A study examined coverage of Alger Hiss's trial for spying for the Soviet Union in the conservative Los Angeles "Times" and Chicago "Tribune," and the liberal Washington "Post" and New York "Times." It was hypothesized that (1) the liberal newspapers would favor Hiss, especially in their editorials; (2) the conservative newspapers would support Hiss's accuser, Whittaker Chambers; (3) as evidence against Hiss mounted, the liberal newspapers would decrease their support for Hiss and admit a grudging respect for Chambers' testimony; and that (4) as the trial proceeded, the conservative newspapers would hear the deeper messages against U.S. and Soviet materialism that Chambers was presenting and would relay them to readers. Results of the content analysis showed that the conservative and liberal newspapers originally split on ideological grounds, but as the evidence against Hiss accumulated, the New York "Times" shifted its support to Chambers. Additionally, the Washington "Post," after wavering in its support of Hiss in light of his perjury, resumed its hardline pro-Hiss stance, but the conservative newspapers, though they supported Chambers on political grounds, did not support his religious views, and seemed to lose interest in him in their summations of the trial. Hence, the first two hypotheses were upheld, the third was partly upheld, and the fourth was not upheld. (Seventy-four notes are included.) (JC)