Scholarly Uses of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive

Studies and Publications using the Archive as a Research Tool

This list includes some of the books, journal articles, book chapters and conference papers that have relied on the Vanderbilt Television News Archive to support their research. It is not a comprehensive account of all the ways that the Archive has been used, but only a small sample. Please Contact the Archive if you know of other items that can be added to this list.

Adams, William C. "Whose lives count?: TV coverage of natural disasters." Journal of Communication. 36 (Spring 1986)

Notes: U.S. television''s attention to these events was measured with the use of the Vanderbilt TV News Index and Abstracts. A period of one month after each natural disaster was examined to discover exactly how much time each network devoted to news about each locale. All coverage of all 35 major natural disasters was calculated for "ABC World News Tonight," "CBS Evening News," and "NBC Nightly News" – the flagship network newscasts with audiences far surpassing those of all other network news efforts. Intercoder reliability among the four coders, measured as percent agreement, was 98 percent.

Adams, William C., Joblove, Michael. "The unnewsworthy holocaust: TV news and terror in Cambodia." Television Coverage of International Affairs.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of International Affairs. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 217: What, if anything, were Americans told about human rights and society in Cambodia from their preferred source of international news--early evening, network television news? To find out, we examined Vanderbilt University''s Television News Index and Abstracts for weeknight news coverage from April 1975 until 1978. The Vanderbilt Archive loaned compiled videotapes of stories we had identified from the abstracts. ..
Also published in the Winter 1980 issue of Policy Review

Adams, William, Heyl, Phillip. "From Cairo to Kabul with the networks, 1972 - 1980." Television Coverage of the Middle East.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the Middle East. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 3: We did not use a sample. We reviewed the agenda of every weekday broadcast from January 1972 through December 1980 of the ABC, CBS, and NBC networks'' early evening, flagship news programs. Working at George Washington University''s Gelman Library, we used Vanderbilt''s Television News Index and Abstracts to identify all the stories related to the Middle East.

Altheide, David. "Iran vs. US TV news: the hostage story out of context." Television Coverage of the Middle East.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the Middle East. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 129: Relevant news reports for the selected days and weeks were identified using Vanderbilt University''s Television News Index and Abstracts.Following several days of viewing portions of the videotapes loaned from the Vanderbilt Archive, a two page protocol was constructed to facilitate systematic data collection.

Bagnied, Magda, Schneider, Steven. "Sadat goes to Jerusalem: televised images, themes, and agenda." Television Coverage of the Middle East.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the Middle East. Edited by William C. Adams.

See p. 56: To explore these issues, Vanderbilt''s Television News Index and Abstracts were used to identify early evening network news strories on the subject of the Sadat trip...

Bailey, William C. "Murder, capital punishment, and television: execution publicity and homicide rates." American Sociological Review. 55:5 (October 1990)

Abstract: The deterrent effect of criminal law is dependent upon communication to the public of the threat and application of sanctions. I test this argument for murder and capital punishment by examining monthly homicide rates and television publicity devoted to executions from 1976 to 1987. Despite the power of television as a source of news in the United States, the results of this study do not support either the deterrence argument, which contends that capital punishment reduces killings, or the brutalization argument, which contends that capital punishment promotes killings. Homicide rates were not found to be related to either the amount or type of execution publicity over the period. Notes: Used the Vanderbilt Television News Abstracts to measure the number of executions reported by the national news networks.

Bailey, William C., Peterson, Ruth D. "Murder and capital punishment: a monthly time-series analysis of execution publicity." American Sociological Review. 54:5 (October 1989)

Abstract: In a recent analysis of the effect of execution publicity on homicides, Stack (1987) challenged the consensus of most social scientists that capital punishment does not effectively deter murder. He found that publicized executions have a very significant deterrent effect. Stack reports that 16 highly publicized executions may have saved as many as 480 innocent lives during 1950-1980. The present investigation attempts to shed additional light on the execution publicity/deterrence question. Our review of Stack’s investigation shows that it suffers from a number of conceptual and methodological limitations. Correcting for these difficulties, we find no evidence that execution publicity influenced the rate of homicide during the 1950-1980 or 1940-1986 period. Some evidence suggests that higher levels of execution are associated with lower murder rates. However, the apparent deterrent effect is very slight and short term. Indeed, the cumulative effect of capital punishment on homicides during the execution and subsequent months is essentially zero.

Barton, Laurence. "Coverage of the 1980 Olympic boycott: a cross-network comparison." Television Coverage of International Affairs.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of International Affairs. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 131: The research used resources of the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive and the diligent research assistance of Lori Heyman of Tufts University.

Behr, R.L., Iyengar, S. "Television news, real-world cues, and changes in the public agenda." Public Opinion Quarterly. 49

Benson, Rodney. "The mediated public sphere: a model for cross-national research."

Abstract: This study tests Habermas’s contention that greater commercialization undermines the media’s capacity to serve as a public sphere, that is, to promote rational-critical public debate involving the widest possible citizen participation. Hypotheses about commercial and state effects on news production are tested via comparison of the commercially dominated American media and the state dominated French media. In news coverage of comparable protest events, the French media are more participatory, less rational in certain aspects and equally critical. The mezzo-organizational environment of the “journalistic field” is shown to mediate external pressures, accounting more fully for cross-national differences and similarities. Notes: From the Cases and Sample section: In order to compare journalistic coverage in the two cases, I assembled the corpus of all articles appearing two weeks before or after the event, for totals of 66 French news stories and commentaries (55 newspaper and 11 broadcast news) and 16 U.S. news stories and commentaries (12 newspaper and four broadcast news). For the French case, I analyze stories in Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, the private TF 1 evening news broadcasts and the state-owned Antenne 2 (now France 2) evening news broadcasts, drawing on a comprehensive search of microfiche records for the newspapers and of the computerized data base at the French National Television Archives (INA-Bibliotheque Nationale) for the television news broadcast stories. For the United States, the corpus of texts includes all stories in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, the Orange County Register, USA Today and the three major national commercial network (ABC, CBS, NBC) evening news broadcasts, using full texts of newspaper articles provided by the Nexis data base and story summaries of broadcast news stories provided by the Vanderbilt University National Television Archives.

Benson, Thomas W. "Implicit communication theory in campaign coverage." Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 103: This study sought to extend and verify a series of tentative and unpublished findings that resulted from a detailed study of television coverage of the 1976 Presidential campaign by ABC, CBS, and NBC, supported in part by the College of Liberal Arts, The Pennsylvania State University. The current study was supported in part by a grant from the Television and Politics Study Program, School of Public and International Affairs, George Washington University. Tapes were obtained from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. In addition, broadcasts from earlier in the campaign were studied through the facilities of the Department of Speech Communication, The Pennsylvania State University.

Bollen, K.A., Phillips, D.P. "Imitative suicides: a national study of the effects of television news stories." American Sociological Review. 47

Bowles, Dorothy A., Bromley, Rebekah V., Moore, Barbara. "Network news coverage of the U.S.Supreme Court." (December 1, 1995.)

Abstract: The authors analyzed all televised evening news stories dealing with the Supreme Court’s activities and decisions by the three major television networks (CBS, ABC and NBC) during the eight years of President Reagan’s administration. Their objective was to describe the network coverage and examine the number of stories and types of legal issues addressed to determine whether the network reporting was consistent with the Supreme Court’s agenda and the proportion of attention and time that the Court dedicated to these legal issues during the same time frame. They also evaluated the quality of the content of the news stories relating to the Supreme Court’s decision-making and handling of certiorari petitions, pending cases and opinions. Notes: The research method selected for this study was a content analysis of 871 videotaped evening news stories about the Supreme Court by the three networks culled from a library at the Vanderbilt Television News Archives for the relevant time period (September 1, 1981, through July 31, 1989). A team of four coders viewed and coded the stories. They achieved intercoder reliability by having each coder check 10 percent of the stories coded by another member of the team. In addition, they applied Holsti''s formula to certain subjective variables and to the measurements of quality characteristics, indicating intercoder reliability of 89 percent.

Broh, A. "Polls, pols and parties." Journal of Politics. 45:3 (August 1983)

Abstract: This article traces the growth of public opinion polling on television in the past three presidential elections. This growth is a consequence of the media’s interpretive role and the proliferation of primaries in the nominating procedures of the parties. As a consequence, the media have enhanced their role in presidential campaigns. Notes: p. 736: Poll stories were coded from the Television News Index and Abstracts (Vanderbilt Television News Archive, 1972, 1976, 1980).

Broh, C. Anthony. "Horse-race journalism: reporting the polls in the 1976 Presidential election." Public Opinion Quarterly. 44:4 (Winter 1980)

Abstract: Reporting of public opinion polls conformed to a horse-race image of campaign reporting during the 1976 presidential election. Journalists avoided prediction, reported segments of the sample, selectively compared results, emphasized spectacles, questioned the validity of polling, made a few mistakes, and ignored certain data in their reporting. All these activities reinforced the image of elections as a sporting event. Notes: Vanderbilt Television News Archive cited as source for news stories mentioned in the article.

Burden, Barry C., Mughan, Anthony. "Public opinion and Hillary Rodham Clinton." Public Opinion Quarterly. 63:2 (Summer 1999)

Abstract: Hillary Rodham Clinton is a political figure as well as a public one. Once in the White House, she reclaimed her birth name and became the point person in the most important proposed piece of domestic legislation (health care reform) of her husband’s first term. The break from the past was seismic. A decade and a half earlier, First Lady Rosalynn Carter had stirred controversy by merely attending cabinet meetings. If there has been a move in the direction of a joint presidency, what are its implications for the dynamics of US political opinion? Two scenarios suggest themselves. First, the husband and wife occupants of the White House are seen as two sides of the same coin so that their popularity levels are interdependent. Second, the first lady has emerged as a force in her own right so that the question of what drives her public popularity is still a puzzle to be solved. These contrasting scenarios are put to the test by examining the dynamics of public opinion toward Hillary Rodham Clinton during the first 5 years of the Clinton Administration.

