Abstract:
Economic news take an important role for the mind setting of media audiences .Since the
economic development influence on individual of the particular country ,people will concentrate
more on the news coverage of economic news. This paper examines the factors that explain
variations in economic news coverage as a function of both economic indicators and contextual
influences. Mutz (1992) suggests that citizens' perceptions of the economy are developed directly
from news coverage as well as from one's personal experiences. Scholars argues that media coverage
of the economy distorts reality, and frequently in a negative direction they find that when the
economy is good, the media gives the economy poor attention, but when the economy is bad, the
media gives the economy a good deal of attention. The argument that the news media generally
overemphasize the negative and downplay the positive is common to media research. In terms of
economic information, scholars Haller and Norpoth (1997) argue journalists are prone to negative
economic news because bad economic times are perceived as more newsworthy than good
economic times. In Jaffna northern provincial election also impacts the level of economic coverage.
Given the essential role of the media in citizens learning about the economy, the kinds of economic
news presented by the media will affect the amounts and kinds of economic information that citizens
gain. In this research Jaffna's regional newspaper namely Valampuri,Uthayn and Thinamurasu are
examined under the sub themes like inflation ,economic growth and economic development
.Content analysis used a research methodology and qualitative and quantitative content of the news
coverage are examined. Results illustrate the news media does not view all economic statistics
equally and at the same times in deciding economic newsworthiness and level of coverage.
