Description
In this paper, I examine the way newspaper articles in the New York Times portray the political discussion regarding pornography during the 1980s. The following topics guided my inquiry and investigation within this mainstream media news source: pornography, Ronald Reagan, and feminism. I explore the role of the far-reaching and influential newspaper, the New York Times, in terms of how their coverage portrayed these topics as well as the implications of the media in terms of constructing reality and public dialogue. I examine the way media structured stories in order to understand how narratives about the issue of pornography were created during this time. I discuss why the newspaper articles in this paper were particularly salient due to the role of the New York Times within U.S. culture. I carefully outline my process of selection with regard to how I chose the articles that were analyzed as well as how I narrowed down my search. I discuss how I utilized the method of narrative analysis used for this examination and I explain my coding process. I also discuss my findings, which suggest that the position of anti-pornography among conservatives and feminists during the 1980s was a mainstream position that was facilitated by the New York Times. Additionally, I touch on the theory of moral panics in the media and how varying degrees of this theory relate to public discourse regarding the issue of pornography during the election year of 1984.
