If the nightly news has become somewhat less important, and the morning programs more important, to what extent has that created a larger niche for public broadcasting's "NewsHour" with Jim Lehrer? The Lehrer show by reputation certainly would be positioned as the most traditional, the most hard-news oriented, the most likely to report in depth on issues that others in television might shun. Is that borne out in the content analysis? Does the "NewsHour" cover a different agenda of topics?

The content study suggests that in some ways, Lehrer is indeed staking out a distinct journalistic terrain for itself, perhaps one carefully tailored to a PBS audience. With an hour-long newscast and feature interviews, it takes on more of the format of the morning shows. At the same time, though, its news agenda is more in line with the evening news: a commitment to foreign policy and government, and a disdain for entertainment, celebrity and pop culture - only more so. The "NewsHour" spends even less time than evening news on crime, accidents and disasters.

The program's coverage of government and domestic issues, however, may be influenced by other considerations as well. For one, focusing on interviews with government newsmakers is an inexpensive way to do news, particularly for a broadcast based in Washington.

Beyond the question of topics, there are a host of other differences in the content of evening, morning and noncommercial news.