The News and Public Opinion Media Effects on Civic Life

by McCombs, Maxwell; Holbert, Lance; Kiousis, Spiro; Wanta, Wayne

• ISBN13: 9780745645193
• ISBN10: 0745645194
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-10
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

The daily news plays a major role in the continuously changing mix of thoughts, feelings and behavior that defines public opinion. The News & Public Opinion details these effects of the news media on the sequence of outcomes that collectively shape public opinion, beginning with initial attention to the various news media and their contents and extending to the effects of this exposure on the acquisition of information, formation of attitudes and opinions and to the consequences of all these elements for participation in public life. Sometimes called the hierarchy of media effects, this sequence of outcomes describes the communication process involved in the formation of public opinion. Although the media landscape is undergoing rapid change, key elements remain the same, and The News & Public Opinion emphasizes these basic principles of communication established over decades of empirical social science investigations into the impact of mass communication on public opinion. The primary audience for this book is students, both advanced undergraduates and graduate students, as well as members of the general public who want to understand the role of the news media in our civic life.

Author Biography

Max McCombs is Jesse H. Jones Centennial Chair in Communication at the School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin R. Lance Holbert is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at the School of Communication, Ohio State University Spiro Kiousis is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Relations, University of Florida Wayne Wanta is Professor and Chair of the Department of Journalism in the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida

Table of Contents

Introduction: What Is Public Opinion?	p. 1
The News Media
A Changing Communication Environment	p. 11
Reporting the News	p. 26
Trust in the News	p. 41
Setting the Civic Stage
The Audiences for News	p. 61
Focusing Public Attention	p. 75
Learning from the News	p. 88
Forming Opinions	p. 98
Tone of the News	p. 109
Political Behavior	p. 120
What Citizens Bring to the News	p. 133
News Influence on Civic Life	p. 146
Coming to Judgment
Assessing the Role of News in Civic Life	p. 163
Notes	p. 177
Index	p. 199
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