Do Americans Perceive Bias in Local Television News?

• In Event: Get the Balance Right: Exploring Media Bias and Media Narratives

Abstract

Local television news, Americans’ most trusted source of news, is struggling, as national media conglomerates such as the Sinclair Media Group purchase many local stations. Recent research demonstrates an ideological slant in Sinclair-produced content. Are viewers aware of this slant in political coverage? If so, it suggests they have some understanding of the political impacts of the changing media landscape, and recognize biased content in the context of a local news source. If not, it suggests they may be more vulnerable to media effects than typically imagined.

To address this question, we use a novel survey asking a nationally representative sample of Americans about perceptions of bias and ideology of the specific local stations in their media markets. We then merged these responses with data on station ownership at the time of the survey, allowing us to test whether individuals perceive Sinclair-owned local news stations as politically biased and, if so, the perceived direction of bias.

Our results indicate that viewers see little difference between the news broadcasts of Sinclair-owned and non-Sinclair-owned local stations. Specifically, Americans in media markets where Sinclair owns the local ABC, NBC or CBS affiliate are no more likely to say that coverage of political and social issues in these stations’ news broadcasts tend to favor a particular side than Americans living in markets where Sinclair does not own the affiliate. Indeed, Americans living in markets where Sinclair owns the local Fox affiliate are less likely to see news coverage as biased than Americans in markets where Sinclair does not own the local Fox affiliate. Similarly, Americans are no more likely to perceive any political ideology in Sinclair-owned local affiliates versus affiliates Sinclair does not own. Finally, Americans do not rate Sinclair-owned CBS, NBC, and Fox affiliates as more conservative than non-Sinclair owned affiliates of the same networks. However, there is evidence that individuals who live in markets where Sinclair owns the ABC affiliate rate these stations’ news broadcasts as slightly more conservative than individuals rate the ABC affiliate in markets where Sinclair does not own it.

Generally, it appears then that Americans have little sense of the ideological slant to Sinclair-produced media broadcasts in their local markets.

Authors

• Michael B. Henderson, Louisiana State University

• Max Magana, Louisiana State University

• Joshua P. Darr, Louisiana State University