This appendix deals with problems of bias created by coding from newspaper accounts: the issues of bias created by newspaper preferences, bias caused by the coder, and bias created by missing information.

BIAS CREATED BY NEWSPAPER PREFERENCES

The newspapers themselves clearly differed in the kinds of events they reported, the way in which events were portrayed, and the attention they devoted to covering protest in general. The Leftist La Jornada in Mexico City was the hands-down champion of protest reporting, covering on average 71.3 percent of events. Reforma covered 51.4 percent of events on average. La Jornada had a large network of connections within many progressive movements, who informed their friends when a protest was occurring and expected favorable coverage. The sympathies of La Jornada were so well - known that many smaller groups actually picketed the offices of the newspaper, not to protest the paper's policies but to make sure reporters knew about their grievances. However, rates of coverage also varied widely by year, with no clear trend across time from which estimates of coverage could be extrapolated. In its worst year, Reforma covered 38.9 percent of events in the recorded record; in its best, 58.9 percent. La Jornada ranged between 58 percent and 77 percent of recorded events.

La Jornada accounts of protest were also more sympathetic to the protesters.