ABSTRACT
The central concern of this book is with how the results of social research are represented in the media. This is explored through a detailed case study of the ways in which the mass media reported a review of research dealing with the educational achievement of ethnic groups in Britain (Gillborn and Gipps 1996, henceforth referred to as ‘the Review’). I compare this review, and the press release that announced its publication, as a source, with the various reports that appeared on the radio, on television, and in a wide range of newspapers. I try to use this case as a kind of tracer to highlight some of the processes of selection and formulation involved in news media reporting, and the factors that could shape these. Above all, the analysis offers a basis for examining what is involved in researchers’ complaints about media distortion and bias – against the background of a particular model of how the media ought to operate.
