Psci410 Notes

8/2/2019 Psci410 Notes

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1/14/2010

Discussion question for board Graber, Norris 2000 chap 2, Zaller, Schutt Graber

o Functioning democracy needs news to inform citizens? False.o Myths about how the media can control a democracy persist

Look at totalitarian regimes in Europe during ww2 Real life experiences trumped stories by the media and the regimes fell

o Media as Collective Noun Its not a uniform body. Its widely variant. From cspan to cnn and the new York times to the Detroit news

Widely varying level of readership, type of readership, etc Democracy also is widely variant

Neither media nor democracy can be generalizedo Overview

Aims to examine types of media, look at list of common roles media is said toplay (according to first amendment scholars, SCOTUS justices, etc) and on

balance weigh if its a + or for democracy

o Private vs Public Control Framers assumed media must be private to preserve democracy

Potential discussion question might this be the origin of theassumption of medias necessity for democracy?

Myth of Gov Control It is a myth that the US media is free from government control Violations are kept in check by the FEAR of regulatory actions

o What is this similar to, something involving the shadow of law Most news on the gov is supplied by the gov

Private Sector Control Myths Most news sources are owned by private companies that are beholden

to shareholders and profits

o That may mean that public service goals are supplanted byprofit driven motives occasionally or frequently

Journalists might avoid controversial topics that would offend largesegments of the population

News is dumbed down can be good, can be bad One BIG problem with commercial media is

o It charges candidates to broadcast their messageso Meaning poor candidates cannot afford to buy ad time

What is expected from the media?


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What does the media need to do to warrant its first AMENDMENTprotection?

4 basic things: provide a forum of discussion, give voice to publicopinion, be the eyes and ears of the people, be a watchdog that barks at

corruption

Mass Media and the Marketplace of Ideas There is an assumption that the marketplace of ideas, the general

discussion of politics in the media will hash out the truth

In practice it may confuse non experts more than it enlightens themo This, coupled with forced balance, may confuse more

Second assumption is that the conglomeration and centralized ofprivate media outlets is making conformity the rule, competitors in

conformity

In reality they are similar because they source from the sameinformation and have the same idea of what is and is not newsworthy

o It is only the UNREPRESENTED FRINGE that thinks that this isbiased and not giving a broad enough view

o Media mostly represents the people, which is mostlymainstream without many people flocking to extremist views

Mass Media as Voices for Public Opinions This myth that the news and media outlets tell the government where

the peoples interests lies is just that, a myth

Journalists are not in constant contact with the people Journalists tend to actually not be particularly congruent with their

audienceo More liberal on social policies and more conservative on fiscal

It does provide the raw ingredients that opinions are then formed from The Surveillance Function

The idea that the media will act as an overseer for the public on the govis a myth

It assumes the media has the time, resources, and inclination to do soo Reality is, the gov will always havem ore resources to hide what

it is doing than the media will have to find out

They rarely investigate politicians randomly but instead wait for tips orleaks

o Gov must supply much info against itself The Watchdog

Similar to above problems here May produce a deterrent effect, hard to measure

The Performance Record Structural Obstacles


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o Media has to assume you know what is going on. Take theIsraeli Palestine conflict. This ahs been going on for years they

cannot rehash ite very time a new issue develops

o The media is structured as for-profit. It is not trying to teach andwe are not trying to learn. It is a leisure time activity.

Surveillance Failureso A lot of focus on novel twists, not long term throughlineso A lot of focus on sexual exploits, etco What is interesting vs what is importanto Talk about horse race of election but not ability to govern for

each candidate

News Dosages for Public healtho Citizens have moved from deferential, to partisan, to informed,

to RIGHTS BEARING

o Most citizens get enough news to make a decisiono It is not IDEAL, but the ideal is not attainable

Myths About News Qualityo A lot of news critics say the news is of shoddy quality

But most individuals seem to think it is aokayo This is because it is providing what they NEED, but critics are

expecting an IDEAL TYPE

Internet Panaceao Major Contributions

Two way Close to a common carrier Many new outlets

o Major drawbacks Mostly the well educated, already news absorbing

masses that simply add the internet as another source

News can have trouble finding audience that cares Not a great watchdog because the gov can still hide

what it does not want seen

With more outlets, the sort of UNFUN types of newsmay get less attention. Entertainment may swell while

politics shrinks.o Balance Sheet

Even in the best cases the media falls short and thepublic doesnt play its role well

News outlets do not stray too far from mainstream They would lose their viewers


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Never in perfect sync but enough to inform tomake opinions

