Stopgap Bills and Conflicting Perspectives in the Media

NY Times: Senate Approves Stopgap Spending Bill
Politico: Democrats support Joe Biden's budget role
MSNBC: Obama signs stopgap spending bill

The news of the stopgap spending bill's passage in the Senate was highlighted in the media on Wednesday. The basic information conveyed is that the Senate passed a bill to extend government services through March 18 and initiate $4 billion spending cuts. President Obama quickly approved this bill while calling for more negotiations among Congressional leaders and Vice President Joe Biden's staff. The House's recently passed bill proposing a $61 billion cut throughout the fiscal year was also discussed.

The New York Times, Politico, and MSNBC shared very few similarities in their coverage of this story, though the same information was essentially included. One interesting commonality of all stories was the manner in which the military's concerns over the budget were addressed. The NY Times article placed Defense Secretary Robert Gates' comments at the very end, while MSNBC made a very brief, two-three sentence mention of him in the middle of its story. Politico discussed his worries near the article's conclusion and provided slightly greater coverage than the other outlets. Nonetheless, the articles all reflect a general lack of interest for the military's issues with the proposed budget cuts.

The differences in each media outlet's coverage of the story are demonstrated simply through the titles of each article. These headlines are also an indicator of who has been deemed the most significant subjects in the stories. The actions of the Senate were emphasized throughout the NYT article; the nature of the vote was one of the first aspects covered, with attention focused on Congress in the first five-seven paragraphs. Statements from Republicans and Democrats dominated the story, and the controversy with the House bill received some attention as well.

Politico took a very different approach and interpreted the story in a more biased manner. In the NYT article, one of the first statements notes the 91-9 Senate vote in favor of the bill. Politico's first sentence focuses exclusively on Senate Democrats and describes the bill as their efforts to "forestall" any decisive action on budget cuts. Furthermore, the article does not mention the actual Senate vote until the second page of the story. What the blog does focus on is the Republican reaction to the stopgap bill, providing quotes and framing the information in a manner that emphasizes a lack of action and initiative on the Democrats' part. The author notes, "Indeed, the House has already approved a budget bill for the remainder of this fiscal years that incorporates more than $60 billion in cuts." The title of Politico's article reflects the content well, with significantly more discussion of the Vice President's potential role than in the NYT article.

On the other end of the spectrum is MSNBC, which focuses on both Obama and the Republicans throughout its coverage. The President receives subtle yet consistent support; the article mentions the $4 billion cuts are apparently targeting areas that Obama has already considered for financial reductions. In addition, the $61 billion cuts proposed by the House receive pointed criticism at the story's conclusion. Like Politico, MSNBC includes quotes from top Republican leaders such as John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. However, the network portrays the $61 billion bill as a "slew of provisions that attack clean air and clean water regulations, family planning, and other initiatives." Other criticisms of the Republicans are discreetly dispersed throughout the article.

Each of the articles presents Wednesday's news in distinct methods that result in different priorities. Those who exclusively read the NY Times may contemplate bipartisanship and the possibility for a compromise on the budget issues of the federal government. Politico readers might focus on the Democrats' seeming indecisiveness and how negotiating with Biden and his aides will impact the debate on spending cuts. MSNBC subscribers will probably view the bill as a sign of Obama's dedication to a bipartisan solution and the Republicans' supposed preventions of such an outcome. While the basics of this story remain the same, the method of conveying the information shows how media outlets can influence their audiences' understanding of any given event.