Journalism Professor Dietram Scheufele of the University of Wisconsin released a study looking at media consumption in the days following 9/11 and opinions on curbing civil liberties to promote security. Scheufele found that 41 percent of liberals who watched more televsion coverage of 9/11 supported "expanded police powers and ... limits on privacy and freedom of information." However, only 31 percent liberals who got the majority of their news from newspapers felt the same way. Why the difference between the two mediums? "TV coverage is very linear, doesn't offer any choice and was more image driven. You saw the plane hitting the building time and time again." What we should take away from the report, Scheufele says, is that "citizens need to have a varied diet of news from a variety of sources and viewpoints." SEE THE REPORT