Open ended questions tend to show the wide range ofpolitical knowledge the average citizen has

While traditional fact tests show them as idiots On balance the democracy of the US seemst o be

improving not retreating

Norris 2000 chap 2o Roles as CIVIC FORUM, MOBILIZING AGENT, WATCHDOGo Democratic Theories of the News Media

Democracy involves 3 dimensions, a la Schumpeter Pluralistic competition Participation Civil and political liberties The role for the news media (the 3 above) then come from this

definition of democracy

News Media as Civic Forum Jurgen Habernas

o He was concerned about how advertising would homogenizeo And usurpation of media by elites

Media must be two way. Upward and downward communication to andfrom elites and gov and people.

If the news media is to function as a civic forum, it must be doing so forthe most amount of people

o THIS SEEMS TO COUNTER THE DISCUSSION GRABER IS HAVINGVIS A VIS THE DUMBING DOWN Should be balanced

o External diversity: competition between different outlets Mail and Guardian are left in UK, etc

o Internal diversity: each paper itself gives a range of ideas. Opeds from both viewpoints etc.

o Britain and Spain have much external diversityo US and Japan have much internal diversity

Watchdog of the Powerful Report fairly, look critically

News Media as Mobilizing This is the most important thing The rest is to protect the environment for this condition There has been a reduction in trust in gov

o Whether the media is responsible for this is a matter of debate 4 premises for argument


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o There is a debate as to whether the news media providesenough info to cast an informed vote because what constitutes

political knowledge is a matter of much debate

o We assume that there is a need for contextual knowledge. Thatis, a knowledge of decisions the voters will actually have to face.

o It is assumed that the news media should provide info on avariety of levels. From basic to very advanced.

o Finally it also assumes that journalists must take someresponsibility in generating interest in public policies and goings

on, along with parties.

Zallero Argues that the full news standard or the idea that the news should provide enough

info for citizens to make an informed vote, is misguided

o Suggests instead a burglar alarm standardo Standards for Information for Self Governance

Informational needs of self governance Feasibility: the amount of news that will be read and absorbed

o Full News Standard Early news standards were discussions amongst gentry. Not clear founders

wanted it to be a discussion amongst all.

Citizens were expected to know individual local politicians characters. That wasan informed voter.

You vote for them. They vote for electoral college. EC votes in president. It wasnt until the late 1800s that a focus on informed citizenry took root

Prior it was pretty unabashed partisanship with headlines like demslying more, etc etc

Politics were organized by parties, a good citizen was a good partisan and agood newspaper was one that provided partisanship to its partisans

In the early 20th century you had a move to the good citizen being a goodindependent

The change then moved in news With partisan newspapers falling away

o Evaluation of the Full News Standard More information tends to increase partisanship

With more info more Repubs want clemency for Nixon

Dems want same for Clinton Neither want same for other

More info thus does not seem to equate to a more informed voter if informedmeans the empirical truth without partisan

o Burglar Alarm Standard of News Quality Idea of monitoring citizen


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Scanning headlines Keeping an eye on kids at a pool, not gathering info just watching for alarming

events

Author wants to 1) ground this proposal in an intellectual tradition and 2) use itto rethink the Full news Standard

Downs Argues that parties and ideologies are short cuts The thrust is that citizens use SUBSIDIZED INFORMATIOn from sources

that are congruent with their beliefs

The alarm standard constrains and charges journalists with the requirement ofCHOOSING what items must be heard about

Frenzies can be invasive to politicians privacy etc etc but can be useful indisseminating info

Reporters should (according to the author) sensationalize in order to get theidea across and entertain etc etc

This is pretty condescending to the public POTENTIAL DISCUSSIONQUESTION: is this condescending?

Burglar Alarm vs Fire Alarm Fire alarms alert the gov to the fire Burglar alarms alert the people to a thief or rascal

Burglar Alarm would have news cover places where there is a real competition,not places with no threat to incumbent

These things tend to be best covered: Close elections

Votes on elements of presidents program Ethics violations Efforts to prevent cutoffs to fed benefits

o Evaluation of the Burglar Alarm Standard If the burglar alarm standard was met, could citizens hold their MCs

accountable? Yes

Concedes that if the journalist world is combing the countryside for sensationalstories, there may be some issues of accuracy

It has to be commercially viable Which it is in the authors opinion. Move to hard news is the only route

to sustain news. Soft news is too close to real entertainment which iseasily replaced by Hollywood.

