CNN and Fox News included the president, CNN
mentioned his name much more often, possibly meaning they linger on the topic or criticize
more than average.
On August 10th, “Fox News” was mentioned twice in each of the 6pm CNN shows, and
“CNN” was mentioned twice in the 9pm Fox News Hannity
show. On August 29th, however,
Fox News referenced CNN 33 times, whereas Fox was only referenced 5 times total throughout
the two shows in CNN’s 6pm time slot, pictured in Figure 1. The fact that either station is
mentioning another station by name seems irrelevant, but clearly it’s common and is polarizing
viewers as seen in the book, How Partisan Media Polarize America,
when testing the effects of
partisan media on attitudes toward the other side (Levendusky 98).
CNN’s 6pm show with Wolf Blitzer again had the most speakers (9-12), compared to
Fox’s four speakers at the same time. However, Fox News’ 9pm had 10 speakers while CNN had
5-6 speakers. On August 29, CNN again had the most guest speakers at 6pm (9-11), next closest
Ensor 24
being Fox at 9pm with 9. CNN’s 9pm show had 5 and Fox’s 6pm had 3. From these two days,
CNN brings in more hosts during 6pm shows while Fox brings in a similar number during the
9pm show.
Subjective
I based the scoring of liberal to conservative as a whole on the other categories, taking
into account how the commentators spoke about the President, Democrats, Republicans, the
media, and political leanings of the guest speakers that were brought on the show. A 1 is
extremely liberal, 5 is neutral, and 10 is extremely conservative. On August 10th, I gave CNN’s
transcripts a 2 and 3, meaning that they were liberal leaning. Fox News’ 6pm show was very
neutral and therefore received a 5. The 9pm Fox News show was extremely conservative and
received a 10 in every category. On August 29th, both the 6pm and 9pm CNN shows received
3’s because they were liberal leaning. Fox News’ 6pm show was more conservative leaning so it
was scored a 7. The 9pm show was again very conservative and received 10’s in all categories. It
is clear that each network has its own political leanings based on what is said about the President
and the other party. See results section for a summary of the data.
When scoring the criticism/praise of the President, on August 10th, two CNN transcripts
were scored a 1 because they were extremely critical of the president. The transcript of Wolf
Blitzer’s second show featured Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries from New York as a
guest on the show. When speaking about the Mueller investigation, he said, “This is all an
example of the culture of corruption that we have seen invade Washington, D.C., since January
20 of 2017, the moment that Donald Trump was inaugurated. And it’s a shame.” He was
extremely critical of Trump for the entirety of the time he was on the show, making other
Ensor 25
statements such as “[The President] has never hesitated to fan the flames of racial hatred in order
to advance his own personal, political, or professional ends” and “We have a reality show host
running around the Oval Office masquerading as President of the United States.” The
conversation was never shifted to defend or support the President and therefore received a 1.
CNN’s 9pm show, hosted by Chris Cuomo, started off by saying, “And looks like Trump wants
to give himself another tax cut” in just the first few sentences. The rest of the show continues to
criticize Trump as well. Fox News, on the other hand, is very positive about the President
throughout its 9pm show, saying, “President Trump is our greatest asset in the campaign trail. He
energizes our base. He brings an energy to our candidates.” Fox News’ Hannity also defends him
in the Mueller investigation, “They’re investigating Trump, they don’t have anything, they have
zero on Donald Trump. There is no real case, there is nothing there.” On August 29th, CNN’s
Wolf Blitzer featured Adam Schiff, a Democratic Congressman for California, on the show and
when talking about the President he said, “And, of course, for Donald Trump, he cares about
nothing about the presidency. It’s all about him.” Meanwhile, Fox News’ Hannity is supporting
the President stating, “The American economy is booming...And the state of our country, by the
way, is strong. And the president has literally changed things around. We’re now heading in a
much better direction.” From the two dates analyzed, CNN consistently criticized the President
while Fox has praised him. The most notable difference is who specifically is talking about
Trump. Almost all of the criticism of the President was from guests on CNN, whereas the anchor
of the Fox show praised Trump.