Cripps, Thomas. "So their eyes won't glaze over: how television news defined the debate over the Smithsonian's Enola Gay Exhibit." Wide Angle. 20:2 (April 1988)

Culbert. "Memories of 1945 and 1963: American television coverage of the end of the Berlin wall, November 9, 1989." Television Histories: shaping collective memory in the Media Age.

Abstract: Thanks to the Vanderbilt Television News Archive’s videotaping system and its printed finding aids, which index every daily news broadcast, including the reporter introducing the feed, commercials, and timings to the tenth of a second (including, in 1989 Cable News Network News, or CNN), it is easy to study television coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Culbert, David. "Television's visual impact on decision-making in the USA, 1968: the Tet Offensive and Chicago's Democratic National Convention." Journal of Contemporary History. 33:3 (July 1998)

Notes: See especially p. 441: There is an archival problem for all who write about what was shown. CBS has no archival record of its coverage on 28 August; it has colour footage of the police attacking demonstrators, but it is impossible to see everything CBS anchorman Walter Chronkite said that night, or how he responded to what was happening on the convention floor. CBS retained only the effective violent images, plus additional outtakes of violence. ABC, in distant third place, also destroyed its complete convention coverage of 28 August. The same is true for NBC, though scholars can see what NBC broadcast on 28 August, thanks to the foresight of Paul Simpson, founder of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He began off-air videotaping of the three networks’ evening news programmes on 4 August 1968. He also decided to videotape the complete NBC coverage for the evening of 28 August, since NBC’s Huntly-Brinkley Report had the largest number of viewers. Vanderbilt videotaped off the air in ‘living’ black and white; the vast majority of those who viewed television on 28 August also saw the violence in black and white. Indeed, colour is curiously remote from our collective memory of police violence that day, even if today’s documentaries about America in the 1960’s use only colour archival footage, in the process ‘colourizing’ our collective memory of what happened.

Dahlgren, Peter, Chakrapani, Sumitra. "The Third World on TV news: Western ways of seeing the." Television Coverage of International Affairs.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of International Affairs. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 46: Since most of such reports concern political crises, we selected a variety of such major events from 1977 through 1979. Using the Television News Index and Abstracts of Vanderbilt U niversity, we were able to compile a list of all network stories broadcast during the time of the selected crisis.

Danielian, Lucig H., Page, Benjamin I. "The heavenly chorus: interest group voices on TV news." American Journal of Political Science. 38:4 (November 1994)

Abstract: The work of E. E. Schattschneider (1960) and others suggests that there may be systematic biases or unrepresentativeness in the voices that interest groups contribute to public deliberation about policy. Evidence from hundreds of TV news stories concerning 80 diverse policy issues from the 1969-82 period indicates that corporations and business groups predominated (especially on economic issues), with 36.5% of all interest group mentions, contrasted with only 13.2% for labor. Professional and agricultural interests were rarely heard from. Citizen action groups had 32% of all interest group stories, but these often concerned unpopular protest activity. Such imbalances, apparently resulting from differential command of money and other resources, seem to violate norms of equal access, representativeness, balance, and diversity in the marketplace of ideas. Notes: See p. 1061: For each of the 80 issues, the Vanderbilt Television News Index and Abstract summaries of one randomly chosen network news broadcast each day were analyzed for a period beginning two months before the first opinion survey on a give issue and ending at the time of the second survey. Each news story relevant to the issue at hand was divided into separate “source stories” (i.e., segments of the story based on different source types.) All of the resulting 7,747 source stories were coded on a number of variables, including the type of news source whose statement or action was reported…

Dearing, James W. "Setting the polling agenda for the issue of AIDS." Public Opinion Quarterly. 53:3 (Fall 1989)

Abstract: A research study focused on the polling agenda for the issue of AIDS from 1981 to 1987. Results showed that the mass media agenda set the polling agenda for the issue of AIDS, and the way in which the issue of AIDS was portrayed in the mass media influenced the way in which survey questions addressed the issue of AIDS. Notes: From the section "Operationalizing the Mass Media Agenda:" To represent the mass media agenda for the issue of AIDS, all news stories about AIDS from June 1981 (the first news story about AIDS appeared on 5 June 1981) through June 1987 were counted if (1) they were broadcast on the network evening news programs of ABC, or NBC (these data were obtained from the Vanderbilt Television News Archives) or (2) if they appeared in the Washington Post (indexed through University Microfilms International) and the New York Times (from the New York Times Index)…

Edwards, George C III, Mitchell, William, Welch, Reed;. "Explaining presidential approval: the significance of issue salience." American Journal of Political Science. 39:1 (February 1995)

Abstract: An issue must be salient to people, and people must evaluate the president in terms of his performance regarding it, for it to have a significant influence on evaluations of the president. Content analysis of media coverage of issues indicates that issues vary over time in their salience to the public and in their impact on presidential approval.

Erfle, Stephen, McMillan, Henry. "Media, political pressure, and the firm: the case of petroleum pricing in the late 1970's." Quarterly Journal of Economics. 105:1 (February 1990)

Abstract: A study empirically examined whether major domestic oil companies held down product prices relative to their less visible counterparts during the 1979 oil crisis. Company prices on unregulated fuel oil were compared with a measure of political pressure - the level of television coverage of the energy crisis. The price data were weekly, company-specific, wholesale prices obtained from the Oil Buyers’ Guide for the period 1977-1980. The results show that media coverage influenced home heating oil price ratios, but did not influence residual fuel oil price ratios for the same companies. It is argued that this differential pricing pattern is rational in a politically sensitive period. In noncrisis years, TV coverage of the oil industry did not have an effect on pricing decisions. An enhanced version of economic efficiency that accounts for regulatory threats can provide valuable insights into the economic adjustment process in a democratic society.

Erfle, Stephen, McMillan, Henry. "Media, political pressure, and the firm: the case of petroleum pricing in the late 1970s." Quarterly Journal of Economics. 105:1 (February 1990)

Abstract: This paper empirically examines whether major domestic oil companies held down product prices relative to their less visible counterparts during the 1979 oil crisis. We compare company prices on unregulated fuel oil with a measure of political pressure--the level of television coverage of the energy crisis. We find that media coverage influenced home heating oil price ratios, but did not influence residual fuel oil price ratios for the same companies. We argue that this differential pricing pattern is rational in a politically sensitive period. Notes: Television News Index and Abstracts listed as a reference.

Erfle, Stephen, McMillan, Henry, Grofman, Bernard. "Regulation via threats: politica, media coverage, and oil pricing decisions." Public Opinion Quarterly. 54:1 (Spring 1990)

Abstract: Using the oil crisis of the late 1970s as a case study, we examine the intertwide influences of public opinion and media attention on the credibility on regulatory threats. We focus on three factors: the intensity of public demands for regulatory intervention, the extent to which there are other competing demands on legislative attention, and the availability of scapegoats external to the industry. We use television news coverage of various topics to measure these three factors. We hypothesize that firms threatened with potential regulation restrained price increases, with the largest and most publicly visible firms exercising the greatest restraint. We find that large, visible oil firms restrained price increases for the most important decontrolled products (diesel fuel oil) when media coverage of the oil industry was extensive. These firms exercised less restraint when the government was busy with other issues or when political instability in the Middle East offered an external rationale for oil price increases. Notes: Television News Index and Abstracts listed as a reference.

Gilberg, Sheldon, Eyal, Chaim, McCombs, Maxwell, Nicholas, David. "The State of the Union Address and the press agenda." Journalism Quarterly. 57

Abstract: From the Methodoloyg section: The abstracts prepared by the Vanderbilt University Television Archive wre used for the network broadcasts.

Gilens, Martin. "Race and poverty in America: public misperceptions and the American news media." Public Opinion Quarterly. 60:4 (Winter 1996)

Notes: From the "Data and Methods section: In addition to newsmagazines, coverage of poverty by network television news was also examined. Stories on poverty and related topics were identified using Vanderbilt Television News Abstracts, published by Vanderbilt University (see Appendix for specific topics). During the 5-year time frame for this study, the three weeknight network television news shows broadcast 534 stories on poverty and related topics, the equivalent of one story every week and a half per network. ….

Gonzales, Richard. "The image on the TV screen." Star-Telegram. (Jun. 26, 2005)

Notes: Media consultant Federico Subervi and NAHJ staffers researched Vanderbilt University''s Television News Archive for the study. (Richard J. Gonzales is an Arlington resident and free-lance writer. Rgonz37034@aol.com)

Gordon, Avishag H. "The Middle East October 1973 War as reported by the American networks." International Problems. 14 (Fall 1975)

Notes: Comments by Magda Bagnied and Steven Schneider in "Sadat geos to Jerusalem: televised images, themes, and agenda" in Television Coverage of the Middle East edited by William C. Adams. 1981.

According to Gordon, television news reporting of the 1973 war was neither consistently pro-Israel nor pro-Arab. Gordon found some differences in the way the three networks treated the war, but he did not find any patterns that indicated an overall bias in coverage. Gordon''s conclusions, however, must be considered in light of his methodology. For information on the content of news stories, Gordon relied entirely on the abstracts provided in Vanderbilt''s Television News Index and Abstracts. He did not view videotapes of the newscasts. While the Index and Abstracts are a thorough finding aid and a good source for data on the agenda and topic of news stories, Vanderbilt advises against use of the abstracts for precise evaluations of the content of news stories and prints a warning against such use in each month''s edition of the Index and Abstracts. Despite this important caveat, Gordon''s study is consistent with others in suggesting a change in coverage at the time of the 1973 war.

