The mainstream media’s focus on support of same-sex “marriage” outnumbered news stories opposing it by roughly 5-to-1, according to a new Pew Research study showing the influence such coverage could have on the American public.
Nearly half of the stories studied in the two months marked by Supreme Court deliberations on the subject, mid-March through mid-May, focused on support of gay “marriage” and only 9 percent focused on opposition.
Pew said in its study, released June 17, that 44 percent of the news stories included an even mix of support and opposition or were objective. Pew defined support or opposition by mandating that statements expressing that position had to outnumber the opposite view by at least 2-to-1.
All three of the major cable networks, Pew said, had more stories with significantly more supportive statements than opposing, including Fox News.
Same-sex “marriage” supporters in the news coverage had a more consistent message than those arguing against it, Pew found, with supporters focusing on gay “marriage” as an issue of equality in nearly half of the news stories studied.
Opponents argued that same-sex “marriage” would hurt society and traditional marriage, but Pew said that argument only appeared in 18 percent of the stories and other arguments included the idea that homosexuality is immoral (10 percent).
Amy Mitchell, acting director of Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, said the study shows how same-sex “marriage” supporters had a clear message and succeeded in getting that message across in all sectors of mainstream media.
“In addition many of the events during the period studied, such as announcements by politicians and state legislation, reflect movement toward same-sex ‘marriage,’” Mitchell said.
One bright spot for gay “marriage” opponents, according to the Pew study, is that an analysis of Twitter conversation found that despite the nation’s shift toward acceptance of same-sex “marriage,” significant opposition remains. Statements on Twitter were closely split between those who supported and those who opposed, Pew reported.
Also of note from the Pew study:
- The Huffington Post had to be considered separately because it produced such a large amount of coverage on same-sex “marriage” that to include it with the rest of the news media would have overshadowed the results, Pew said. With its ongoing Gay Voices page, The Huffington Post produced 365 stories on the topic during the study period, and 62 percent of those were supportive.
- The five days surrounding the Supreme Court hearings on gay “marriage” produced the greatest number of related stories, Pew found.
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) news outlets also were analyzed, and Pew said their coverage focused on local and state laws more than mainstream coverage did.
To read Pew’s study on the mainstream media and gay “marriage,” visit www.journalism.org/node/33731.
In a separate Pew study released June 13, research showed the LGBT community is, on the whole, less religious than the general public. About half of LGBT adults say they have no religious affiliation, compared with 20 percent of the general public.
One-third of religiously affiliated LGBT adults, Pew said, identify a conflict between their religious beliefs and their sexual orientation or gender identity.
About 75 percent of white evangelical Protestants in the general public and 55 percent of all U.S. adults with a religious affiliation, Pew reported, say homosexuality conflicts with their religious beliefs.
“Among all adults in the general public, there is a strong correlation between frequent church attendance and the belief that homosexuality should be discouraged,” Pew said.
(BP)
Share with others: