The content of four black newspapers was analyzed to determine how they covered the "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke" case, in which the Supreme Court ruled against rigid race quota programs such as the one that had prevented Allan Bakke, a white man, from being admitted to medical school. Each issue of the four newspapers--the New York "Amsterdam News," the "Los Angeles Sentinel," the "Atlanta Daily World," and the "Chicago Defender"--was examined during the ten-month period preceding the argument of the case before the Supreme Court and during the period immediately following the June 1978 decision. Among the findings were that the coverage of the Bakke case was scarce; that after the Supreme Court ruling the "Amsterdam News" far exceeded other newspapers in the amount and type of coverage, while the "Sentinel" and the "World" continued to give little attention to the case; that coverage was event-oriented rather than issue-oriented; that, while most editorials took a definite anti-Bakke stand, some took no position in the controversy; that relevant letters to the editor were almost nonexistent; and that most articles did not receive front-page or prominent coverage. The findings suggest that today's black press is a chronicler, rather than an interpreter, of issues and events affecting the black community. (GT)