I also analyzed the extent to which the shows were critical of the opposite political party.
On August 10th, Wolf Blitzer’s guest, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic Congressman from New
Ensor 26
York, was on the show and was quite critical of Republicans, stating, “Democrats stand for the
people. [Republicans] stand for the wealthy, the well-off, the mega-corporations, the special
lobbyists, as evidenced by their Republican tax scam, where 83 percent of the benefits went to
the wealthiest 1 percent.” Fox News was very critical of Democrats in their 9pm show, stating,
“Our country is doing better. Our economy is roaring. And jobs are coming back. And if we give
it to the Democrats they will double down and obstruct and resist and mirror us down in
investigations and stop this great comeback that is helping every single American.” Fox News’
Jeanine Pirro was also promoting her new book, Liars, Leakers and Liberals
throughout the
show, adding to the distaste toward Democrats. On August 29th, CNN political commentator
Angela Rye was a guest on their 9pm show. While talking about the Republican candidate for
governor of Florida that made a very controversial statement, she said, “Well, I don’t understand
how you go to two Ivy League schools and end up three times as stupid.” Fox News’ Sean
Hannity opened up the 9pm show saying, “We will explore the Democratic Party’s hard turn to
the left as gubernatorial candidates in two states are now calling for universal health care, open
borders and a tax rate that’ll make your stomach turn.” Both networks clearly favor their own
party and don’t have much tolerance for the other. However, similar to the analysis on speaking
about the President, CNN is most critical of Republicans through their guests, while Fox is
critical of Democrats with their host.
Additionally, attitudes towards and criticism of the media were evaluated. On August
10th, Fox News was very critical of the media as the anchor said, “This is major developing
news...but the mainstream media couldn’t care less. They were too busy bashing President
Trump for everything under the sun.” Sara Carter, a Fox News Contributor, also directly
Ensor 27
criticizes CNN, saying, “They’re dumping on the American people, Judge Jeanine. They’re not
just dumping on the President of the United States, his rhetoric, without any basis, I mean it’s
constant attacks, constant rhetoric, constant going after in it, it’s reflective in their ratings. It’s
reflective in the ratings that CNN has. It’s reflective in the ratings that MSNBC is now dealing
with.” CNN was also critical of the media and Fox News, explaining their frustration that
Hannity (host of 9pm Fox News) turned over his three-hour radio show to Trump’s lawyers. A
guest on Wolf Blitzer’s show, Sabrina Siddiqui, stated, “this is an unmistakable display of
partisan loyalty.” Following with, “It’s not surprising, given Sean Hannity is one of the
President’s biggest public cheerleaders” and “On the part of the President’s legal team, they are
trying to control the public narrative. And the fact that they are targeting conservatives speaks to
wanting to keep the President’s base intact and convince them, without evidence, of course, that
this investigation is somehow tainted.” On August 29th, Fox News was especially critical of the
media, specifically CNN, mentioning the network 33 times within the transcript. The
introduction included, “We’ll expose the latest example of the media’s sickening anti-Trump
bias, especially fake news CNN” where it was followed with an audio clip of an audience
chanting, “CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!” CNN
mentioned Fox five times throughout the two 6pm shows, all in reference to the controversial
statement the Republican governor candidate for Florida made while speaking on Fox. Both
networks mention and criticize the other, although unrelated to the news.
Guest speakers on August 10th were interesting for CNN as the 6pm show had more
guests but were all Democrats or CNN analysts, while the 9pm show brought in Republican
guests. During Cuomo’s 9pm show on CNN, he spoke with Mueller’s lawyer about the trial,
Ensor 28
Trump’s tax lawyer to explain the reasoning behind tax changes, co-founder of Women for
Trump, and a Republican Senate candidate for Arizona. With this diversity, the show had more
depth and was able to report on more issues. On August 29th, the 6pm show on CNN brought 11
and 9 guests; however, it received a score of 3 because they were all Democrats: a Hawaii
Democratic senator, a New York Times
analyst, a California Democratic congressman, and CNN
analysts. The 9pm show only had 5 guests but featured Trump’s former campaign manager and
the Florida Democratic candidate for governor to keep the conversation neutral with a 5. At 9pm
Fox News brought 9 guests but they were all Fox News analysts: Trump’s former press
secretary, and the Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate. For both days, CNN brought a
combination of guests on the show, which added depth and another side to the conversation.
