Researchers show transition to ’Soundbite University’ in news coverage

9/8/10 | Craig Chamberlain, Social Sciences Editor | 217-333-2894; cdchambe [a] illinois (p) edu

[ Email | Share ] CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Higher education has shifted from newsmaker to news commentator, at least in The New York Times, according to a University of Illinois study of the paper’s coverage over six decades.

In 1946, 53 percent of Times articles mentioning a research university were about the university itself, focusing on its research or activities, according to the study, titled “Soundbite University.” By 2005, only 15 percent of articles fit those criteria, the other 85 percent citing faculty commentary on current events.

The study is summarized in the September issue of The Presidency, published by the American Council on Education.

The co-authors of the study are Kalev Leetaru (KAHL-iv lee-TAR-oo), an information technology specialist at Illinois, and Paul Magelli, senior director of the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Development and executive director of Illinois Business Consulting , both in the university’s College of Business.

Articles were sorted into the two categories - university-focused versus faculty commentary - by means of computer search, according to Leetaru. That search took in more than 18 million articles, the complete contents of the Times from 1945-2005. Articles were classified as being “about” a university if its name appeared in the headline or first paragraph, and as faculty commentary if its name appeared for the first time later in the story.

The researchers compared news volume with a range of institutional factors, from research output to geographic location, to identify characteristics associated with higher coverage in the Times. As for the implications of these findings, the authors suggest “universities may need to fundamentally reevaluate the ways in which they interact with the press under this shifting model of higher education news coverage.”

Among other findings:

; The number of New York Times stories referencing research universities remained relatively constant over the period studied (1945-2005), even as the overall number of Times stories declined by half.

As a result, those stories represented an increasing percentage of all Times stories, totaling 13 percent of all stories and 21 percent of front-page stories by 2005.

; Private research universities had 60 percent more news mentions than public institutions.

; Distance from major metropolitan areas, as well as distance from New York City specifically, showed “only a very weak correlation” with news coverage.

; For public institutions, a higher percentage of budget spent on public engagement - generally defined as non-instructional services aimed beyond the campus - was associated with less news coverage in the Times.

; Web page and blog mentions on the Internet as a whole, as of August 2010, were correlated with the same institutional characteristics affiliated with higher Times coverage, suggesting these factors extend beyond the print media.

Additional findings and details about methodology, along with an interactive profile of each university, can be found in the online report.

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Editor’s note: To contact Kalev Leetaru, call 217-265-7877; e-mail leetaru [a] illinois (p) edu. To contact Paul Magelli, 217-244-3407; pmagelli [a] illinois (p) edu.