1. The Court and the Journalist:
How News Coverage Shape Perception of U.S. Supreme Court
Decisions
Jordon Pollard
Baylor University
2. Topic Overview
• Over the past few decades studies have shown a decline in basic civic
knowledge
• Knowledge of the U.S. Supreme Court has remained low, with more than
three-fourths of Americans unable to even identify the current Chief Justice
• News Outlets are tasked with informing the public, and the information they
provide depends on their specific political leaning, and the perception they
attempt to promote to the public.
3. Agenda-Setting Theory
• Media influences people by influencing what they want to talk about
• Priming – by choosing certain aspects of a topic, they leave out others and influence
perception
• Framing – People use expectations to make sense of the world and media contribute to
those expectations.
• Certain news outlets hold political leanings, through Agenda-Setting, these
outlets promote certain perceptions over other.
4. Method and Findings
Method
• Use of survey to gauge knowledge of
Supreme Court and media influence
• Content analysis of news coverage of
hot topic court cases (i.e. gay marriage,
campaign financing, travel ban, etc.)
• Organize data and analyze based on
news outlets watched, and perception
of court decisions
Expected Findings
• Users who are heavy viewers of Fox and
MSNBC have a skewed perception of certain
topics favoring outlet-favored perceptions.
• Perception of the court is skewed based on
outlet provided information, conservatives
believing court is acting outside its
governmental role, and liberals believing
court should do more to protect liberties.
• Certain outlets promote more public
knowledge of Supreme Court, while others
promote more political view of court.
