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Which U.S. Supreme Court cases are deemed newsworthy enough to appear on the front page of a major newspaper? Which are covered, but do not appear on the front page, and which are not covered at all? We answer these questions using a unique data set of newspaper coverage of Supreme Court cases in four newspapers from 1953 to 2004—a data set spanning more than 6,200 observations, 25 natural courts, and the tenure of three Chief Justices. We find that the overall proportion of Supreme Court cases covered has declined over this period (from a peak of nearly 100%), although the proportion of cases on the front page has remained more constant. The results of a selection model also suggest that, in the aggregate, coverage patterns on the front page are explained by established norms of newsworthiness, but coverage elsewhere in the paper often follows different criteria. When examining different newspapers in isolation, we also find that individual papers do vary, to a limited degree, in their selection of newsworthy cases. These results are important for those concerned about citizen information about politics, the relationship between the courts and the public, and media gatekeeping. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the relationship between the U.S Supreme Court and the press in relation to press coverage of the Supreme Court's rulings. Topics discussed include the book "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville that focuses on the American democracy, the newspaper New York Time's coverage of Supreme Court's decision in case McQuiggin v. Perkins, and the role of press in Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder.

An essay is presented on a reported divide between the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) and various journalists during the early days of USSC new coverage, focusing on the USSC's ruling in the case New York Times Co. v. Sullivan which deals with defamation. The views of former USSC Justices Henry Billings Brown and Stephen Field are mentioned, along with U.S. scandals and the legal rights of journalists. The rules associated with in-court news coverage of USSC cases are also examined.

In this article, we develop and test an economic theory of Supreme Court news. We hypothesize that information about the Third Branch is newsworthy when it has lower production costs and qualities attractive to the audiences and advertisers desired by news organizations. We examine Supreme Court news in elite newspapers, television news broadcasts, and online news sources during the October 2008 and 2010 terms. The results of our quantitative analyses indicate that all three types of news outlets are more likely to provide content about Supreme Court decisions with substantive importance but vary in their responses to costs and qualities appealing to the lay audience. We conclude by discussing the similarities and differences among news outlets with regard to their selection of Supreme Court information as news content. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]