Gould, Jane. "An assessment of transportation issues under exceptional conditions: the case of the mass media and the Northridge earthquake." Journal of Transportation and Statistics. 1:2 (May 1998)

Abstract: This study explores how the mass media covered transportation issues following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The mass media were a vital channel for travel information, and they provided considerable information to the public about thesafety of travel, alternative routes, and new travel modes. Using a methodology known as content analysis, it was found that the broadcast media also presented considerable detail and imagery about devastation to the transportation system atlarge. This study concludes that an alternative to the commercial mass media may be useful, since the implication from this research is that a vital part of disaster recovery rests in the dissemination of balanced transportation news and stories. Notes: A number of news agencies provided data, including KNBC of Burbank, California, the Nexis research service, the The Los Angeles Times Poll, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, and AVR Services. Research support was provided by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Northridge Earthquake Grant.

Greenberg, Michael, Wartenberg, Daniel. "Network television evening news coverage of infectious disease events." Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. 67:1 (Spring 1990)

Abstract: This content analysis of the evening news of ABC, CBS and NBC for the 1978-1987 years, using the Vanderbilt archives, enables these authors to examine coverage of several infectious diseases and teenage suicide to see if television favors covering illness where it clusters, or near major news centers, where it is easier to cover. In general, this study finds television did go to where illnesses broke out, but tended to favor reporting urban over rural suicides. The study included coverage of AIDS, botulism, influenza, Legionnaires’ Disease and measles, as well as teenage suicide. Notes: Urban Studies & Community Health, Rutgers University

Gwiasda, Gregory W. "Network news coverage of campaign advertisements: media's ability to reinforce campaign messages." American Politics Research. 29:5 (September 2001)

Abstract: In this article, the author examines whether network news coverage of a campaign advertisement’s issue can reinforce the ad’s basic message for the public and later individual candidate assessment. The author uses the 1988 Willie Horton ad to investigate this question, combining data from the 1988 American National Election Study with content analysis from the Vanderbilt Television News Archives. Results show that general campaign coverage of race and crime issues as well as coverage of Horton influenced individual ideological perceptions of Dukakis. In line with Zaller’s theory of public opinion, this influence was limited to certain individuals within the population, namely, media coverage affects individuals with moderate levels of political awareness who have weaker initial predispositions. Combined, these results demonstrate that media can exert both significantly and substantively significant influence on the public. . Notes: Study relies partially on content analysis from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. From the Appendix to the study: "Content analysis was conducted from the Vanderbilt Television News Archives from August 29,1988 to November 7, 1988. Coverage was measured each day during this period and initially broken down into three categories: crime-, Horton-, and race-related stories. When a story was found that pertained to one of these issues, it was placed into one of these areas. Then, all three categories were combined under one measure to determine the total Horton-crime-race-related coverage. …"(p. 479)

Hall, Jim. "Challenges for the Air Safety Investigator and for ISASI." (August 24, 1999)

Abstract: Remarks by Jim Hall, Chairman; National Transportation Safety Board before the International Society of Air Safety Investigators Boston, Massachusetts, August 24, 1999 Notes: "There is more we can say about the benefits of international communication and cooperation, but I''d like to shift the focus for a moment to the media and journalism. Modern news is driven by the portability of satellite technology. Everything has become real-time, instantaneous, up-close, and often monotonously over-dramatized in continuing round-the-clock coverage. From the beginning, aviation accidents were big news. Even so, the evolution of journalism over the past fifty years is nowhere more evident than when a large commercial plane crashes. I have a few clips I think will illustrate my point nicely. I want to thank the folks at the Television News Archive at Vanderbilt University and EFX Video of Arlington, Virginia for the clips you are about to see. We will start with two older shots from the fifties and the sixties."

Hallin, Daniel C. "The media, the war in Vietnam, and political support: a critique of the thesis of an oppositional media." Journal of Politics. 46:1 (February 1984)

Abstract: The issue of the relation of the media to political authority has been approached by political scientists mainly in terms of the effects of news content on individual attitudes toward government. This article addresses the institutional side of the question. It offers a critique, based on a case study of television coverage of Vietnam, of the thesis that the media shifted during the 1960s and 1970s toward an oppositional relation to political authority. It concludes that while there was a substantial increase in critical news content during the Vietnam War, changes in the professional norms and practices of journalism, including the norms of "objective journalism" and journalists’ relation to official sources, were much less dramatic. A model for explaining changes in the level of critical coverage is offered, emphasizing media response to the degree of consensus or dissensus among political elites. Notes: See p. 5: The data which follow are based on a stratified random sample of 779 television broadcasts from the period beginning 20 August 1965 and ending with the cease-fire on 27 January 1973. The analysis begins in August 1965, because archives of television news are not available before that date (the Vanderbilt Television news Archive was established in August of 1968. All material after that date is taken from Vanderbilt.

Harrington, David E. "Economic news on television: the determinants of coverage." Public Opinion Quarterly. 53:1 (Spring 1989)

Abstract: This paper examines the television networks’ coverage of the unemployment rate, the inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index, and the growth rate of real GNP over the twelve years from 1973 through 1984. This time period includes two major recessions, two severe bursts of inflation, and three presidential elections. A common complaint is that the networks overemphasize bad economic news. Using two measures of coverage, this paper examines whether the television networks give greater coverage to these statistics when they are deteriorating. The empirical results reveal that the networks do give greater coverage to bad economic news during nonelection years, but this pattern disappears during election years. The empirical results also reveal that presidential comments are very powerful in shaping the amount of coverage given to these economic statistics. Notes: Television News Index and Abstracts listed as a reference.

Havick, J. "Determinants of national media attention." Journal of Communication. 47:2

Abstract: This study employed two perspectives to investigate media attention given women congressional candidates. The first perspective is that media attention may be explained by typical and normal media processes, such as focusing on incumbents. The second perspective considers a partisan explanation in which media attention is weighted more to Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. This study employs two established sources, Vanderbilt’s Television News Index and Abstract and Information Access’s National Newspaper Index, to examine the national media attention of Democratic and Republican women congressional candidates in 1990 and 1992. The investigation determined that media attention is related to whether the candidates are running for the Senate or House, incumbency, and state population. The results also reveal that party is a statistically significant factor associated with media attention. The investigation also determined that ethnic candidates tend to receive slightly less attention from the print media than nonethnic candidates.

Holden, Robert T. "The contagiousness of aircraft hijacking." American Journal of Sociology. 91:4 (January 1986)

Abstract: It has often been claimed that aircraft hijacking is a "contagious" phenomenon, that the motivation to hijack aircraft spreads from one individual to another as a result of media coverage of hijacking incidents. This article develops a mathematical model of contagion and applies it to aircraft hijackings in the United States between 1968 and 1972. Analyses show that successful hijackings in the United States did generate additional hijacking attempts of the same type (either transportation or extortion). There were no contagion effects of unsuccessful hijacking attempts in the United States or any effects on U.S. hijacking attempts of such attempts outside the United States. Notes: See p 90: For the purpose of testing the dependence of contagion effects on publicity, media publicity was measured by coverage of hijacking incidents on the evening news programs of the three major U.S. television networks. Data on television coverage were obtained from two sources. For the period of August 1968 through the end of 1972 data were obtained from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive Index and Abstracts. If the abstracts showed any mention of a particular hijacking attempt on the evening news broadcasts of ABC, CBS, or NBC during a period from zero to three days after the event, the event was coded as “reported.” Although some incidents were reported a day or more after their occurrence, no attempt was made to record the exact dates of the reports or the amounts of coverage. The Vanderbilt archives were not in operation during the first seven months of 1968. For that period, data were obtained from the indexes of the “CBS Evening News” and the same coding procedure was used.

Iyengar, S., Simon, A.F. "News coverage of the Golf Crisis and public opinion: a study of agenda-setting, priming, and framing." Communications Research. 20

Iyengar, Shanto, Kinder, Donald R. News that matters: television and American opinion.

Notes: Vanderbilt Television News Archive cited on pp. 10, 27, 107

Kaid, Linda Lee, Tedesco, John C, McKinnon, Lori Melton. "Presidential ads as nightly news: a content analysis of 1988 and 1992 televised adwatches." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 40:3 (Summer 1996)

Abstract: A study found that presidential adwatches were found mostly as part of routine campaign reports in 1988, but were more prominently featured as the focus of a television news story in 1992. Findings point to the increasing importance of political advertising as part of news reports on political campaigns. Notes: from the "Methods" section: Researchers conducted a content analysis of network news coverage of 1988 and 1992 televised political advertisements. The data for this study were drawn from the Vanderbilt Television News Index and Abstracts and from actual videotapes of network newscasts. This study analyzed broadcasts appearing on the three major networks; ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Researchers examined political advertising adwatches in network newscasts from Labor Day to Election Day in each of the two presidential election years. These dates are traditionally viewed as the general election period for political campaigns. According to Kern, West, and Alger (1993), the general election period is when adwatches amplify the most memorable messages and place greater emphasis on campaign issues.

