NORTH CAROLINA STUDENT VS. REGIONAL NEWSPAPERS’ COVERAGE OF FREE SPEECH ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES: A CONTENT ANALYSIS

<p class="p1">The way newspapers cover protests impacts how the public feels about the protesters and the issue at hand. This makes fair sourcing, sentiment, and depth of coverage essential to ensure readers are informed as voters and community members. A content analysis of articles from student newspapers at the three largest public universities and the two largest private universities in North Carolina and their respective regional newspapers was performed to compare their coverage of issues of free speech on college campuses. The findings revealed that on average student journalists were closer to their sources, were slightly more neutral, had higher readability, and were more likely to include mobilizing information while local journalists named and quoted more sources and wrote longer articles. This study provides insights into how both student and local newspapers provide value to their readers and where there are differences in coverage. College newspapers appear to focus more on the student experience and impact, and are more accessible to busy college students, while local newspapers use more sources overall and their articles are longer. A more comprehensive understanding of events could be achieved by using both sources.