Calling Oprah INFOTAINMENT is unbelievably generous Schutt

o Says not to mention the limitations in the literature if you cant fix them yourselves Prof Moehler half disagrees. Do not dwell or focus on that, but touching on it is

fine.


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o When we gather evidence, we can never say for sure that this evidence provessomething. All they can do is say that the evidence is consistent/inconsistent with the

theory.

1/18/2012

Syllabus noteso For each session, bring a discussion question

To be written immediately upon enteringo Tracking a country

Course is grouped theoretically FOR NEXT WEEK: choose 2 countries that you might use for your news tracking.

If there is an overabundance, you will have to do second choice.

Choosing a country: language (make it English speaking), must be some US coverage of this country (you will be tracking how the

US news portrays it,

doesnt have to be every week that its reporting but must have SOME), must be news sources and blogs available online (preferably having back

issues),

preferably a democracy, preferably middle or high income country(Russia or India OK) (middle east harder)

should be interesting choose 1 domestic news source, 1 foreign talking about your country, 1

blog from that country (itll be easier that way) basically, track the same source CHECK BLACKBOARD FOR LIST OF BLOGS ETC

o Research Paper Notes Deductive and explanatory paper

Deductive: start with theory from that theory develop a simplehypothesis and that should have an explanatory format

o It should be about how one factor (independent variable)effects another factor (dependent)

o Give theory, say from that theory we should expect that xcauses y and I will gather evidence to see whether or not theevidence backs me up

Does NOT include inductive (look at a bunch of data and from thatcome up with a theory)

Does NOT include exploratory or descriptive research. I will describethe degree to which there is a variety of voices on this site vs that site,


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that is just descriptive and data gathering. You are saying nothing about

the cause or the outcomes.

Contrary to Schutt, he says qualitative research is often exploratory and henceinductive, most social science qualitative work is deductive. Even doing

qualitative work, however, avoid inductive.

Review of the Literature Schutt misses the point hereo A good lit review makes an argument. It does not just

summarize each article. Instead, it has a purpose and you use

the lit review to set up the research you are going to do.

that entails telling us why the topic is important generally, why do we care? Implications of why

something is important

why specifically do you need to do the research you aredoing? Not why is diversity of voices important, for

instance, but why do YOU have to do research

this is like, this is what is out there, but this iswhat they missed (place your research in the

larger spectrum)

sets up how you are going to do your research. Basicallyhas to do with what others have said and done on the

topic.

Week 1 readings Lecture

Most theoretical development has happened with respect to the US. This is a limitation o thefield of research on theory.

They, all 3, do not present original data. They are mostly lit reviews. They rely on findings thatother people have discussed.

They also all 3 discuss the idea that we have an idealist view of how media workso Media is INDEPENDENT variable and it effects the political system which is DEPENDANT.o Media effecting politicso They are primarily talking about what media does for politics

Zallero Argues for internal vs external diversity. One paper all the same position (external)

means pick a paper.

Roles of Mediao Graber

Marketplace of ideas (Civic Forum) Voice of Public Opinion Surveillance: ordinary policy stuff

Provides info for people to choose candidate they prefer


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Best performed by traditional media, perhaps. NEUTRALITY is required,perhaps. Information is what is important here. Context. Indepth

analysis. Large circulation required.

Watchdog: immoral/illegal happenings Mobilizing Agent (information, interest, participation)

Readings Notes

Hallin, Schudson, Bennet, Alberg Hallin :

o For a long time media analysis focused purely on how things SHOULD be not how theywere

o Ethnocentrism prevailed. US or Western descriptions were written as though they weretrue everywhere.

o The enemy of the researcher is things becoming NATURAL

Comparative study can denaturalize something to us by comparingo Media system and politics are probably neither indie and depend variables

More complex interactiono Media System Models

Polarized Pluralist Model Southern Europe (France, Greece, Italy, etc)

Democratic Corporatist Model Northern and Central Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany)

Liberal Model North Atlantic (Ireland UK, USA)

o Print media was often externally pluralistic, with many newspaperso Whereas television media was limited by channels and was required to be internally

pluralistic

o Four Dimensions for Comparison Development of mass press. Circulation. Role of press. Etc. Political parallelism. Does the media lines line up with the political lines? Journalistic professionalism. The role of the state in media.

o Polarized Pluralist Model Low circulation In S Europe the press evolved as a combination of literature and politics So there is clear political allegiances within press outlets Some decrease but remain very political Political Parallelism

Close relationship between parties and media Its high in S Europe External pluralism. Internal homogeneity.


