Language direction trends in news items naming Baylor University published in the New York Times and selected Texas newspapers (1974-2005).

This thesis compared language direction in 116 news items from local and distant media populations over a thirty-year period. Population members included the Dallas Morning News, Houston Post, and Houston Chronicle, as well as the New York Times. Its purpose was to find if trends showed distant media such as the Times portrayed Baylor University differently than local media. Findings from news item paragraphs in controversial and non-controversial story groups revealed distant and local media used mainly neutral language. Compared against local media samples, the distant population did not portray Baylor differently in a significant way, according to statistical applications. Analysis also disclosed the New York Times published stories for a national audience, while selected Texas newspapers wrote for local readers.