Kern Montague. "The invasion of Afghanistan: domestic vs. foreign stories." Television Coverage of the Middle East.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the Middle East. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 106: In searching for answers to these questions, content analysis was undertaken involving all stories dealing with both domestic and foreign aspects of the Afghan story between December 21, 1979 and January 21, 1980. A total of sixty-two stories on NBC and sixty on CBS evening news were identified using Vanderbilt''s Television News Index and Abstracts. These stories totalled about three hours on each network during this one-month period. Using the facilities of the TV News Study Center at George Washington University, the videotapes loaned from the Vanderbilt Archive were coded for time, date, topic, and dominant visual details of their 239 cut-to-cut segments. Only segments relating to the Afthan crisis were used from multifaceted campaign stories.

Kitman, Marvin. "On television: lessons from critic Spiro." The New Leader. (April 19, 1971)

Kuklinski, James H., Sigelman, Lee. "When objectivity is no objective: network television news coverage of U.S. Senators and the paradox of objectivity." Journal of Politics. 54:3 (August 1992)

Abstract: Do the electronic media, the principal source of political information for many if not most American citizens, present biased accounts of national affairs? Our analyses of network coverage of U.S. senators during the 1970s and 1980s find that the networks follow objective routines, which normally ensure balanced reporting of political affairs. During times of seismic change in the political landscape, however, these very routines can produce what might be interpreted as biased coverage. The first four years of the Reagan administration, we show, is a striking example of this phenomenon. We label this the "paradox of objectivity," a phenomenon that greatly complicates the evaluation of news reporting. Notes: see p. 817: What we are trying to explain, of course, is why the networks turn to some senators with greater frequency than others. In our main analyses, annual data on the total volume of network television news coverage of each of the 187 senators who served at least one full year between 1972 and 1984 were totaled from a count of the number of entries for each senator in the monthly listings in the Television News Index and Abstracts, which the Vanderbilt Television news Archive has published since 1972.

Larson, James F. "International affairs coverage on US evening network news, 1972-1979." Television Coverage of International Affairs.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of International Affairs. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 20: The remainder of this chapter is devoted to a description of international affairs coverage on network television''s early evening news broadcasts during the eight-year period from 1972 through 1979. The description is based on quantitative measures from Vanderbilt University''s Television News Index and Abstracts. ... The initial content analysis of the Television News Index and Abstracts was conducted only after a test to determine its reliability as a source of data about international news coverage (Larson & Hardy, 1977). That test revealed a very high degree of reliability for the Index and Abstracts

Larson, James F. Television's window on the world: international affairs coverage on the U.S. networks.

Notes: Vanderbilt Television News Archive cited on pp. 142, 144

Lyson, Thomas A.. "Who cares about the farmers? apathy and the current farm crisis." Rural-Sociology. 51:4 (Winter 1986)

Abstract: Three reasons why Americans have remained generally apathetic toward the current farm crisis are examined: (1) Most US consumers have had little direct contact with farmers or farm life. (2) The relationship between food prices at the supermarket & farm income is hidden. (3) Americans have come to view "bad" news from the farm sector as a recurring theme in US economic events. Data from the US Census Bureau, the US Dept of Agriculture, & the Vanderbilt U TV News Archives are used to support the arguments.

Maguire, Brendan. "Television network news coverage of corporate crime from 1970-2000." Western Criminology Review. 3:2 (June 2002)

Abstract: Numerous studies have shown that both the news and entertainment media present distorted views of crime. Chief among the distortions are an over-exaggeration of violent crime and a corresponding underrepresentation of corporate crime. Does this general conclusion from the research literature apply to network television newscasts? This is a timely question given that criminologists have seldom examined national newscasts, as opposed to local television news. The present study, using the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, examines television nightly newscasts over a thirty-year period. Findings focus on trends in nightly news coverage of corporate crime between 1970 and 2000. Notes: From the Data and Methods section: Data for this study come from the Television News Archive housed at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Among other holdings, the archive contains video tapes of all nightly television newscasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC going back to 1968. It is the world''s largest collection of evening network television news broadcasts. On its website the archive maintains an index called "Evening News Abstracts" (ENA). This index contains descriptive summaries of each reported story for every newscast including the amount of time devoted to each story. The ENA makes it possible to identify and catalogue every crime story appearing on network news for the past 32 years. The focus here is not that extensive; instead, the present study is a content analysis of a sample consisting of all ABC, CBS, and NBC nightly newscasts for the first Wednesday of every month in 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, and 2000 (CNN did not exist from the beginning sample years, but the ENA now carries CNN information).

Marshall, Thomas R. "The news verdict and public opinion during the primaries." Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 49: Television video tapes were provided by the Vanderbilt Television News Archive with support from the Television and Politics Study Program at George Washington University.

McPhail, Clark, Schweingruber, David, Ceobanu, Alin, Waddington, P.A.J. "Analyzing video records of collective action."

Abstract: We have extended our method developed for on-site systematic observation & recording of collective action (McPhail & Schweingruber, 1999; Schweingruber & McPhail, 1999) to the coding of videotape records from three sources: the Vanderbilt Television News Archives, the videotape archives of a large metropolitan police force, & investigator produced videotapes. The method samples the videotape record for several categories of actors (demonstrators, police, onlooker-passersby, media workers, & counterdemonstrators) & for incidents of collective action by two or more actors in each category. The method estimates the number of visible individuals in each actor category in each sample shot & then estimates the proportion of those visible actors judged to engage in one or more of forty-plus elementary forms of collective (facing, voicing, manipulating, locomoting) actions. After describing the criteria & procedures for our method, we report the results of coding three protest events representing, respectively, the aforementioned three sources of videotape records; the annual March for Life in Washington, DC (1973-1998), the 1991 Poll Tax Riot in London, & a 1995 Kurdish PKK protest event in Bern, Switzerland, recorded by the first author. We briefly summarize our analyses of those three events & discuss the advantages & limitations of the three types of video records & of the criteria & procedures of our method.

Méndez-Méndez, Serafín, Alverio, Diane. "The portrayal of Latinos in Network Television News, 2001." (November 2002)

Abstract: The 2002 NAHJ Network Brownout Report presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the network evening newscasts as summarized by the Vanderbilt University Television Archives.

Miller, Stephania T.; Campbell, Marquita N.; PichertJames W. "Diabetes TV News coverage lags behind." Diabetes Care. 25:607 (March 2002)

Abstract:

Millions of Americans depend on the national nightly network news programs for current events information (1). Previous studies showed that nightly network news coverage about diabetes paled in comparison with that given to cancer and heart disease during the 1970s and 1980s (2,3). We evaluated whether the amount of national news coverage given to diabetes had improved during the 1990s and the extent to which racial disparities in diabetes had been highlighted. Specific objectives included tracking diabetes-related coverage on major nightly network news programs for the last 10 years, comparing diabetes coverage with that of cancer and heart disease, and examining the content of diabetes-related coverage.

The Vanderbilt Television News Archives (VTNA) has videotaped, catalogued, and indexed nightly news broadcasts from ABC, CBS, and NBC since 1968 (4). In addition, the VTNA began doing the same with the CNN evening news beginning in 1989. The VTNA abstract indexes were searched for keywords "diabetes," "cancer," and "heart disease." The content of each diabetes-related abstract and selected cancer and heart disease abstracts were examined to determine whether disease-specific racial disparities were reported.

Morales, Waltraud Queiser. "Revolutions, earthquakes and Latin America: the networks look at Allende's Chile and Somoza's Nicaragua." Television Coverage of International Affairs.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of International Affairs. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 80: In order to assess coverage of Latin America in a systematic fashion, the Television News Index and Abstract was used to identify news stories involving Latin American countries in any manner. There was no sample; instead, every nightly news program on all three networks was examined for a period of six full years--1970-73, 1978-79.

Moretti, Anthony. "Network television coverage of the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Boycotts: a content analysis of the Evening News on ABC, CBS, and NBC." (August 6, 2001)

Abstract: The United States and the Soviet Union led boycotts tarnishing the 1980 and 1984 summer Olympics. This study examined how the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs covered the boycotts. The press nationalism model holds that media follow the “official” government line in reporting international affairs. Based on abstracts from the Vanderbilt University television archives, this content analysis found evidence to support the hypothesis that press nationalism influenced coverage of the boycotts.

Moynihan, Ray, Bero, Lisa, Ross-Degnan, Dennis, Henry, David. Lee, Kirby, Watkins, Judy. Mah, Connie, Soumerai, Stephen B.. "Coverage by the news media of the benefits and risks of medications." New England Journal of Medicine. 342:22 (June 1, 2000)

Abstract: Background: The news media are an important source of information about new medical treatments, but there is concern that some coverage may be inaccurate and overly enthusiastic.Methods: We studied coverage by U.S. news media of the benefits and risks of three medications that are used to prevent major diseases. The medications were pravastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug for the prevention of cardiovascular disease; alendronate, a bisphosphonate for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis; and aspirin, which is used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. We analyzed a systematic probability sample of 180 newspaper articles (60 for each drug) and 27 television reports that appeared between 1994 and 1998.Results: Of the 207 stories, 83 (40 percent) did not report benefits quantitatively. Of the 124 that did, 103 (83 percent) reported relative benefits only, 3 (2 percent) absolute benefits only, and 18 (15 percent) both absolute and relative benefits. Of the 207 stories, 98 (47 percent) mentioned potential harm to patients, and only 63 (30 percent) mentioned costs. Of the 170 stories citing an expert or a scientific study, 85 (50 percent) cited at least one expert or study with a financial tie to a manufacturer of the drug that had been disclosed in the scientific literature. These ties were disclosed in only 33 (39 percent) of the 85 stories.Conclusions: News-media stories about medications may include inadequate or incomplete information about the benefits, risks, and costs of the drugs as well as the financial ties between study groups or experts and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Notes: From the Methods section: The Vanderbilt Television News Archive Evening News data base was used to obtain videotaped stories on ABC, CBS, and NBC nightly network news and CNN about the three drugs between 1994 and 1998. Search strategies similar to those used for newspaper articles were employed. Ninety television stories were identified and reviewed, of which 27 were included (10 on alendronate, 10 on pravastatin, and 7 on aspirin).

