Media Coverage and Public Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court

When citizens believe the U.S. Supreme Court makes decisions in an insincere or politicized manner, their specific support for the institution can decline. The Court’s relative aversion to publicity means the media are the primary source of information about its decisions. We design a survey experiment that varies the type of coverage—game frame or principled. Game-frame coverage reduces agreement with and acceptance of the decision discussed. We then classify and analyze more than 1,000 transcripts of broadcast coverage of salient Court decisions from 1990–2010. Not only has game-frame coverage of the Court increased, but this coverage partially explains recent declines in specific support for the institution.