Newspaper Content, A Day in the Life

What people learned about some stories differed depending on what paper they read, and in some cases on where that paper got its account. Because the national papers’ accounts are carried by so many outlets, their stories have added weight. Consider the case of the story about North Korea ’s announcing it had harvested a nuclear power reactor as a step to making weapons. Readers of the New York Times account were told that this was “a lot of symbolism and taunting” but that U.S. officials “had seen no evidence” to prove the claim and that there were reasons to doubt how serious North Korea was.

But readers of the Los Angeles Times story got a different sense. The development was “a key step toward preparing to harvest plutonium for bombs,” it said. South Korea , which had reacted calmly to other recent provocations, this time had “expressed alarm.” And the chief outside expert quoted in the story (also quoted by the New York Times but emphasizing far less dire points) said the North Koreans probably weren’t blustering. “Everything the North Koreans said they’re doing, it turns out they have in fact done.”

The Times story, datelined Tokyo but clearly reported in at least two capitals, was emphasizing U.S. efforts not to sound intimidated. The Los Angeles Times story, datelined Seoul , South Korea , was not as heavy on official American diplomatic reaction.

Yet more Americans this day probably got the more skeptical New York Times version. Its story ran in Milwaukee and Houston and on Page 1 in Bend , Ore. , as well as in the New York Times.

Other stories also had differences as well, though the differences about how to interpret the news seemed larger than differences about questions of fact. On the violence in Iraq , for instance, the New York Times had “at least 79 dead.” The Los Angeles Times and USA Today put the number at “more than 60.” The Houston Chronicle, using a story from the Washington Post, reported “72 killed.” Yet all four accounts agreed on what was going on in Iraq over the last two weeks that offered background for the violence, and the reasons behind the escalation.