POLITICAL BIAS AND NONPOLITICAL NEWS - A CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF ANALYSISOF AN ARMENIAN AND IRANIAN EARTHQUAKE IN THE NEW-YORK-TIMES AND THE WASHINGTON-POST

This study examines whether politico-economic theory holds true in the reportage of nonpolitical events such as natural disasters. According to this theory, news reporting is politically biased in that it refle cts the political-economic interests of the country that produces the news. Two leading national newspapers were examined for their coverage of two earthquakes, one which took place in Armenia, then a republic in the Soviet Union, on December 7, 1988, and another in northwest Ira n on June 21, 1990. The Soviet Union and iran had dramatically contras ting relationships with the United States at the time of these inciden ts. Results of this study strongly support politico-economic theory: T he newspapers' reportage tended to be more sympathetic toward Armenia/ Soviet Union with whom the United States had friendly relations. Diffe rence in the newspaper's treatment of these two similar events is appa rent both in the layout and the language of the news reports.