During coverage of the Supreme Court’s hearings on the same-sex marriage issue earlier this year, media coverage leaned to the pro-gay marriage side by a factor of 5 to 1. This according to a new report from Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.
The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism looked at nearly 500 stories on the topic over a two-month period that began just before the court started hearings in March on legalizing same-sex marriage. By a 5-to-1 margin, the stories with statements in support of legalization outweighed those dominated by opponents’ views.
The report showed consistent results across different media. 43 percent of newspaper stories showed at least a 2-to-1 margin of pro views to con; 8 percent were dominated by traditional marriage proponents. Meanwhile, according to the report, 48 percent were largely neutral. The proportions of supporter-opponent content in stories for all three cable news networks were similar.
Pew also points out that of the cable channels, Fox News presented the highest percentage of “neutral” stories on the controversial subject. Twenty-nine percent of the stories by Fox News Channel were dominated by supporters, 8 percent by opponents, and 63 percent had about the same pro and con views, Pew said.