Neuman, W. Russell. "The threshold of public attention." Public Opinion Quarterly. 54:2 (Summer 1990)

Abstract: The analysis reviews time series data for the period 1945 to 1980 on media coverage and corresponding public attention to a set of ten political issues including poverty, racial problems, Watergate, and Vietnam. The study focuses on the early stages of public awareness and the need for a "critical mass" or threshold to move a matter from the status of private concern to a public, political issue. The pattern of evolving public awareness varies dramatically for different types of issues. In some cases, the public appears to have a much steeper "response function" in reacting to real-world cues than the media; in other cases, the media seem to be more responsive. Modeling the growth of attention to public issues with the logistic curve met with modest success. The article concludes with a call for much closer coordination between agenda-setting research and the study of political cognition. Notes: See p. 165: Having selected the issues, content analyses were conducted on three media indices – the New York Times Index, the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, and the Vanderbilt Television News Archive Index.

Norris, P. "The restless searchlight: network news framing of the post-cold war world." Political Communication. 12

Page, Benjamin I., Shapiro, Robert Y. The rational public: fifty years of trends in American's policy preferences.

Notes: See especially Chapter 8 "The Causes of Collective Opinion Change" Media Impact Studies; page 342: For the independent variables taken from TV news, we and our research assistants coded the daily network television news from one or more randomly selected network every day, beginning two months before the first (“T1”)survey and going through to the time of the second (“T2”) survey, using the brief summaries found in the Television News Index and Abstracts of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive." The footnote indicates this represented an effort of more than 10,000 hours.

Page, Benjamin I., Shapiro, Robert Y., Dempsey, Glenn R. "What moves public opinion?." American Political Science Review. 81:1 (March 1987)

Abstract: Democratic theory must pay attention to what influences public opinion. In this study the content of network television news is shown to account for a high proportion of aggregate changes (from one survey to another) in U.S. citizens’ policy preferences. Different news sources have different effects. News commentators (perhaps reflecting elite or national consensus or media biases) have a very strong positive impact, as do experts. Popular presidents tend to have positive effects, while unpopular presidents do not. In contrast, special interest groups tend to have a negative impact. Notes: See p. 26: For each of the 80 cases, we and our research assistants coded the daily television network news from one randomly selected network (in a few low-salience cases, all network) each day, using the summaries found in the ,em>Television News Index and Abstacts of the Vanderbilt Television news Archive. These summaries, while rather brief and not intended for such purposes, were generally satisfactory in providing the fairly straightforward information we sought, especially since they were aggregated over several weeks or months. …

Paletz, D.L., Short, H.B., Campbell, B.C., Cooper, R.J., Oeslander, R.M. "Polls in the media: content, credibility, and consequences." Public Opinion Quarterly. 44

Paletz, David L., Ayanian, John Z., Fozzard, Peter A. "Terrorism on the TV news: the IRA, the FALN, and the Red Brigades." Television Coverage of International Affairs.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of International Affairs. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 148: The videotapes were compiled and provided by the Vanderbilt Television Archive which records the networks'' evening news programs. We are grateful to James P. Pilkington, Margaret M. Pritchett, and their cohorts at the Archive for their splendid assistance. Without them, systematic research on television news would be virtually impossible. ...

Paletz, David L., Short, Jonathan Y., Baker, Helen, Campbell, Barbara Cookman, Cooper, Richard J., Oeslander, Rochelle M. "Polls in the media: content, credibility, and consequences." Public Opinion Quarterly. 44:4 (Winter 1980)

Abstract: Polls appearing in the New York Times and on the CBS and NBC evening news programs for three years are categorized, their treatment by the media dissected, and their possible political implications analyzed. Notes: See p. 498: Through 1975, the Vanderbilt Television News Index listed television news polls under the heading “Polls – Opinion.” This enabled us to compile a complete list of the polls mentioned on every weeknight and some weekends during the years 1973 and 1975. Beginning in 1976, however, the index lists polls by pollster only. Because of this change, we may have missed a few of the more obscure polls of 1977. There were two other problems: the individual abstracts differed in style and content because of a variety of indexers; and we were not able to determine from the abstract the relevance or use of the poll in the news story. This meant we had to request videotapes of all the poll stories mentioned. We certainly want to express our appreciation to the staff of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive for their unswervingly helpful responses to our many requests.

Pasadeos, Y. "Sources in television coverage of automative strikes." Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. 34

Phillips, David P. "Airplane accidents, murder, and the mass media: towards a theory of imitation and suggestion." Social Forces. 58:4 (January 1980)

Abstract: This paper presents evidence indicating that imitation and suggestion have a powerful impact on social behavior. The major findings of the paper are: (1) After publicized murder-suicide stories there is an increase in noncommercial plane crashes and an increase in airline crashes. (2) This increase in crashes persists for approximately nine days, and then the level of crashes returns to normal. (3) The greater the publicity given by the mass media to a murder-suicide story, the greater the increase in airline crashes and the greater the increase in noncommercial plane crashes. Alternative explanations for the findings are tested. The best available explanation is that publicized murder-suicide stories trigger additional, imitative murder-suicides, some of which are disguised as airplane accidents. The second half of the paper moves from the empirical findings towards a modern sociological theory of imitation and suggestion. Some nineteenth century sociologists began to theorize upon this topic, but modern sociologists have virtually ignored it. Both the empirical evidence and the theoretical discussion presented in this paper suggest that it may be worth reopening a line of research which has been closed since the turn of this century. Notes: "Information on network television news coverage is provided by Vanderbilt Television News Archives (periodical issues).

Prichert, James W., Hanson, Stephanie L. "Arthritis in the national TV news: 1971-1981." Journal of Rheumatology. 10

Abstract: Millions of Americans get virtually all their current events information from the national nightly television news programs. The purpose of this study was to learn via the Vanderbilt Television News Archives what arthritis-related information had been broadcast over the last 11 years by the network news programs. In the last 11 years there have been 23 arthritis related news segment. In comparison there were 32 about diabetes, 215 about heart diseases, and 925 dealing with cancer. A compilation of the non-overlapping segments has been shown to health professionals and patients, who felt the stories were generally accurate. Notes: From the Materials and Methods section, p. 323: The procedure was simple and direct. Every nightly television news program broadcast by the 3 commercial national networks from 1971 through 1981 was searched for arthritis-related segments via the indices of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive (VTNA). The VTNA, a resource unique to Vanderbilt University, is a videotape collection of evening newscasts of the 3 major American commercial television networks, ABC, CGS, and NBC, from August 5, 1968 through the present. There are no other such collections dated back that far. The contents of each broadcast have been catalogued and indexed.

Pride, Richard A., Clarke, Daniel H. "Race relations in television news: a content analysis of the networks." Journalism Quarterly. 50:2 (Summer 1973)

Abstract: Study shows three networks did not operate uniformly in racial coverage form 1968 to 1970. NBC put more empahsis on race issue than the other two networks. Notes: Richard A. Pride is assistant professor of political science adn Daniel H. Clarke is a research assistant at Vanderbilt University. The authors wish to express thanks to the Vanderbilt Television News Archive and to the University Research Council for their support. ...

Pride, Richard A., Richards, Barbara. "Denigration of authority? television news coverage of the student movement." Journal of Politics. 36:3 (August 1974)

Notes: See p. 643: The Vanderbilt Television News Archive is a unique source of data. Under the Archive’s auspices, video-tape copies have been made of each of the weekday network evening news programs since the fall of 1968. To our knowledge it is the only facility of its kind anywhere. For the purpose of this study, one day was drawn at random for each week from September 1968, through April, 1970. Transcripts were made of all stories dealing with youth and students from each of the three network news broadcasts during this period. Each sentence from these stories was coded.

Quisenberry, Phillip-Neil. Television news coverage and its effects on the recording of hate crime.

Abstract: Crimes motivated by hate have been around since the dawn of history. However they have recently been given a name and a special place in the criminal justice system: Hate Crime. Even so, it was not added to the criminal code until 1993, making it a fairly new crime category. As such, there has not been a significant amount of research in this area. What has been done, however, has largely been descriptive in nature. What has been studied is the effects of extra-legal factors on crime rates, both at the individual level and at the structural level. One of the structural-level factors that has been shown to influence crime rates is the media. Although the media and its effects have been largely studied, there has been no research on the connection between the amount of media coverage and the recording of hate crimes by law enforcement. However, media scholars suggest that just such a connection is likely to exist. For this reason, this study attempts to bring together media effects and hate crime rates. Specifically, I examine the agenda-setting effects of the media on the amount of recorded hate crime. Using data from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive and the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, I examine whether increases in media coverage of hate crime incidents has an accompanying impact on the numbers of hate crimes being recorded by law enforcement. Results suggest that the total number of hate crime stories covered by network news has little or no effect on hate crime recording. However, when network hate crime news stories are broken down into specific types, (i.e. gay and lesbian stories and racially-motivated stories) there does appear to be a positive effect. This suggests that media coverage is having an agenda-setting effect on hate crime rate, which means that crime statistics in general, and hate crime statistics in particular, may suffer from extra-legal influences. Notes: Dissertation: University of Kentucky. Available from UMI, Ann Arbor, MI. Order No. DA3028048

Ragsdale, L, Cook, T.E. "Representatives' actions and challengers' reactions: limits to candidate connections in the Housue." American Journal of Political Science. 31

Reeves, Jimmie L., Campbell, Richard. Cracked coverage: television news, the anti-cocaine crusade, and the Reagan legacy.

