Prevailing impressions in science and medical news - A content analysis ofthe Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post

In a content analysis, the authors assess the prevailing impressions reward social actors in the coverage of science and biomedical news in the Los An geles Times and The Washington Post during biennial periods from 1989 to 19 95. The social actors and outcome variables studied were favorability towar d science and medical professionals, the health care delivery system, scien ce and medicine as social institutions, industry, government, and public in terest groups. The study found that prevailing impressions toward industry government, the health care delivery system, science and medical profession als, science and medicine as social institutions, and public interest group s were within a middle or ascribed equivocal range for both newspapers duri ng all the time periods surveyed. The findings challenge some qualitative, case-study-based scholarship that suggests prevailing impressions are skewe d in highly favorable or unfavorable directions toward social actors in sci ence reporting.