Transcript Media Coverage

9 February, 2010
Media Coverage
Media Effects
 Objectivity
 Quality of coverage
 Unmediated news
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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
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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?
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Objectivity
Should the press be neutral?
The British Tabloids
 The BBC
 Fox News
 New York Times, Wall Street Journal
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Public Perceptions in the United States
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).
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The ‘Burglar Alarm’ Analogy; soft news on any number of issues just
because they are shocking
False alarms
What is news?
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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
Coverage and Interest
Coverage and Interest
Source: Pew Research http://people-press.org/report/575/
Election Coverage
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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
Tone of Coverage
Source: Pew Research (2007)
View the SNL skit on the media’s love affair with Obama
Views of Obama Coverage
Source: Pew Research Center October 2009
Media Coverage of the 2008 U.S. Campaign
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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
Public Reaction to News Coverage
Public vs. Private broadcasting
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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?
Unmediated Coverage
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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?