Notes: Television News Index and Abstracts cited on pp. 16, 72, 220, 228

Robinson, M.J., Appel, K.R. "Network news coverage of Congress." Political Science Quarterly. 94

Robinson, Michael J., Sheehan, Margaret A. Over the wire and on TV.

Notes: p. 20: We videotaped all the weekday programs for the CBS "Evening News" starting on News Year''s Day, 1980, and extending through the last day of December. We rented backup tapes from the Television News Archive at Vanderbilt University...

Roeh, Itzhak. "Israel in Lebanon: language and images of storytelling." Television Coverage of the Middle East.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the Middle East. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 77: Using the Television News Index and Abstracts, ABC, CBS, and NBC early evening news stories were selected for analysis if they concerned Israeli activity in Lebanon or closely related events. A twenty-two day period from June 25 through August 15 was examined and thirty-six stories ere found. With support from the Television and Politics Program of the School of Public and International Affairs of George Washington University, a compiled videotape of these stories was secured from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. The videotapes were studied at the Communications Institute of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ryan, John, Sim, Deborah A. "When art becomes news: portrayals of art and artists on network television news." Social Forces. 68:3 (March 1990)

Abstract: This study examines the framing process on network television news as it applies to visual art and artists. Data are presented on fifteen types of art stories, the number of stories, the amount of time devoted to each, and their placement within newscasts. Comparisons are made across networks and across time. One particular type of story, the art controversy, is examined in-depth in an attempt to discover the more subtle aspects of the framing process. Throughout, comparisons are made with the art world’s own media. Conclusions are drawn regarding the amount and type of visual art coverage on the network news, the various frames employed, techniques used to develop those frames, the utility of those frames for the networks, and possible effects on the art world. Notes: See p. 871: The Vanderbilt Television News Archive in Nashville, Tennessee, has been videotaping the nightly news broadcasts of the three major networks since August 5, 1968. At the time of this study, the archives contained over 11,000 hours of tape, index and abstracted monthly. The choice of time frame for this study was limited by the fact that the subject title “art” did not appear in the index until 1976. Any attempt to locate art stories before that time would be exceedingly difficult. The period analyzed in this study begins in January 1976 and ends in August 1985.

Sahr, Robert C. "Energy as a non-issue in 1980 coverage." Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 117: To examine television news coverage of energy in relation to the 1980 presidential election campaign, the Vanderbilt Television News Index and Abstracts issues for January through October 1980 were carefully reviewed. Video tapes of stories that appeared to have the most direct bearing on energy in relation to campaign were obtained from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive for coding and detailed analysis.

Saldich, Anne Rawley. Electronic democracy : television's impact on the American political process.

Scott, David K., Gobetz, Robert H. "Hard news/soft news content of the national broadcast networks, 1972-1987." Journalism Quarterly. 69:2 (Summer 1992)

Abstract: The amount of soft news (human interest, feature, or nonpolicy issue stories) found in major network news programs over a 16 year period (1972-1987) was investigated through a content analysis of the Vanderbuilt Television News Abstracts. Although the amount of soft news increased over the years, it remained a relatively small proportion of the news program.

Sheldon, Ungar. "Is strange weather in the air? a study of U.S. national network news coverage of extreme weather event." Climatic Change. 41:2 (February 1999)

Abstract: This paper asks whether extreme weather events are becoming more discernible. It uses the Vanderbilt University Television News Archives to determine if annual coverage given to heat waves, droughts, hurricanes and floods has increased on the network news between 1968 and 1996. An index of extreme weather events shows a clear trend toward increased coverage, especially since 1988. However, the different types of extreme events do not receive equal coverage: for example,annual peaks for droughts contain about twice as many stories as the peaks for heat waves. The data further reveal that there is no association between coverage of climate change and the overall coverage of extreme events. While extreme events have attracted more stories in the U.S., there has been no increase in the coverage devoted to extreme events in foreign countries. The possible effectsof shifts in TV coverage on the public salience and understanding of climate change are discussed. Notes: see page 135: Abstracts of newscasts for the three major U.S. television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) are available from 1968 onwards through the Vanderbilt University home page on the World Wide Web. The abstracts contain one- to three-sentence summaries of the stories. They always give the location of the story, which makes it feasible to distinguish between U.S. and foreign weather events.

Singer, E., Rogers, T.F., Corcoran, M. "A report: AIDS." Public Opinion Quarterly. 51

Singer, Eleanor, Ludwig, Jacob. "South Africa's press restrictions effects on press coverage and public opinion toward South Africa." Public Opinion Quarterly. 51:3 (Autumn 1987)

Abstract: The 2 November 1985 ban on photographic and sound recordings by the South African government provided an opportunity to investigate hypotheses concerning the effect of the ban on U.S. media coverage of South Africa and on public opinion toward South Africa. We hypothesized that the ban would result in (1) a decrease in coverage of protest-related stories, (2) a tapering off of the volume of coverage, and (3) a decline in the prominence of the South Africa story. We further hypothesized that (4) all of these effects would be stronger for broadcast than for print media, that (5) if the press ban reduced coverage of events in South Africa, there would be less attentiveness to the South African problem among the general public in the United States, and that (6) sympathy for the black population would decrease as a result of the press restrictions. We found that the press restrictions did not have the effects predicted, either on press coverage or on United States public opinion. Relative to levels of political violence in South Africa, coverage levels did decline. However, the decline did not occur abruptly in November, but appeared as a continuation of decreases that had already begun in September, prior to the press restrictions. Notes: See p. 318: In order to test our hypotheses about the effects of the press ban on media coverage, we monitored coverage of the South Africa story both in the New York Times and on the evening television newscasts of the three major networks, using for this purpose the New York Times Index and the Vanderbilt Television News Archive’s News Index and Abstracts.

Smith, Ted .J, Hogan, J.Michael. "Public opinion and the Panama Canal Treaties of 1977." Public Opinion Quarterly. 51:1 (Spring 1987)

Abstract: In April 1978, after nine months of national debate, the Senate narrowly ratified new Panama Canal treaties. Voting was apparently influenced by numerous opinion polls, which were seen as showing increased support for the treaties. But several analysts have shown that this interpretation was erroneous; public opinion consistently opposed the treaties. This study attempts to determine what went wrong. It begins by arraying and analyzing all national poll results on the topic in order to establish a coherent picture of public opinion. It then identifies a number of polling and reporting practices which may have contributed to the misinterpretation of the findings. The study concludes with recommendations for alleviating these problems. Notes: Footnote 12: "Television poll reports were identified through an exhaustive review of the Television News Index and Abstracts; abstracts of all Panama stories and studied through the use of videotapes provided by the Vanderbilt Television News Archive." (p. 24)

Soderlund, Walter C., Wagenberg, Ronald H., Surlin, Stuart H. "The Impact of the End of the Cold War on Canadian and American TV News coverage of Cuba: image consistency or image change?." Canadian Journal of Communication. 23:2 (Autumn 2000)

Abstract: The profound changes experienced by the international political system from 1988 to 1992, subsumed under the rubric ``the fall of Communism,’’ suggest an opportunity for changes in the way North American television news would report on events in Cuba. This article examines major network news coverage of Cuba in Canada (CBC and CTV) and in the United States (ABC, CBS, and NBC) from 1988 through 1992. Given the different histories of Canadian-Cuban and U.S.-Cuban relations since the revolution, the extent of similar negative coverage of the island in both countries’ reporting is somewhat surprising. Also, it is apparent that the end of the Cold War did not change, in any fundamental way, the frames employed by television news in its coverage of Cuba. Notes: "Data for the American networks were supplied by the TV News Archive, Vanderbilt University, in the form of video recordings of actual news stories, ..."

Spragens, William C, Terwood, Carole Ann. "Camp David and the networks: reflections on coverage of the 1978 summit." Television Coverage of International Affairs.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of International Affairs. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 120: Vanderbilt''s Television News Index and Abstracts was used to select relevant news stories to be dubbed and compiled by the Vanderbilt Archive. ...

Stack, Steven. "The effect of the mass media on suicide: an analysis of television news stories."

Abstract: Past work on suggestion & suicide has neglected a systematic test of differential identification (DI) theory; this theory is assessed as it applies to age, gender, & celebrity status. Data are taken from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive for stories on suicide that aired nationwide during 1968-1980. Cochrane-Orcutt time series models are employed. Support is found for DI theory for the young & old, & particularly for Ms, but not for the middle-aged. Finally, TV stories on noncelebrity suicides were about as apt to trigger suicides as stories concerning celebrities. All these effects were independent of changes in unemployment, divorce, & temporal effects. No support is found for the alternative artifact model; however, the unemployment rate was found to be more closely tied to suicide than was the story variable. It is concluded that macroeconomic conditions may be more important in explaining suicide rates than is suggestion theory. Notes: Complete paper available from Sociology*Express. Prepaid orders only. Telephone: (800) 752-3945 or (619) 695-8803. Fax: (619) 695-0416. E-mail: info@mail.socabs.com

Steele, Janet E. "Don't ask, don't tell, don't explain: unofficial sources and television coverage of the dispute over gays in the military." Public Communication. 14:1

Abstract: Steele analyzes the way in which TV news organizations selected and used unofficial sources in covering the 1992-93 controversy over gays and military service. Using the Vanderbilt Television News Index and Abstracts, transcripts and tapes of news programs, she examined all of the 155 TV news stories devoted to the controversy.

