Congress, The Press, and Political Accountability

这个项目探讨了在1993年1月1日至1994年11月8日期间，25家地方报纸是如何报道25名众议院议员的。该项目包括在选定的报纸的所有版本中搜索提到选定的代表人物的文章、社论、专栏或信件，对其内容进行编码，用定量方法分析编码后的数据，并用定性方法分析所有单独的项目。该项目旨在确定当地报纸是否报道了公民要求代表对其在职行为负责所需的信息。基本假设是，无偏见和随时可用的信息增强了问责制的前景，而不完整或有偏见的信息则会阻碍问责制。该研究将探讨地方报纸报道唱名表决的规律，报纸提供的关于正在审议的问题的信息量以及议员投票的原因，报纸报道议员其他活动（包括提出法案、举行听证会和建立联盟）的程度，以及吸引记者关注的政策问题类型。该研究还将调查报纸在随后的竞选活动中是否会报道代表的政策相关活动。＊＊＊

9422386 Arnold This project explores how 25 local newspapers covered 25 members of the House of Representatives between January 1, 1993, and November 8, 1994. The project involves searching all editions of the chosen newspapers for any articles, editorials, columns, or letters that mention the selected representatives, coding the 7,500 to 8,000 items for their content, analyzing the coded data with quantitative methods, and analyzing all individual items with qualitative methods. The project is designed to determine whether local newspapers report the kinds of information that citizens would need to hold representatives accountable for their actions in office. The basic assumption is that unbiased and readily\y available information enhances the prospects for accountability, while incomplete or biased information serves to thwart it. The study will explore the regularity with which local newspapers report roll-call votes, the amount of information newspapers provide about the issues under consideration and why representatives voted as they did, the extent to which newspapers cover representatives' other activities, including introducing bills, holding hearings, and building coalitions, and the types of policy issues that attract journalists' attention. The research will also investigate whether newspapers recount representatives' policy-related activities during subsequent electoral campaigns. ***