East Coast bias
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The East Coast Bias theory holds that in U.S. sports and media, especially national news, motion pictures and sports broadcasts such as the NFL and NBA in particular, as well as Major League Baseball, teams and events in the Northeastern part of the United States get more favorable coverage or more exposure because of their proximity to the major media centers of the Northeastern United States.
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[edit] East Coast Bias in Television, Radio, Motion Pictures and News
It's not rare to see such national news shows as the Today Show on NBC and Good Morning America on ABC to base their positive or negative opinions on the weather based on conditions in New York.
Also American television sitcoms and dramas tend to be focused on the New York-New Jersey metro area.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Television_shows_set_in_New_York http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Television_shows_set_in_New_Jersey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_movies_set_in_New_York_City
[edit] East Coast Bias In Sports
Proponents of this theory often cite coverage of major East Coast rivalries in sports such as the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees rivalry, the The New Jersey Devils vs the New York Rangers rivalry, The Dallas Cowboys vs the Washington Redskins rivalry and the New York Mets vs Atlanta Braves rivalry over other sports rivalries which are considered nearly as intense, as intense and sometimes even more intense by many sports experts. For example, the Green Bay Packers Vs The Chicago Bears/Minnesota Vikings Rivalries, The Chicago Cubs Vs the Saint Louis Cardinals Rivalry and the Oakland Athletics vs the Anaheim Angels Rivalry receive considerably less coverage nationally as the aforementioned rivalries.
Some who subscribe to this hypothesis attribute this to the time difference between the East Coast and West Coast of the United States - a late game on the West Coast will often end after an East Coast paper's deadline or after an East Coast newscast has to air. Some attribute it to a regional ignorance on the part of the northeast.
A notable theory on the perceived bias that occurs is because the East Coast is at least 1-6 hours ahead of any media market in the United States. Important Pac-10, WAC, and Mountain West games often start at 12 AM in the Eastern Time Zone, making it difficult for AP voters in the East watch the games itself to vote in the best teams, but rather depend on box scores for their votes.
[edit] Exceptions and Arguments Against The East Coast Bias Theory
A common argument against the East Coast bias in the media would be that many more TV shows, books, and movies are based in other parts of the country. Also, many would say that the bias isn't stationary to the East Coast alone but there may be bias on both coasts.
[edit] Exceptions To The East Coast Bias Theory in Sports
There are many exceptions in the theory of East Coast bias in sports, much notably in Division 1 College Football. NCAA Football tends to be much more popular outside the northeastern U.S. than within, is one of the most covered events in the nation.
Other notable exceptions to the rule is the media coverage given to such popular sports franchises as the Los Angeles Lakers, University of Michigan, USC, University of California, Los Angeles(UCLA), The Ohio State University, Notre Dame Fightin Irish football program, the Dallas Cowboys, the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. One favorable explanation is that these aforementioned of those teams is that they were the dominant franchises in those sports golden ages of broadcasting.
[edit] Other uses of the term "East Coast Bias"
East Coast Bias is also the name of a popular webblog run by Maryland alumni. It can be found at http://east-coast-bias.blogspot.com
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