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Media Coverage

9 February, 2010. Media Coverage. Media Coverage. Media Effects Objectivity Quality of coverage Unmediated news. Role of the Media. Most people gain their information about politics from the mass media The media report and interpret events

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Media Coverage

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Presentation Transcript

  1. 9 February, 2010 Media Coverage

  2. Media Coverage • Media Effects • Objectivity • Quality of coverage • Unmediated news

  3. Role of the Media • Most people gain their information about politics from the mass media • The media report and interpret events • Media help to set the agenda by highlighting certain issues and neglecting others • The media also help to shape popular perceptions and images

  4. 0 Do the News Media Matter? • Most people believe the media exert considerable influence on public opinion • Early studies of media effects following WWII emphasized the importance of propaganda • Later studies found “minimal effects” • Debate continues • What are the effects of merely covering an issue? • What are the effects of the content of that coverage?

  5. Objectivity Should the press be neutral? • The British Tabloids • The BBC • Fox News • New York Times, Wall Street Journal

  6. Public Perceptions in the United States

  7. Definition of News • What newsmakers (politicians and other political actors) promote as timely, important, or interesting • Familiar (stories often drawing on familiar people or life experiences that give even distant events a close to home feeling) • Sensational (scandals, violence, human drama). • The ‘Burglar Alarm’ Analogy; soft news on any number of issues just because they are shocking • False alarms

  8. What is news? • Conflict • Wars, fires, heated debates, scandals • Proximity • ‘Pack journalism’, ie. Press converging on the same issues • Television, splashy video • Late night news; Comedy central’s The Daily Show

  9. Coverage and Interest

  10. Coverage and Interest Source: Pew Research http://people-press.org/report/575/

  11. Election Coverage • Politics is a game of winners and losers, not a serious debate over ideas and issues • Campaign strategies, tactics, victories, and blunders are the focus of coverage • Early primary victories build “momentum” • Coverage of Iowa and New Hampshire races is far out of proportion to their relative delegate share • States compete to position their primaries & caucuses earlier in the season • Focus on candidate character and image • Personality flaws are fair game • Parties become less important

  12. Tone of Coverage Source: Pew Research (2007) View the SNL skit on the media’s love affair with Obama

  13. Views of Obama Coverage Source: Pew Research Center October 2009

  14. Media Coverage of the 2008 U.S. Campaign • Just five candidates were the focus of more than half the coverage with Clinton receiving the most coverage (17%) • Democrats generally received more positive coverage than Republicans • Friendly coverage of Obama (47% positive) compared to critical coverage of McCain (12% positive) • Newspapers more positive; talk radio negative; television more focused on personal backgrounds. • Strategy and horse race dominated coverage Source: PEJ-Shorenstein study; see http://www.journalism.org/node/8187

  15. Public Reaction to News Coverage

  16. Public vs. Private broadcasting • The most respected news sources in many countries are the public radio and television news services (ie. BBC) • News is a profit making enterprise • Public broadcasting allows a broader range of news to be covered more in depth • But should the government regulate media coverage? • Criticisms of the BBC; ie. should it have invited Nick Griffin of the BNP on Question Time?

  17. Unmediated Coverage • One of the most visible examples of parliament at work is the 30 minutes devoted each week to Prime Minister’s Questions • It is one of the few points where - between elections - the legislature can act as a check upon the executive in a visible forum. • Does PMQs enhance or weaken democracy? • Stealth Democracy • Would it be better if people did not see politics in action?

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