The purpose of this study was to determine if metropolitan newspapers from the Southwest, Midwest and Northeast--the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Indianapolis Star and News--have made an attempt to predict future developments in computer technology and warn their readers about what changes in society, work and the home might occur. The study also used the four newspapers to see if any regional biases existed that may have influenced the reporting from 1950 through 1980. In both cases, the author used a content analysis technique to examine the article content. In all, 331 articles were analyzed and a Chi-square test was applied to the results to determine if a significant difference existed in "favorable" or "unfavorable" treatment of high-tech news by each of the newspapers. Little research exists in this area, although some studies have been made in the treatment of general science, political and business news. The author found that the Los Angeles Times printed a significantly higher number of "future-oriented" articles, but none of the papers treated computer technology and automation more favorably, in regard to bias, than the others.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/183039 |
| Date | January 1984 |
| Creators | Thomsen, Steven R. |
| Contributors | Weaver, Marilyn |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ii, 93 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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