Wooden frame: Source use in newspaper coverage of the Canada/United States softwood lumber dispute.

The use of sources to frame coverage of the softwood lumber dispute was examined with a content analysis of newspaper stories from 1999 through 2001 in the Prince George 'Citizen', the Vancouver 'Sun' and the 'Globe and Mail' newspapers, along with three alternative news magazines. In addition, an e-mail questionnaire with three reporters and two editors at the 'Sun' and 'Citizen ' obtained data on how newsgathering routines and organizational structures influenced decisions on source use and overall coverage. Despite their differences, all three newspapers framed the dispute to varying degrees through political and industrial sources, while economic, social, environmental and First Nations perspectives appeared far less frequently. The three alternative magazines featured other perspectives, particularly the two First Nations publications, which used First Nations perspectives exclusively. Newspaper coverage also featured pro-Canadian sources more often than pro-American sources. The questionnaire found that reporters were given great latitude to cover the story the way they saw fit.