Public opinion and media coverage of labor unions

Abstract

Public opinion about labor unions is influenced by a variety of factors, including media coverage. The type of media coverage unions receive provides a cognitive foundation for judgments about them and media coverage of unions has often been characterized as biased. This study examines media coverage of unions between 1946 and 1985 and shows that it became increasingly concentrated on strike activities and exaggerated the frequency of strikes. Moreover, strike-centered coverage has its strongest negative influence on individuals who lack ideological and group attachments to unions. © 1992 Journal of Labor Research.