The Jeremiad Over Journalism

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Table 17 – Percentage of strategy news in Berlingske Tidende between 1971 and 2001.
Like The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, the great focus on strategy frames in the 2000
election for USA Today, as seen in table 14 and 16, can likely be explained by the closeness of the
Bush-Gore-duel. USA Today from early on followed a strategy of making the news visually
appealing 548 and this approach lend itself well to strategy coverage of the 2000 election.
An example of the visual approach combined with strategic news frames can be found on
November 3, 2000 when Jill Lawrence published ―Uncertainty Chases Nominees to Election Day,‖
and began her article, which was placed under two big photos of the presidential candidates and
flanked by a graph about ―States with the lowest percentage of voter turnout,‖ with the following
words.
Strategy news Berlingske Tidende
1971 1981 1990 2001
―Al Gore and George W. Bush headed into the final weekend of the presidential campaign in
a frenzy of visits to states still so tight that either candidate might win them – and the White
House. Polls showed Bush leading by up to 5 points.‖ 549
548 Prichard, The Making of Mcpaper. Foreword and page 273-275.
549 Jill Lawrence, "Uncertainty Chases Nominees to Election Day," USA Today, November 3, 2000. Page 1.
184
N (1970) = 27
N (1981) = 32
N (1990) = 42
N (2001) = 29
Berlingske Tidende
Linear tendency
(Berlingske Tidende)