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Professionalization low Not as defined. Recent addition. Journalists feel pressures from editors. Industrialists and politicians buy newspaper to intervene in politics not

make money

Role of the State Important. Often interventionist. The grasp outreaches its reach

Political History, Structure and Culture Church and whatnot were strong. Transition to modernity was a long

process.

o The Democratic Corporatist Model High rate of circulation Northern europe Here are the trading cities where CORANTOS first popped up. Proto

newspapers.

Political Parallelism Most newspapers cropped up for serving specific populations Big reductions in party newspapers But nevertheless there is still a significant level of political pluralism Parties and social groups are SEHR important

Professionalization strong High level of journalistic professionalism and autonomy FORMAL CODE OF PROFESSIONALISM

The Role of the State Nuanced Control is restricted Support is big

Political History, Structure and Culture Differ from southern Europe in two important ways

o Reformation outweighed counter reformation and was morebeneficial to development of press

o Southern Europe was dominated by large land owners, northernEurope here had more small merchants, artisans, etc

Conservative forces were weakero The Liberal Model

Commercial news media developed first in the USA Development of the Mass Circulation Press

high


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High literacy rates outside of slave south Political Parallelism

Early press was strongly connected to world of politics Commercialization may have liberated media from political control or

ENHANCED commercial control

Differences between parties are smaller in the USA so news is centrist Professionalization

Relatively strong Role of the State

State isnt involved directly but protects Postal system etc

EXTERNAL DIVERSITY: a diff paper for each spot in the spectrum Thought to be better at mobilizing people Idea being that an article devoid of opinion doesnt get you to feel

passionate bout the issue INTERNAL DIVERSITY: NYT reps a diversity of views

o Somewhat subjective in its placement on the triangle Unclear what data makes them think where each goes

Schudson The News Media as Political Institutions The Political Economy of News

o In Latin America, government benefited more from state run news than the publico China you have some opening but dancing with chains ono In the US fewer and fewer companies own the mediao Some argue US media is no diff than Pravda, it mobilizes supporto Form of ownership is not as predictive as you might expecto Much more nuanced

The Social Organization of Newsworko It is argued that newswork is reality constructingo Latin America has DENUNCISMO, basically one official leaking info on another to

advance self

o In the US there is much framing of media portrayal by US gov See Somalia in 1992 Framed in media as it was framed by officials

o Discussion question: DOES SCHUDSONS VIEW OF MEDIA FRAMING OF AN EVENT ASBEING SHAPED BY GOVERNMENT FRAMING (I.E. SOMALIA IN 1992) REFLECT THE

PAPER BEING AUTHORED IN 2003?

o IS THE LIBERAL BIAS IN THE US MEDIA (AS A FUNCTION OF THE LIBERAL BIAS INEDUCATION) POINTED TO BY SCHUDSON A PRODUCT OF A PRE-FOX NEWS

AUTHORSHIP?


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o American journalists .. are committed to their ideology ofdispassion, their sense ofprofessionalism, and their value of fairness or objectivity in Schudson, quoting

Donsbach, 1995

Is this still the case?o Cultural Approaches

Culturally there are variations. British media tends to be derogatory toforeigners. Blacks esp.

News judgement is largely cultural What is and isnt news Also its form, like patterns of narrative, story telling, conventions of

photographic displays

o Conclusion Comparative study of the news is rare Difficult to do Clunky

Bennetto Media must be treated as a transnational regime to be analyzedo Media deregulatory processes give media conglomerates substantial powero Media imperialism

Challenge: it isnt quite like gobbling up territory. There arent the limitedchannels and airwaves there once were.

o Regime Politics in National and International Contexto Understanding National Engagement in regime Politics

Italian media is often overshadowed by Burlesconis involvement Varying levels of involvement across states

o International Venue Shopping US has relentlessl pushed for deregulation

o You have this BUY NOTHING DAY ad they shop in the US market No one will run it except CNN, eventually NBC says its against its business interest CBS says its against US policy

o Rise of INFOTAINMENTo NPR and public broadcast winds up showing MORE POLICY STUFFo And private news does LESS and more infotainment sex shito Citizens as Audiences: Identity and Informationo Conclusion

We need to better understand OUTSIDE OF JUST OWNERSHIP how media isformed

This media regime model is interesting Younger viewers may not buy in to the old media ways even if they were

restored

Aalberg


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Media Systems and the Political Information Environment A Cross National Comparisono ALBERG CITES A STUDY FROM 2004 WHEN ASSERTING THAT THE INTERNET IS USED

FOR ENTERTAINMENT MORE THAN THE INTERNET. DO YOU THINK THIS IS CHANGING?

