A comparison of the coverage of the use/preservation debate in the Courier and the National parks magazines during 1979 and 1987 to determine the influence of democratic and republican administration on editorial content

Abstract

This study is a content analysis examining coverage of the use/preservation debate in the National Park Service's internal magazine (Courier) and in the magazine (National Parks) of the National Parks and Conservation Association (an environmental lobbying group). The premise of this study is that under a Democratic, as opposed to a Republican, President, the Courier's coverage of the debate will have a similar level of pro-preservation/anti-use spin as the National Parks.A chi-square analysis of coded data derived from selected articles from the January to October 1979 and 1987 issues of the magazines demonstrated that although both magazines were predominantly neutral, National Parks had a significantly greater amount of propreservation/anti-use spin in both 1979 and 1987. The researcher suggested that the Courier's consistently neutral coverage was a condition of the NPS's role as compromiser in the use/preservation debate.