Page 280 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Wolfgang Donsbach and Thomas Patterson

outcome (Prob) where the assumed likelihood of a positive or nega-
tive correlation is equal can be determined by the binomial probability
formula (Weinberg and Goldberg 1990, 187):
n!
k n−k
Prob = ( / (k!)(n−k)! )p q
where: p = probability of positive correlation = 1/2
q = probability of negative correlation = 1/2
n = number of tests = 17
k = number of successes (positive correlations)
n−k = number of failures (negative correlations)
When the probabilities for all possible outcomes (zero positive corre-
lations through seventeen positive correlations) are determined, a bi-
nomial probability distribution for seventeen tests can be constructed.
Statistically, if twelve or more of the seventeen tests are positive, the
chance probability of the outcome is about .05. If fourteen or more are
positive, the chance probability is about .01. And if fifteenormoreare
positive, the chance probability is about .001.
In all five countries, journalists’ partisanship was significantly related
(p < .01) to their news decisions. The individual correlations (Pearson’s
r) were not particularly large, however. The average positive correlation
using the Left-Right scales was highest for Germany (.16) and nearly
as high for Italy (.13) and Britain (.12); it was lowest for the United
States (.09) and Sweden (.05). The correlations suggest that the hues of
journalists’ partisanship tend to shade the news rather than coloring it
deeply and that the degree of shading is affected by the news culture
in the respective country. Herbert Gans’s conclusion (1979) that most
journalists hold “progressive” but “safe” views is a reasonably precise
summary of the findings of the five-country survey.

CASE 2: JOURNALISTS AS NEWS PROFESSIONALS

As in the previous example, comparative research is usually intended
to explore similarities and differences between each case in the study.
But it can also be used to illuminate a particular case. Through compar-
isons with the other cases, the exceptionalism of a particular case can
be confirmed or disconfirmed. We sought to do this in the case of U.S.
journalists.
UnlikeEuropeandemocracies,whichdevelopedinthenineteenthand
twentieth centuries, American democracy dates back to the eighteenth

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