However, Fox only featured Fox analysts or other Republicans, which only gives one side of the
story.
Ensor 29
Content Analysis
Table 1
Ensor 30
Table 2
Ensor 31
Figure 1
1-2: The Situation Room
(CNN)
3-4: Cuomo Prime Time
(CNN)
5: Special Report
(FOX)
6: Hannity
(FOX)
Note: The Situation Room
and Cuomo Prime Time
have two graphs because two transcripts were
analyzed during the hour time slot, whereas the others had only one transcript.
Ensor 32
Figure 2
1-2: The Situation Room
(CNN)
3: Cuomo Prime Time
(CNN)
4: Special Report
(FOX)
5: Hannity
(FOX)
Note: The Situation Room
has two graphs because two transcripts were analyzed during the hour
time slot, whereas the others had only one transcript.
Ensor 33
Conclusion
Scholars have discussed the political divide in viewership between television news
networks. However, they have not systematically considered the differences in the delivery of
news between these networks. Fox News has been studied extensively, yet other channels such
as MSNBC or CNN have been ignored. People know that channels have political leanings, but
research has not stated what factors are present that make each channel liberal or conservative. I
decided to conduct a content analysis to determine what is specifically done differently between
news providers through verbiage and noted partisan attitudes present when discussing topics or
stories.
After conducting the content analysis, it is clear that media bias exists in our news culture
today. The findings from the content analysis showed that CNN and Fox were polar opposites:
CNN is very liberal while Fox is very conservative. For instance, CNN was much more critical
of the President, while Fox vehemently supported him. Also, each network typically mentioned
the other political party far more often than their own, which indicates they are more critical of
the other. Although both brought in a similar number of guest speakers, CNN featured guests
from both political parties, while Fox News only highlighted Republicans.
Some limitations I faced while conducting the content analysis were timing and
availability. If I had more time to complete the content analysis and thesis as a whole, I would be
able analyze each transcript more in depth. I could add other relevant categories such as which
stories were covered during the show and how the choice illustrates political bias. Additionally, I
would have a bigger sample size and could analyze more than just two dates. I believe analyzing
Ensor 34
five dates randomly selected throughout a month, or two dates each month throughout an entire
year would show clearer patterns for each network. Also, results found CNN to be more critical
of President Trump, but it would be interesting to see how the two networks reacted to a
democratic president as well. However, that number of transcripts for one person is too much
given the circumstances. I would also have three people read each transcript in an effort to get
clearer subjective measures that aren’t influenced by the scorer’s political affiliation. Taking an
average of the three ratings would give more reliable answers. Also, availability was a limitation
because transcripts were not always available from both channels during both the 6pm and 9pm
show. Two dates that I randomly selected had to be discarded because transcripts were missing
from at least on of the shows. Lastly, I planned on using three dates; however, Fox News’ 9pm
Hannity show removed all of their transcripts from August so I was unable to do so.
Scholars can add to my research contributions by continuing to research the gaps in
knowledge. I have only begun to investigate the objective differences between these news
stations. More research should be completed on other showtimes besides primetime, such as
morning and afternoon shows, to determine if and/or how prevalent political bias is during these
times.
These results support previous findings because much more opinion was brought into the
news instead of the straight facts. As a result, someone with a liberal political leaning is very
likely to disagree with the delivery of Fox News and would probably not use this channel as their
source for news. Instead, they would rely on a channel that favors their opinion, such as CNN.
Likewise, those with a conservative leaning would ignore CNN for the same reasons. Knowing
Ensor 35
this information, readers can be more informed and aware so they can form their own unbiased
opinion of the news.
Ensor 36
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