News: The Politics of Illusion (Longman Classics Series)

by Bennett, Lance

• ISBN13: 9780321224668
• ISBN10: 0321224663
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-01
• Publisher: Longman

Summary

The media are everywhere. This renowned book by media expert Lance Bennett explores how well the news media serves the needs of democracy and looks at how various political actors--from presidents and members of Congress, to interest groups and citizen-activists--try to get their messages into the news. The News About Democracy: An Introduction to the American Political Information System; News Content: Four Information Biases that Matter; The Political Economy of News; How Politicians Make the News; How Journalists Report the News; Inside the Profession: Objectivity and Other Double Standards; The News Public: Information Processing and Public Opinion; Freedom from the Press: Solutions for Citizens, Politicians, and Journalists. Anyone interested in understanding the news mediahow it works, if it is biased, its function in democratic society.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
An Introduction to the News about People, Society, and Politics	p. 1
Why Blaming Journalists Misses the Point	p. 2
Inside the American News System	p. 6
The Puzzling (and Fragile) Link Between News and Democracy	p. 10
News, Politics, and the People	p. 15
A Simple Overview of the Political Information System	p. 18
A Definition of News	p. 19
The Politics of Illusion	p. 22
The New Gatekeeper	p. 25
How Mediated Government Works	p. 26
Notes	p. 29
News Content: Four Information Biases That Matter	p. 33
Four Information Biases in the News: An Overview	p. 34
Personalization	p. 35
Dramatization	p. 36
Fragmentation	p. 37
The Authority-Disorder Bias	p. 38
Good News, Bad News: Putting News Bias in Perspective	p. 40
Four Information Biases in the News: An In-Depth Look	p. 47
News Bias Reconsidered	p. 64
Previewing a Model for More Useful News	p. 65
Notes	p. 68
The Social, Economic, and Political Construction of News Reality	p. 71
News as Social Construction	p. 73
Virtual News? Technology, Society, and Personalized Information	p. 75
Personalized Information and the Future of Democracy	p. 76
Economics Versus Democracy: Inside the News Business	p. 81
How Does Corporate Influence Operate?	p. 100
Commercialized Information and Citizen Confidence	p. 104
Government and the Politics of News Making	p. 105
Notes	p. 108
How Politicians Make the News	p. 113
The Politics of Illusion	p. 114
News Images as Symbolic Political Reality	p. 117
News Bias and Press-Government Relations	p. 118
The Goals of News Management	p. 119
The Techniques of News (Image) Making	p. 124
The Key to News Control: Managing Relations with the Press	p. 129
Other Presidents, Other News-Management Styles	p. 137
Press Relations: Care and Feeding (and Occasional Intimidation)	p. 139
The Origins of Political News	p. 142
Notes	p. 145
How Journalists Report the News	p. 149
Work Routines and Professional Norms	p. 150
How Reporting Practices Contribute to News Bias	p. 153
Reporters and Officials: Cooperation and Control	p. 153
Reporters as Members of News Organizations: Pressures to Standardize	p. 160
Reporters as a Pack: Pressures to Agree	p. 164
The Paradox of Organizational Routines	p. 169
When Journalism Works	p. 173
Democracy with or without Citizens?	p. 176
Notes	p. 177
Inside the Profession: Objectivity and Other Double Standards	p. 181
Why Objective Reporting Does Not Work	p. 182
Defining Objectivity: Fairness, Balance, and Truth	p. 183
Professional Journalism Standards	p. 185
Professional Practices and News Distortion	p. 191
The Adversarial Role of the Press	p. 191
Standards of Decency and Good Taste	p. 196
Documentary Reporting Practices	p. 200
The Use of Stories as Standardized News Formats	p. 201
Reporters as Generalists	p. 203
The Practice of Editorial Review	p. 205
Objectivity Reconsidered	p. 206
Notes	p. 208
The Public: Prisoners of the News?	p. 211
The Citizen's Dilemma: Who and What to Believe	p. 212
Prisoners Who Think for Themselves	p. 213
The Medium Makes a Difference: Audio and Visual Information	p. 215
Why the News Still Matters	p. 215
Common Patterns of Information Processing	p. 217
Thinking about Media Politics with Citizens in Mind	p. 229
Other Reasons People Follow the News	p. 230
Escaping the News Prison	p. 239
Notes	p. 240
Freedom from the Press: Solutions for Concerned Citizens	p. 243
The Trouble with a Privately Owned Media System	p. 244
The Trouble with a Limited Public Broadcasting System	p. 244
The Trouble with Objective Journalism	p. 245
Dilemmas of the American Information System	p. 246
News and Power in America: The Ideal versus the Reality	p. 246
Why the Myth of a Free Press Persists	p. 249
Critical Proposals for Citizens, Journalists, and Politicians	p. 252
The Perils of Virtual Democracy	p. 270
Notes	p. 271
Index	p. 273
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