A study examined the conserving tendencies of the established political party press during the early stages of the antislavery movement. Eighteen partisan newspapers--from both northern and southern states--were examined for their coverage of the July 30, 1836, mob violence against James G. Birney and his Cincinnati "Philanthropist," and the November 7, 1837, shooting death of Elijah P. Lovejoy. It was hypothesized that newspapers most closely affiliated with those in political power, to preserve the status quo, would condemn the dissident press and deny the dissident editor's right to speak freely. For analysis, coverage was divided into three categories: (1) papers expressing original editorial views, (2) papers reprinting editorial views from other papers; and (3) papers with no coverage at all. The results indicated that all newspapers in the first category, with the exception of the New York "Evening Post," blamed the abolitionist editors for the violence, and the majority of newspapers in the second category reprinted material blaming the editors. The results also indicated that in both categories 1 and 2, the papers with the most demonstrable ties to established parties ignored freedom of the press issues and fervently blamed and opposed the abolitionist editors. (Sixty-two notes are included.) (Author/HTH)