Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2000
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Reed College of Media
Department
Reed College of Media
Committee Chair
Kurt E. Schimmel.
Abstract
This survey of members of the West Virginia House of Delegates and Senate regarding their opinions of local mass media found that the majority of lawmakers felt local mass media had little influence on their decision making process. The legislators did not, however, view the media as neutral sources of political information. Self-described "conservative" lawmakers rated media sources described as "liberal" as being less accurate in their coverage of the legislature than did self-described "liberal" or "middle-of-the-road" lawmakers. The thesis used discriminate analysis to develop a statistically significant function able to classify, with high confidence, the political orientation of lawmakers, based on their responses to survey questions regarding the quantity and accuracy of local media coverage of themselves, and other state legislators with similar political views.
Recommended Citation
Penn, Timothy Shaw, "West Virginia state legislators' opinions of local mass media" (2000). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 1095.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/1095