Environmental reporting : press performance in the Big Thicket National Preserve controversy

A review was conducted of three newspapers in East Texas, to determine whether the general public of that area could have been adequately informed on pertinent issues at a crucial point in the controversy concerning the creation of a national preserve in the Big Thicket. The criteria of analysis were designed specifically for this review and employed both qualitative and quantitative guidelines. Findings from the study were discussed in terms of the social responsibility of the press, with special reference to previous studies on environmental reporting and the phenomenon of "Afghanistanism" in reporting at the local level