African-American press coverage of Clarence Thomas nomination

12. James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son. New York: Bantam Books, 1968, p. 49.

13. Phyl Garland, The Black Press: Down But Not Out. Columbia Journalism Review, Sept.-Oct. 1982, p. 46.

14. James Bayton and Ernestine Bell, An Exploratory Study of the Role of the Negro Press. Journal of Negro Education, Winter 1951, p. 8.

15. Maxwell R. Brooks, The Negro Press Re-Examined. Boston: The Christopher Publishing House, 1959, p. 62.

16. The first major work in this area was Robert Park's The Immigrant Press and Its Control. New York: Harper & Bros., 1922.

17. See Marion T. Marzolf, The Danish-Language Press in America. New York: Arno Press, 1979; Ulf Jonas Bjork, The Swedish-American Press: Three Newspapers and Their Communities. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, 1987.

18. James W. Carey, The Communications Revolution and the Professional Communicator. Sociological Review Monograph 13, January 1969, pp. 25-26; Wolseley, op.cit., p. 8; Marion T. Marzolf, Up From the Foot note: A History of Women Journalists. New York: Hastings House, 1977, p. 232; Linda Steiner, Finding Community in Nineteenth Century Suffrage Periodicals. American Journalism 1, 1983, pp. 1-16; Kenneth D. Nordin, In Search of Black Unity: An Interpretation of the Content and Functions of Freedom's Journal. Journalism History 4, 1977-78, pp. 123-128.

19. The newspapers were: New York Amsterdam News, Michigan Chronicle, Washington Afro American, The Atlanta Voice, Memphis Tri-State Defender, Los Angeles Sentinel.

20. Positive coverage is defined as advocating his confirmation, negative as opposing it. Neutral items were those that took no stand or that provided a balance between positive and negative coverage. The unit analysis was the article (or cartoon, editorial column, letter to the editor, man-on-street interview). Reliability tests produced agreement of 95 percent or higher on all categories.

21. The vacancy was created by the retirement of Thurgood Marshall. The Thomas nomination was all the more controversial because the two men differed so strongly in politics and civil rights.

22. Thomas was Director of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

23. A.L. May, Poll: Southerners Back Thomas. Atlanta Constitution, September 10, 1991, p. 1.

24. Adam Ceymer, Most Americans are Undecided on Court Nomination, Poll Finds. New York Times, Sept. 10, 1991,p. 1.

25. Blacks Split on Thomas. USA Today, July 5-7, 1991, Section A, p. 1.

26. Poll cited in George E. Curry, Black Support for Nominee Rises. Chicago Tribune, Oct. 15, 1991, p. 4.

27. Los Angeles Sentinel, July 25, 1991, p. A6.

28. Los Angeles Sentinel, Oct. 3, 1991, p. A6.

29. Tri-State Defender, July 13, 1991, p. 4.

30. Atlanta Voice, August 10-16, 1991,p. 4.

31. New York Amsterdam News, July 6, 1991, p. 12.

32. Washington Afro-American, July 6, 1991, p. A4.

33. Michigan Chronicle, Sept. 18-24, 1991,p. 6A.

34. Ibid.

35. Los Angeles Sentinel, August 15, 1991, p. A6.

36. Ibid.

37. Los Angeles Sentinel, July 25, 1991, p. A4.

38. Afro-American, Sept. 21, 1991, p. A4.