Mass Media and Politics : A Social Science Perspective

by Leighley, Jan E.

• ISBN13: 9780395925461
• ISBN10: 0395925460
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-24
• Publisher: Cengage Learning

Summary

The author models the discussion of each topic in this text on the social scientific process by asking if theories exists to explain personal observations in politics and the media and if there is evidence to support the theories. End-of-chapter Active Learning exercises provide real-world examples of important concepts and ask students to collect and analyze data from various print and electronic media sources. The text includes an entire chapter on agenda setting--the media's ability to insert issues into public consciousness or increase perceived importance--which illuminates the related concepts of priming and framing. Data Sets from the NES and GSS can be downloaded from the Mass Media and Politics web site.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Mass, Media, and Politics in the United States	1	(19)
The Mass Media and Specialized News Media	3	(1)
Centrality of the Media to Today's Politics	3	(5)
Objective Importance of the Mass Media	4	(1)
Instantaneous News Delivery	5	(1)
Mass Media as a Linkage Institution	6	(2)
The Interdependence of Journalists, Politicians, and the Mass Public	8	(1)
Models of the Mass Media	9	(4)
Reporters of Objective Fact	9	(1)
Neutral Adversary	10	(1)
Public Advocate	10	(1)
Profit-Seeker	11	(1)
Propagandist	12	(1)
Implications of the Models	12	(1)
Theories of Mass Communication	13	(2)
Media Effects on the Mass Public	13	(2)
The Public's Effect on the Mass Media	15	(1)
Studying the Mass and the Media	15	(1)
Structure of the Book	16	(4)
The Media as a Political Institution	20	(27)
Historical Development of the Media-Government Relationship	22	(4)
The Early Press Eras	23	(1)
Government Sponsorship of the Press	24	(1)
The Economics of the Mass Newspaper	25	(1)
The Electronic Broadcast Media	26	(2)
High-Tech Media: A New Era in Media-Government Relations?	28	(3)
The Origins and Growth of the Internet	29	(1)
New Formats in Political Communications	30	(1)
Consequences of the New Era for Mass Politics	31	(2)
The Political Consequences of Narrowcasting	32	(1)
The Politics of Regulation	33	(8)
Print and Electronic Regulation: Ownership	34	(2)
Regulating Broadcasting Content	36	(4)
Consequences of Deregulation	40	(1)
The Politics of Public and Semipublic Ownership	41	(2)
Media-Government Relationships and Models of the Press	43	(4)
What's News?	47	(23)
The News Product and Models of the Mass Media	50	(2)
Reporters of Objective Fact	50	(1)
Neutral Adversary	50	(1)
Public Advocate	50	(1)
Profit-Seeker	51	(1)
Propagandist	51	(1)
Defining What's News	52	(3)
Timeliness	53	(1)
Human Interest and Drama	53	(1)
Concrete Events	54	(1)
Defining News: A Historical Update	54	(1)
News Coverage of Politics	55	(9)
Domestic News Coverage	56	(2)
Local News Coverage	58	(2)
Foreign Affairs Coverage	60	(1)
An Update on the Content of News Coverage	61	(3)
Values Reflected in News Coverage	64	(2)
Conclusion	66	(4)
Newsgathering: Business, Profession, and Organization	70	(34)
Economic Influences on Newsgathering	72	(6)
Private Ownership	72	(1)
Concentration of Ownership	73	(4)
Consequences of Corporate Ownership	77	(1)
Profit, Advertising, and Ratings	78	(3)
The Ratings Game	78	(1)
Profitability	79	(1)
The Corporate Approach: Marketing to Reader Interest	80	(1)
Media Users and Audiences for the News	81	(4)
Audience Size and Media Reliance	81	(2)
Audience Interest	83	(1)
Television Viewership and Audience Overlap	84	(1)
Corporate Decision Making: Boardroom versus Newsroom	85	(6)
Corporate Cost-Cutting	85	(5)
Courting Advertisers	90	(1)
Professional Influences and Structure	91	(4)
Demographics	92	(1)
Personal Values	92	(1)
Professional Values: The Role of the Media	93	(1)
Professional Values: Objectivity	94	(1)
Organizational Constraints	95	(3)
Managerial Strategies for Marketing the News	95	(1)
News Routines, Deadlines, and Beats	96	(1)
Investigative Reporting	97	(1)
On the Media Business and Models of the Press	98	(2)
Conclusion	100	(4)
Political Institutions and the Mass Media	104	(38)
The Institutional Basis of Newsgathering	106	(7)
Accommodating the Media	107	(3)
Using the Media to Govern	110	(3)
The Presidency	113	(6)
What the White House Does	113	(2)
White House Press Coverage	115	(4)
Congress	119	(5)
What Members of Congress Do	120	(1)
Who Gets Covered	121	(1)
What Gets Covered	122	(2)
Federal Courts	124	(2)
Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal	124	(1)
Trial Courts	125	(1)
The View from Entertainment Land	126	(2)
Institutional Agenda-Setting	128	(6)
How and When Do Institutions Respond?	128	(1)
Responses to Crises	129	(3)
Responses to Exposes	132	(2)
On the Media as a Linkage Institution	134	(1)
On Models of the Press	134	(2)
Conclusion	136	(6)
The Media, Political Knowledge, and Political Attitudes	142	(33)
Theories of Media Effects	144	(7)
Hypodermic Needle Model	144	(4)
Minimal Effects Model	148	(2)
Contingent Effects Model	150	(1)
Political Knowledge as a Requisite for a Healthy Democracy	151	(11)
Findings from Survey and Experimental Research	151	(10)
Political Learning: Individual, Mode, and Message Effects	161	(1)
Political Socialization, Trust, and Social Capital	162	(4)
Political Evaluations and Policy Support	166	(3)
The Media, Political Knowledge, and Political Attitudes	169	(1)
Conclusion	170	(5)
Agenda-Setting, Priming, and Framing	175	(24)
Psychological Foundations	177	(2)
Types of Agenda-Setting	179	(3)
Public Agenda-Setting	182	(2)
Priming	184	(6)
Framing Issues	187	(3)
Individual-Level Moderators	190	(3)
Conclusion	193	(6)
The Mass Media and Elections	199	(44)
The Nature of Election Coverage: Free Media	202	(9)
The Substance of Campaign Coverage	202	(4)
Bias and Tone	206	(2)
Why More Negative?	208	(3)
Political Advertising: Paid Media	211	(4)
The Substance of Political Advertisements	212	(2)
Tone of Advertising	214	(1)
Media Effects: Theory and Evidence	215	(16)
Assumptions and Theoretical Background	215	(5)
Political Learning	220	(3)
Turnout	223	(1)
Agenda-Setting	224	(4)
Vote Choice	228	(3)
The Internet as a New Campaign Medium	231	(2)
Conclusion	233	(10)
Media Models, Linkage Institutions, and Representative Democracy	243	(8)
Media Models: What Is Supported by the Evidence?	244	(2)
Media Models: What Should We Want?	246	(5)
Appendix: Content Analysis	251	(4)
Glossary	255	(12)
Bibiliography	267	(24)
Index	291