Document Type

Student Research Paper

Date

Spring 2019

Academic Department

Communications

Abstract

This thesis examines media regarding the Venezuelan crisis bias in online, United Statesbased, print journalism. Venezuela is a nation that has been in crisis for most of the last decade but has received sparse coverage from United States news media sources. Recently, the nation’s National Assembly leader, Juan Guaidó, declared himself interim president after years of alleged corruption and election fraud regarding President Nicolás Maduro. Guaidó’s proclamation resulted in various governments in Latin America and around the world speaking out in support of the self-declared interim president. The United States was one such nation, thus launching the Venezuelan crisis into the mainstream media in the United States. Studying media bias, especially with consideration for that nation’s involvement in the discussed topic, allows for further insight into media bias as a whole and the impact of foreign policy on this bias. This media bias is studied through quantitative results and qualitative analysis of those results. Findings from this study reveal overarching themes related to the United States direct involvement in the Venezuelan crisis, as well as the United States indirect involvement in Venezuelan affairs leading up to and during the ongoing crisis. Results of this study did not indicate that articles were biased overall, though there was a significant difference in the amount of bias between the types of articles. Additionally, articles were far more likely to support Juan Guaidó than Nicolás Maduro.

Notes

Senior thesis.

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