In an era when Americans increasingly perceive a fractured Fourth Estate, television news has nonetheless largely focused on the same people and stories over the past decade, no matter whether one watches CNN, MSNBC or Fox News. While the election of Donald Trump (and Barack Obama before him) has seen Fox News diverge from its peers, a viewer of all three stations will largely see the same stories, though often from different angles. One way to measure these differences is by looking closely at the text overlays (called “chyrons”) displayed on-screen. Examining three years of chyrons offers evidence of how media narratives can diverge in coverage of major news events such as the impeachment hearings.
News Channel Chyrons Signal Diverging Narratives
