Selected newspaper coverage of the 2008 California Proposition 2: A content analysis

Abstract

Media coverage of animal welfare legislation and can impact voters’ perceptions of agriculture, specific legislation, and their voting choices. A content analysis examined selected newspaper coverage of the 2008 California Proposition 2. Coders identified frames, sources, and tone. Findings were animal welfare was the dominant frame. Economic impact was used less despite being the most common news frame. Nonprofit sources were most frequently cited. The selected newspapers from the two districts with the most agricultural production were more positive toward agriculture than the other districts. For all selected newspaper content tone was mostly neutral. Reader-generated responses were the most negative. – AI-generated abstract.