Stuart, James Gordon, Jr. Denominational bias in evening television network news. (1983)

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to explore the relationship of television news and organized religion by examining denominational bias in evening television network broadcasts during the period 1972-1982. A content analysis was performed on religious news stories reported on the weekday evening network news cast of ABC, CBS, and NBC during this period, as recorded in the Vanderbilt Television News Index and Abstracts

Torres, Alcia Maria. Presidential television in the Reagan era: Network coverage of Cuba's role in the Central American conflict, 1981-1984 (television).

Abstract: This dissertation is a content analysis of the ABC, CBS and NBC evening network news coverage of the role of Cuba in the Central American conflict between 1981-1984. It is conducted within the framework of political communication theories of Presidential Television--the privileged access of the executive branch to television news in comparison to other branches of government. The study combines the methodology of content analysis with conceptual tools of semeiotics in examining the verbal and visual text of the messages. The dissertation looks at two aspects of the television message: the first Reagan administration’s design of media messages and media tactics, as well as, the role that the networks played in covering these official messages. A selection was made of approximately one-third of all reports aired between 1981-1984 that dealt with the role of Cuba in the Central American conflict and that used executive branch sources. The samples were chosen based on a census of all the network reports that mentioned Cuba during these four years as indicated in the Vanderbilt University publication Television News Index and Abstracts. The examination of the verbal and the visual text of these stories found that early in President Reagan’s first term the networks played a more active role in questioning the administration’s East/West theories about the conflict in Central America by seeking out alternative sources of information and allowing congressional opposition to the executive branch to present alternative positions on-the-air. By President Reagan’s third year, however, the networks seemed to have gradually bought into the administration’s assessment and played a more active role in supporting and promoting its theories. The trend toward greater visualization of the spoken text that is evident in the production of television news was found to frequently result in support for official positions. This was especially true when the Reagan administration’s media messages were based solely on allegations, not hard facts, which was often the case. To provide a point of reference for the reader, this study examined two cases during the Carter administration and pointed out marked differences in how the networks dealt with the Carter administration’s claims of Cuba’s threat to U.S. interests: the alleged Cuban involvement in the invasion of Zaire in 1977 and the Soviet combat brigade stationed in Cuba in 1979. The results of the study are not considered indicative of a simplified conspiracy theory of communication, but rather, they are examined within the framework of the nature of the particular medium of television news and the skillful use of Presidential Television to package and sell a Cold War perspective of events in Central America. Notes: Doctoral Dissertation, University of Texas, Austin, 1989

Ungar, Sheldon. "Hot crisis and media reassurance: A comparison of emerging diseases and Ebola Zaire." British Journal of Sociology. 49:1

Abstract: Argues that the media will change its coverage of `hot crisis’ from alarming to reassuring coverage, by comparing newspaper and magazine coverage of emerging disease with their coverage of Ebola Zaire. Results of the comparison of the coverage; Examination on media coverage of the Ebola outbreak; Comparison of 17 thematic magazine stories and 35 thematic and episodic newspaper stories. Notes: Data pertaining to emerging diseases is widely scattered. In part, this is due to the vast net cast by those concerned with ''new'' infectious diseases. These include new viruses (or long-standing but just recently discovered viruses), resurgent diseases (especially antibiotic-immune bacteria and diseases carried on a new vector), as well as increasing fungal threats. Sources of data are also dispersed, ranging from reports by official organizations through made-for-TV movies. Since the topic only emerges as a ''celebrity'' issue in 1994, it has been possible to track coverage of the issue in a wide range of sources. These are comprised of newspaper articles (including the InfoTrac National Newspaper Index), magazine stories (including the Reader''s Guide to Periodical Literature), TV news (including the Vanderbilt Television News Archive), and TV shows and movies.

Wang, Chun-Lei, Rota, Josep. "Portraying China: a six-year content analysis of American elite news media coverage (1990-1995)." (July 15-19, 2002)

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a content analysis of news stories relating to China reported by six American elite news media, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, ABC, CBS, and NBC. The media content on China over a six-year period (1990-1995) was systematically examined through quantitative content analysis. Data collection was based on story keywords as compiled by Newspaper Abstracts and Evening News Abstracts. A total of 4,496 news stories on China were reviewed yielding a total of 2,742 keywords. Only those keywords that had a frequency higher than seven or those that had an independent meaning were coded as variables. This approach resulted in 607 variables being included in the study.This study also introduces the use of Perl for extracting keywords and executing the coding process in content analysis. Perl stands for Practical Extraction and Reporting Language. It was originally designed to extract information from text files and reports and has become one of the most popular languages for implementing Internet and Web-based research applications. Coding of each story adopted the form of a binary or dichotomous system. The study factor-analyzed the most frequently reported variables and grouped them into 20 major themes: (1) eleven themes for the three newspapers and (2) nine for the three broadcast networks. The themes found in the newspapers included U.S.-China Relations, Human Rights, Trade, Foreign Policy, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Chinese Economy, Chinese Military, Chinese Government and Politics, Chinese Social Life and Society, and China and Its Neighbor Countries. The general topic themes found in the networks were U.S.-China Relations, Human Rights, Trade, Chinese Economy, Nuclear Technology, Chinese Military, Disasters, Chinese Government and Politics, and one event topic, Harry Wu and the Women’s Conference. The study analyzes those themes, derives a subset of “grand themes,” compares coverage among newspapers and broadcast news services and between the two sets of media, and describes the way American elite news media portrayed China during a critical period of recent history. Notes: From the Focus of Study section: As stated, the media selected for this study are: The New York Times; The Washington Post; The Los Angeles Times; ABC; CBS; and NBC. Newspaper Abstracts (University Microfilm Inc, CD-ROM version) and Evening News Abstracts (The Vanderbilt Television News Archive) online are used for the study. Newspaper Abstracts provides publishing information from 26 major newspapers, including the three newspapers studied, along with keywords and an abstract of each story (Newspaper Abstract [CD-ROM], 1996). Evening News Abstracts provides air date information, keywords, and abstracts (Evening News Abstracts [Online], 1999). Both abstracts were acknowledged to provide electronic data bases that accurately describe international affairs coverage. These six sources transmitted a total of 4,496 news stories published by the newspapers and 753 by the broadcast networks’ evening news during six years (1990-1995). The two sets of abstracts contain 5,249 news stories (4,496 from the newspapers, 753 from the networks) and the number of variables (keywords) is 1,018 (774 from the newspaper, 244 from the networks).

Weaver, James B., Porter, Christopher J., Evans, Margaret E. "Patterns in foreign news coverage on U.S. network TV: A 10-year analysis." Journalism Quarterly. 61:2 (Summer 1984)

Abstract: Earlier studies have lent support to allegations by representatives of Third World countries, in particular, that Western news coverage of their countries is disproportionate, with too little overall coverage and too much concentration on sensational and bizarre items. In recent years there has been some indication that coverage of foreign in the US news has increased. This study was designed to determine: 1) whether there was a change in the volume of foreign news content presented on the evening newscasts of the three US commercial networks over the period 1972 - 1981 and, if so, what factors accounted for such changes; 2) whether there was a change in the amount of time devoted to specific geographic origins and specific topics of foreign news and, if so, why. A content analysis of Television News Index and Abstracts from 1977 - 1981 compared with the results of an earlier analysis of the preceding 5-year period showed considerable variation in the volume of foreign news presented, but not a significant increase from the first to the second five-year period. Also, a decrease of foreign news coverage in times of exceptional domestic news events was found. The analysis also yielded a significant variation with respect to geographic origin and topical content of the news stories.

Wilson, Paul. "Election night 1980 and the controversy over early projections." Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign.

Notes: Chapter from Television Coverage of the 1980 Presidential Campaign. Edited by William C. Adams.

On p. 148: Traditionally, networks report the evening news from 7 to 7:30 p.m. and begin their regular election coverage at 7:30 p.pm (EST). A review of Election Night video tapes loaned from Vanderbilt Television News Archive shows that Election Night 1980 was different.

Wurth-Hough, Sandra. "Network news coverage of terrorism: the early years." Terrorism: An International Journal. 6:3

Abstract: The electronic media influence public opinion by defining which national and international issues become significant, and shape public debates by the television images conveyed to the American audience. Based upon the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, this study examines the image projected in reported of terrorist activities by the three major national networks, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The reality presented by the media is explored by comparing variables such as story emphasis and depiction, frequency, length of coverage, and location in the newscasts.

Zepp, Glenn, Kuchlec, Fred, Lucierl, Gary. "Vegetables and specialties: situation and outlook report." (April 1998)

Abstract: Abstract: Consumersandfood handlers indicate that health risks due to bacterial contamination and pesticide residues rank high among their food concerns. However, scientists and regulatory personnel generally view contamination by microbial bacteria and naturally occurring toxins as greater dangers to human health than pesticide residues. Compared with animal products, in relatively few instances, fresh produce is identified as the vehicle carrying disease-causing pathogens. Yet, evidence suggests that fresh fruit and vegetables are becoming the conveyance for microbial pathogens more frequently than in the past. Foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States have been linked with both imported and domestically grown produce. There is no clear evidence that health risks due to pesticide residues or microbial bacterial contamination are greater with either imported or domestically grown produce. Notes: See p. 27: That many consumers express concern with pesticide residues in their food is not surprising because of the extensive news coverage the topic receives. During 1969-1995, the three major television networks showed 493 evening news stories on pesticides, devoting 873 minutes to the topic. This was more than to any other foodbome hazard (tabulated from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive). Pesticide news stories appeared every year during this time, while there were relatively few news stories about microbial contamination until 1985 (an outbreak of SuhnorIelfu was reported and since 1993 E. coli contamination of hamburger was reported).

