Media Coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court: How Do Journalists Assess the Importance of Court Decisions?

Agenda-setting theory is central to understanding the connection between media and American government. Indeed, legislative and executive branches of American government are often characterized by their publicity-seeking behavior. This is not true of the judicial branch. However, the importance of media coverage is magnified for the United States Supreme Court because, lacking the public affairs mechanisms of the other two branches, the Court is dependent on media dissemination of information about its decisions. Despite this important role, little is known about what attracts media to cover Supreme Court cases. We ask what case characteristics attract media attention. We examine the effect of case variables on general media coverage of Court decisions (a concept we call “newsworthiness,” measured by whether mention of a given case decision appears on the front page of the New York Times) and on inclusion of a case on a list of legally significant cases over time (a concept we call “legal salience,” measured by the appearance of a case in the Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Supreme Court). Examining cases over a 54-year period, we identify characteristics of cases appearing in either the New York Times or the CQ Guide or both. We conclude media news values may not always lead to coverage of the most legally salient cases, but some overlap indicates several cues used to judge immediate newsworthiness of cases stand the retrospective evaluation of legal significance.

[Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Political Communication for the following free supplemental resources: issue area matrices and predicted probabilities of case characteristics.]     

Shades of Faith: Religious Foundations of Political Attitudes among African Americans,Latinos, and Whites

Although there is considerable evidence that religion influences political opinions, it is unclear how this story plays out across different segments of the U.S. population. Utilizing the 2000 Religion and Politics Survey, we examine the effects of religious beliefs, behaviors, and affiliations on citizens’ attitudes relating to issues of egalitarianism. Our study is one of the few to comparatively analyze the link between religious measures and political outlooks for the nation's three largest ethno‐racial groups. The findings show that conservative Christianity is consistently associated with less tolerant and less egalitarian views among whites. Religious African Americans and Latinos, however, hold more equitable opinions about disadvantaged individuals. To further strengthen our arguments, we also replicate these results using the 2008 American National Election Study. Overall, we demonstrate that a single perspective on religion and public opinion does not apply to all groups.     

Finding a curriculum that works under trees: Literacy and health education for adolescent girls in rural Malawi

Non-formal education often represents a last chance for adolescent girls who do not attend school to receive some education to improve their health before they become mothers. This paper describes the development of a literacy and health education curriculum for adolescent girls in southern Malawi who will never enter formal schooling. The curriculum was redefined in the light of participants' feedback and providers' observations. The health messages could effect change but would have had limited impact on girls' health practices without the participation of the wider community. The curriculum's innate visibility ‘under the trees’ was a key factor in facilitating villagers' involvement and exponential learning.     

A comparative analysis of Channels TV and CNN's coverage of World News

This study did an analysis of the Western and Third world coverage of World News using the broadcast stations (CNN and Channels TV) as case study. In other words, the study sought to examine if the Western and Third World nations are still guilty of imbalance, bias and distortion in their treatment of news. The findings showed that both the North and South nations are guilty of bias and imbalance in their coverage of World News and that each nation seeks to promote their interest rather than a true world interest or the interest of their counterpart nations. The study further revealed that the Third World media still depend heavily on Western media sources for its news albeit their standpoint on the News Flow debate. About 50% of the entire World News stories on Channels TV were sourced ‘outside’, while about 40% were unidentified. Only 10% were from the in‐house personnel. It was also observed that about 55 and 67% of World News coverage by Channels TV and CNN, respectively, were focused on ‘bad news’; an age‐long controversy that has bedeviled news coverage globally. In view of the foregoing, it has been recommended that there is need for the acceptance of ‘imbalance’ as a major feature of all media systems as well as a re‐evaluation of the standards and values of news evaluation. The rapid industrialization of Third World economies will also go a long way to stop the one‐way traffic in international communication which is what encourages media dependence. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A real-time PCR assay for the relative quantification of the tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) synthase gene in herbal Cannabis samples

In this study, we wanted to investigate whether or not the tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) synthase gene, which codes for the enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of THCA, influences the production and storage of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in a dose-dependent manner. THCA is actually decarboxylated to produce THC, the main psychoactive component in the Cannabis plant. Assuming as the research hypothesis a correlation between the gene copy number and the production of THC, gene quantification could be useful in forensics in order to complement or replace chemical analysis for the identification and classification of seized Cannabis samples, thus distinguishing the drug-type from the fibre-type varieties. A real-time PCR assay for the relative quantification of the THCA synthase gene was then validated on Cannabis samples; some were seized from the illegal drug market and others were derived from experimental cultivation. In order to determine the gene copy number to compare high vs. low potency plants, we chose the ΔΔCt method for TaqMan reactions. The assay enabled single plants with zero, one, and two copies of the gene to be distinguished. As a result of this first part of the research on the THCA synthase gene (the second part will cover a study of gene expression), we found no correlation between THCA synthase gene copy number and the content of THC in the herbal Cannabis samples tested.     

