Table 1.
News sources included in sampling frame: 2010–2014 (N = 610).
| News outlet (R, D,N) indicates Republican, Democratic, or no endorsement in 2012 presidential election |
News stories focused on marijuana legalization (N) | Recreational marijuana legalization arguments (N, (%)a) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Only pro-arguments | Only anti-arguments | Both pro- and anti-arguments | No argumentsb | ||
| Total | 610 | 146 (24) | 108 (18) | 178 (29) | 178 (29) |
| Print News Outlets | 380 | 92 (24) | 65 (17) | 112 (29) | 111 (29) |
| National Print News Outlets | 62 | 14 (23) | 9 (15) | 21 (34) | 18 (29) |
| New York Post (R) | 3 | 2 (67) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (33) |
| New York Times (D) | 32 | 5 (16) | 4 (13) | 11 (34) | 12 (38) |
| USA Today (N) | 12 | 6 (50) | 1 (8) | 2 (17) | 3 (25) |
| Wall Street Journal (N) | 15 | 1 (7) | 4 (27) | 8 (53) | 2 (13) |
| Regional Print News Outlets | 45 | 15 (33) | 3 (7) | 20 (44) | 7 (16) |
| New York Daily News (R) | 3 | 2 (67) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (33) |
| Philadelphia Inquirer (D) | 4 | 2 (50) | 0 (0) | 2 (50) | 0 (0) |
| Cincinnati Enquirer (R) | 0 | - | - | - | - |
| Chicago Tribune (D) | 6 | 2 (33) | 0 (0) | 2 (33) | 2 (33) |
| Dallas Morning News (R) | 2 | 2 (100) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Tampa Bay Times (D) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) |
| Arizona Republic (R) | 0 | - | - | - | - |
| Los Angeles Times (D) | 29 | 7 (24) | 3 (10) | 15 (52) | 4 (14) |
| Print News Outlets in Legalization Statesc | 273 | 63 (23) | 53 (19) | 71 (26) | 86 (32) |
| Fairbanks Daily News Miner (N) | 11 | 2 (18) | 1 (9) | 5 (45) | 3 (27) |
| Anchorage Daily News (D) | 7 | 1 (14) | 2 (29) | 4 (57) | 0 (0) |
| Colorado Springs Gazette (R) | 39 | 10 (26) | 4 (10) | 6 (15) | 19 (49) |
| Denver Post (D) | 72 | 12 (17) | 13 (18) | 16 (22) | 31 (43) |
| Eugene Register-Guard (D) | 14 | 5 (36) | 4 (29) | 4 (29) | 1 (7) |
| Portland Oregonian (D) | 18 | 6 (33) | 1 (6) | 7 (39) | 4 (22) |
| Spokesman Review (R) | 46 | 10 (22) | 10 (22) | 12 (26) | 14 (30) |
| Seattle Times (D) | 37 | 5 (14) | 11 (30) | 9 (24) | 12 (32) |
| Washington Times (R) | 9 | 4 (44) | 2 (22) | 2 (22) | 1 (11) |
| Washington Post (D) | 20 | 8 (40) | 5 (25) | 6 (30) | 1 (5) |
| Television News Outlets | 142 | 20 (14) | 30 (21) | 51 (36) | 41 (29) |
| National Television News Outletsd | 25 | 4 (16) | 4 (16) | 15 (60) | 2 (8) |
| ABC News (N) | 2 | 0 (0) | 2 (50) | 2 (50) | 0 (0) |
| NBC News (N) | 5 | 1 (14) | 0 (0) | 6 (86) | 0 (0) |
| CBS News (N) | 3 | 2 (29) | 1 (14) | 3 (43) | 1 (14) |
| PBS News (N) | 6 | 1 (17) | 1 (17) | 3 (50) | 1 (17) |
| Fox News (N) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) |
| Television News Outlets in Legalization Statese | 117 | 16 (14) | 26 (22) | 36 (31) | 36 (31) |
| Denver Local Television News Outlets (N) | 44 | 4 (9) | 15 (34) | 9 (20) | 9 (20) |
| Portland Local Television News Outlets (N) | 22 | 4 (18) | 0 (0) | 12 (55) | 12 (55) |
| Seattle Local Television News Outlets (N) | 36 | 8 (22) | 9 (25) | 8 (22) | 8 (22) |
| Washington DC Local Television News Outlets (N) | 33 | 0 (0) | 2 (13) | 7 (47) | 7 (47) |
| Internet News Outlets | 88 | 34 (39) | 13 (15) | 15 (17) | 15 (17) |
| Huffington Post (N) | 56 | 22 (39) | 9 (16) | 12 (21) | 12 (21) |
| Denver Post Blog (D) | 11 | 2 (18) | 3 (27) | 1 (9) | 1 (9) |
| Seattle Times Blog (D) | 21 | 10 (48) | 1 (5) | 2 (10) | 2 (10) |
a
Percent of news stories within a given news outlet category (row percent).
b
News stories provided information about marijuana legalization but did not include any arguments for or against legalization.
c
Local print news outlets in the states (AK, CO, OR, WA) and DC that passed recreational marijuana laws during the study period.
d
Includes morning and evening news programs on ABC, NBC, and CBS. PBS and Fox do not have morning news programs, therefore only evening programs (PBS News Hour and Fox Special Report) were sampled.
e
Includes local news affiliates for ABC, NBC, and CBS.