Articles specifically about the Archive

Breeding, Marshall. "The Vanderbilt Television News Archive taps Google to increase business." Acorn Chronicle. (in press)

Breeding, Marshall. "Building a digital library of television news." Computers in Libraries. 23:6 (June 2003)

Abstract: Breeding comments on his latest project, the creation of a large-scale digital collection of video content from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. He shares the different phases of his project and offers the various costs and challenges during the development. Notes: Systems Librarian Column

Hane, Paula J. "Vanderbilt improves Television News Archive." Information Today. 19:9 (October 2002)

Abstract: The Television Archive, a Web-based nonprofit collaboration, was launched to provide Internet access to television broadcasts from around the world. One site listed, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, is noted as the world’s most extensive and complete archive of television news. Since the Vanderbilt Television News Archive’s launch in August 1968, staff members have consistently recorded, indexed, and preserved network television news for research, review, and study. Complete videotapes of news programs were reportedly not routinely saved until the archive began to do so during its early stages. As the project moves into its fourth decade of operation, the collection holds more than 30,000 network evening news broadcasts and more than 9,000 hours of special news-related programming. These special reports and periodic telecasts include coverage of presidential press conferences and political campaigns, as well as national and international events such as the Watergate hearings, the hostage crisis in Iran, and the Gulf War. Notes: Paula J. Hane is editor of NewsBreaks, contributing editor of Information Today, a former reference librarian, and a longtime online searcher. Her e-mail address is phane@infotoday.com.

Althaus, Scott L., Edy, Jill A., Phalen, Patricia F. "Using the Vanderbilt Television Abstracts to track broadcast news content: possibilities and pitfalls." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 46:3 (September 2002)

Abstract:

In the last 20 years, new and powerful research tools have become available to scholars who study both print and electronic media texts. Some of these tools, such as software for conducting content analysis, come with extensive documentation, but other commonly used tools may be employed with little consideration of how they work or what they are intended to do. Among the most important resources for scholars interested in broadcast news is the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. In the early 1970s, the archive began offering indexes and abstracts to help researchers locate items in its extensive collection of videotaped ...

The Vanderbilt Television News Archive supplies written abstracts for its video collection of news programs. Researchers from many disciplines use the abstracts to locate stories, track specific topics, and measure the evaluative tone of news. This study examines the validity of using abstracts as substitutes for full-text transcripts. Drawing on an analysis of the abstract writing process, we highlight potential sources of error and analyze the correspondence between transcripts and abstracts. Results of a quantitative content analysis suggest abstracts can reflect important elements of news when used at high levels of aggregation but may be unreliable as substitutes for news content.

Williamson, S. G. "Television news archive: Vanderbilt University." Choice. 39 (Aug 2002)

Cothran, Dara. "Hidden treasure on Vanderbilt’s campus." NashvilleDigest.com. (April 2, 2002)

Abstract: In the midst of a high-profile city, one of Nashville''s lowest profile residents lies hidden in a nondescript office building sitting on the edge of Vanderbilt''s campus. On the seventh floor of this non-descript building in office 704, sharing space with and almost hiding behind, the University''s real-estate office is an overcrowded, modest cluster of rooms that no one would suspect holds the world''s most available, extensive and complete archive of TV news.

Hunker, Stefanie Dennis. "Vanderbilt Television News Archive." The Charleston Advisor. 3:3 (January 2002)

Gomery, Douglas. "Considering research in film and television archives?." Perspectives. (January 2001)

Wheeler, Deborah L. "Studying Palestinian-Israeli Relations at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive (VTNA)." Middle East Studies Association Bulletin. 34:1 (Summer 2000)

Kiernan, Vincent. "Television Archive hopes to digitize newscasts for scholars' use." Chronicle of Higher Education. (May 14, 1999)

Bowen, Charles. "Tune in to TV archives." Editor & Publisher. 131:27 (Juyl 4, 1998)

Abstract: Thirty years ago this summer, Vanderbilt University’s Television News Archive began systematically recording, abstracting and indexing national television newscasts. Nowadays, text of these abstracts can be searched on the Web. Considerations for using this material in reporting include: 1. These are not verbatim transcripts of broadcasts, but abstracts of what was said. However, the site also has details on Vanderbilt’s videotape loan requests for reference, study, classroom instruction and research. 2. If the Web browser being used cannot do tables or forms, the plain vanilla site can be visited at gopher://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu. 3. For a timetable, note that the archive began taping the evening news broadcast on ABC, CBS and NBC on August 5, 1968. Vanderbilt University (http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu)

Hawkins, Travis. "TV Archive keeps eye on network news." The Tennessean. (March 15, 1998)

Notes: Rutherford Section

Murphy, William T. "Television and video preservation 1997: report of the librarian of congress." (October 1997)

Notes: A Report on the Current State of American Television and Video Preservation; Volume 1: Report

Lynch, John. "Vanderbilt Television News Archive." Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television. 16:1 (March 1996)

Abstract: The Television News Archive is a part of Vanderbilt University and holds network evening news programs from ABC, NBC, and CBS from 1968 to the present. The Archive loans duplicate tapes to researchers.

Harris, Lew. "TV News Archive does big business on Internet." Vanderbilt Register. (November 1995)

Simpson, Paul C. Network television news: conviction, controversy, and a point of view.

Abstract: A history of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, including startling observations about the networks’ motives and actions. Notes: As told to Patricia G. Lane and F. Lynne Bachleda.

Emmons, Mark. "Internet reviews: Vanderbilt Television News Archive." College & Research Libraries News. 55:10 (November 1994)

Abstract: Emmons reviews Vanderbilt University’s Vanderbilt Television News Archive and Journal Graphics, two TV data bases available on the Internet.

Wilson, David L. "Vanderbilt Archive puts abstracts of TV broadcasts on the Internet." Chronicle of Higher Education. 40:40 (June 8, 1994)

Abstract: Vanderbilt University’s Television News Archives has unveiled a Gopher that lets users search on the Internet for listings of various news stories and then acquire videotapes of the news broadcasts. TV networks are worried that such a service would deny them money they hope to earn by selling the images themselves.

Owen , Beth. "Who owns old news? CBS takes on the Vanderbilt Archive." Columbia Journalism Review. (May/June 1994)

Wilson, David L. "Fight over the evening news." Chronicle of Higher Education. 40:11 (November 3, 1993)

Abstract: CBS is objecting to Vanderbilt University officials’ plans to use the Internet to publicize a TV archive. Broadcasters are fearful that they will not receive revenue they might earn by selling copies of the programs themselves.

Rosenstiel, Thomas B. "Nation's only TV news archive may fade out." Los Angeles Times. (September 20, 1993)

Abstract: Vanderbilt University’s videotape archive of every nightly newscast and many special news broadcasts in the US since Aug 1968 is discussed. The archive operates on a fraying shoestring budget that is about to break and many scholars fear it will not survive.

"Grant will make news summaries available worldwide." Christian Science Monitor. (August 25, 1993)

Abstract: With the use of a national computer network, the Television News Archive and its Index and Abstracts will, within a few months, become directly accessible to the estimated 10 million Internet subscribers throughout the the world," said Vanderbilt Chancellor Joe B. Wyatt. "As a high bandwidth digital network emerges in the none-too-distant future, I expect a network user to search the Index and Abstracts remotely, then electronically select and receive news sequences from the archive, all within a matter of moments.

Branson, Reed. "Vandy's TV News Archive is U.S. history, on a roll." The Commercial Appeal. (February 7, 1993)

Dillon, John F. The Vanderbilt Television News Archive: its history, operations, and an outline for its use.

Wollenberg, Skip. "Vanderbilt Television News Archive." New York Times. (September 10, 1978)

Abstract: Vanderbilt Television News Archive, at Vanderbilt University, has stored over 6,000 hours of TV news shows over past 10 years, what is believed to be oldest and largest archive of its kind in US. Charges viewing fee but operates as non-profit organization.

Saldich, Anne Rawley. "Access to Television's Past." Columbia Journalism Review. 15:4 (November/December 1976)

Abstract: Until recently, television executives would not make copies of the news broadcasts available after their airing. It is a subtle form of news censorship. Access to records is the lifeblood of accountability but television news managers think an inquiry into their records is a threat to liberty. Paul Simpson founded the television news archive (T.N.A.) at Vanderbilt University when he learned that television news was not being preserved. He wanted television’s record of the nation’s affairs to become part of the public record. CBS is displeased with T.N.A.’s policies, which give access to video materials without CBS approval. their agreement with T.N.A. is carefully worded so as to give them control. CBS donates color cassettes with an index. NBC allows the taping of their news but doesn’t offer an index. There is no agreement with ABC.

Pride, Richard A. "The medium versus the message: the issue of access to TV News." PS. 9:3 (Summer 1976)

Notes: Author''s note: "The author is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and has made use of the Television News Archive in his teaching and research on many occasions...." p. 270

Culbert, David H. "Vanderbilt Television News Archive: classroom and research possibilities." History Teacher. 8 (1974)

Borchardt, D. H. "Today's news - tommorrow's history: The Vanderbilt Television News Archive." Australian Academic and Research Libraries. 4 (1973)

"Does uncle want to become big brother?." Broadcasting. (December 8 1969)

Grimsley, Weldon. "Nashville man aided TV attack." Nashville Banner. (November 15, 1969)

Abstract: Paul C. Simpson, Nashville insurance executive who has worked closely with the Committee for the Preservation of National Television Network Newscasts at Vanderbilt University, provided information for a part of Vice President Spiro Agnew’s attack on national television news coverage Thursday night.

"Southern eye fixed on the networks: Nashville businessmen back project to record and catalogue all network news." Broadcasting. (October 7, 1968)