Objective measurement of dental color for age estimation by spectroradiometry

Age-related changes in tooth color have been described previously, however, the use of dental color for age estimation in forensic odontology has been limited due to the difficulty of measuring color objectively. This study presents an objective method for determining dental color to estimate the age of an individual. Dentine color in 250 teeth from patients ranging in age from 10 to 89 years was determined by spectroradiometry. Color measurements were performed as suggested in the CIE 1931 (International Commission on Illumination). Chromaticity coordinates (x, y, z), luminance (Y), whiteness index (WIC, Z%, WIC) and yellowness index (YI) were obtained. Correlations between these colorimetric variables and aging were established by linear regression analyses. All the variables fit the mathematical model with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.53 to 0.75. This method of color measurement produced an expected associated error of calibration averaging 13.7 years about the mean estimated values, at a 70% level of confidence. Two different multiple regression models for dental age estimation were tested, and variables that made the greatest contributions to age calculation were identified. To determine the effect of postmortem interval on tooth color and its influence in age estimation, 37 teeth obtained from human skeletal remains buried during an interval ranging from 21 to 37 years were also studied. In this material, the correlation between age and dental color measured by spectroradiometry was weaker than in fresh extracted teeth.It is concluded that determination of dentine color by spectroradiometry is a potentially useful objective method to estimate age in forensic studies in combination with other methods.     

Comparison of simulated human dermal bitemarks possessing three-dimensional attributes to suspected biters using a proprietary three-dimensional comparison

The infliction of a bite is a four-dimensional space–time event that is ideally analyzed with three-dimensional (3-D) technology. Comparison of 2-D images (photographs) of a bitemark with a 3-D replica of a suspect's dentition is challenging. The authors present a technique that produces 3-D images of indented marks and dentitions for comparisons. Study models and corresponding dental-wax bites were digitized by 3-D scanning, and comparison overlays were generated using DentalPrint^© software. The effectiveness of the method was analyzed by determining the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the sensitivity, specificity and 95% confidence interval (CI) for each cut-off point. An area under the ROC curve of 0.953 (SE = 0.029; 95% CI = 0.893–0.985) and high sensitivity and specificity values were obtained for 104 comparisons made by an expert examiner, who correctly identified 92.3% of matching dentitions and 98.7% of non-matching dentitions. This technique can be considered a highly accurate method of bitemark analysis, although indentations must be present in the injury, limiting the cases that can be resolved. A comparative study of the same dentitions using 2-D bitemark photography confirmed the superiority of the new approach.     

Study of Short- and Long-Term Storage of Teeth and Its Influence on DNA

Abstract:  DNA degradation can interfere with the resolution of forensic cases. Allelic dropout often reduces the opportunity for adequate comparisons between degraded and reference samples. This study analyzed DNA degradation in 24 extracted teeth after storage at room temperature for 0, 2, 5, and 10 years. DNA concentration, quantified by dot-blot hybridization, declined significantly for the first 2 years, but there was no significant further degradation from the second to the tenth year of storage. COfiler™ analysis was used and the allelic dropout ratio for the amelogenin locus relative to CSF1PO locus was also estimated. Statistically significant differences were found between fresh teeth and teeth from the 2- and 5-year groups but not from the 10-year group. Under our storage conditions most of the DNA degradation occurred during the first 2 years. Further research is needed to control for individual and external factors that could affect DNA.     

Concurrent detection of heroin, fentanyl, and xylazine in seven drug-related deaths reported from the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office

Recreational drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, are often adulterated with other pharmacological agents to either enhance or diminish the drug effects. Between April 21, 2006 and August 8, 2006, the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office detected xylazine (a veterinary sedative) and fentanyl (a synthetic opioid) in specimens taken from seven cases. Initial immunoassay screening was performed on urine and blood for fentanyl, opiate, cocaine, phencyclidine (PCP), and benzodiazepines. All tests reported positive were confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. All seven xylazine positive cases tested positive for fentanyl and six cases tested positive for 6-acetylmorphine (a metabolite and definitive marker for heroin). The seventh case was positive for morphine and had a history of heroin abuse. Xylazine was present in urine in all seven cases and blood levels were detected in three cases. The blood concentrations ranged from trace to 130 ng/mL. Fentanyl was present in the blood and urine in each case and blood concentrations ranged from 4.7 to 47 ng/mL. Adulteration of illicit drugs has become an epidemic health concern for drug users. Healthcare professionals need to be aware of this issue, so the patients can be treated in an effective, timely manner.     

Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Explore Relational Aggression across Early Adolescence: A Within- and Between-Person Analysis

In the past two decades, there has been a significant amount of research on children’s relational aggression, which has been found to be associated with psychosocial problems. Longitudinal studies have examined changes in relational aggression during early adolescence in relation to individual characteristics; however, most studies compare individual differences between people with regard to rates of relational aggression. A shortcoming to the current literature is the lack of studies that use a multilevel approach to examine individual differences (between-person) as well as the extent to which individuals deviate from their own typical levels (within-person) over time. In this study, within- and between-person psychological and peer-related predictors of rates of relational aggression over time were examined. Participants included 1,655 students in 5th–8th grade (mean age: 13.01) from four public middle schools in the Midwest, which consisted 828 females and 827 males. In terms of race and ethnicity, 819 (49.5%) were African Americans, followed by 571 (34.5%) Whites, and 265 (16%) Others. Longitudinal data were collected over four waves across two years of middle school. The findings indicated that contrary to the hypothesis that relational aggression would increase over time, there was no significant growth across time. Age, gender, and race were not associated with relational aggression over time; however, consistent with the Social Cognitive Theory, changes in within-person impulsivity, anger, and peer delinquency were all positively related to increases in relational aggression. At the between-person level of analysis, depressive symptoms and peer delinquency were related to relational aggression. Findings suggest that school-based programs that address anger management, impulsivity, empathy, and victimization could help prevent relational aggression.