ABSTRACT
A systematic approach to the analysis of media content is essential for the field of media and communication research as a whole. Dating back more than a century, the first applications of media content analysis focused on newspapers and their functions in a growing media industry fueled by technological innovations. According to a recent textbook definition by Neuendorf (2002), “content analysis is a summarizing, quantitative analysis of messages that relies on the scientific method (including attention to objectivity–intersubjectivity, a priori design, reliability, validity, generalizability, replicability, and hypothesis testing) and is not limited as to the types of variables that may be measured or the context in which the messages are created or presented” (p. 10).