IS THIS STILL THE CASE?

o Zaller Argued that monitorial citizen is sufficient Alberg says it is not, cites 1/3 of Americans thinking there were WMDs found in

Iraq.

Is this due to citizens scanning headlines or the media twisting thetruth?me

o One central hypothesis: Commercial media have a structural bias in disfavoring news and current affairs

o Everywhere but here saw a rise in news coverageo But US news amount overall still remains higher than mosto Not necessarily increased consumption though, as it occurred outside of prime timeo Stability of prime time

Might this not just indicate a mature medium? We know what works?o During peak hours mass media had less news, state run stuff had more (public)o American media seems to be profit driven

Euro media tends to be more democracy servingo PEAK TIME supply of news is lowest in the MOST COMMERCIAL states (US)o It is striking how RESISTANT TO CHANGE many countries have been in spit of H&Ms

discussion of this homogenization

o Aalberg argues that the broadcasting of news during peak times in EU cause morepeople to inadvertently watch itmight it not be that they want to watch it, and that

is why it is broadcast??

1/25/2012

Zaller recapo Norris and Grabber both speak if idealized media in democracyo They say it falls short but they hold on to the idealized modelo Target is always idealized model based on democratic theoryo Zaller says this is ridico We will never get anywhere close to idealized, maybe we should instead think about a

model that more closely approximates the data we find in the worldo Theoretical model that is idealized (Norris and Greybird)

Could spur development towards achieving the idealized form Floor vs ceiling From policy:

Journalists might strive From scholarship:


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Does it help us if its based on ideal vs empirical? Graber

o Burglar alarm is ACTIVEo Fire alarm is PASSIVEo Burglar alarm scares burglar off. Fire alarm reports fire.

Do these US standards fit other kinds of media systems?o I dont think so.

Mass circulation: tv then internet then newspaper (high to low) Political parallelism: newspaper, then internet, then tv Journalistic professionalism: probably newspaper highest, television next, internet last State roll: TV, newspapers, internet Norris

o Should we be engaged in what Hellen and Mancini are doing, which is classifying groupsas ideal types?

o Disaggregated indices Commercial and public service, reach, etc

o Instead of just one set of criteria and high or low Lets do a whole index a whole spectrum

o Dont just think because one thing is high, another will be low Dont group them haphazardly

o She is mostly comparing between industrialized states and developing So it doesnt work within developing states

o Mostly quantitative, might be a limit What makes up a research question?

oInteresting.

o Write down 3 research questions that are prompted by last week or this week. Aalberg

o Does the degree of commercialization effect the timing of newso

According to the Zaller burglar alarm standard, reports should sensationalize the news to getuninterested individuals to pay attention. Is this effective?

o Does the sensationalization of the news make people pay attention? The use of sensationalization in the news causes more otherwise uninvolved

individuals to pay attention to current events.

THRESHOLD Define: sensationalization

Find cases that occur How has the conglomeration of media outlets in the United States influenced the actual

diversity of news?


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o Does the conglomeration of media outlets in the United States reduce the diversity ofvoices?

The conglomeration of media outlets in the United States How does the amount and severity of laws against journalists relate to the amount of content of

news criticizing government?

o X = laws, y = critical news contento Greater severe laws against journalists leads to less content criticizing government.o Probabilistico Temporal differences (change over time)o Need a state with a quickly introduced shield law

But otherwise no change Relationship between laws and severity

o Control for a change in regime.o Small timelineo Technology and access to informationo Any external variables (international policy)o Domestic instability

By looking at instability Code as stable and instable and compare within

Necessary: MUST

Sufficient: all large newspapers have to be informative

Probabilistic: when you have large papers you are more likely to have informative

Threshold: nothing changes til you cross x

Bennet claims that discontent with media and politics has grown together with the rise of infotainment.

Which is the dependent and which is the independent variable?

HOMEWORK FOR NEXT WEEK DO NEWS ASSIGNMENT BUT GO TO BLACKBOARD FIRST FOR UPDATE

Hdi or gdp etc

Readings Notes

Djankov

Found that almost unversially the largest media firms are owned by the government or byprivate families

o Government ownership is more pervasive in broadcasting than printed media Two theories of government ownership of the media


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o Pigouvian theory: government ownership cures market failures Information is a public good Providing and disseminating information has a high barrier to entry in terms of

cost, but ongoing costs are low

If consumers are ignorant, and if private media serves the governing classes,state media can expose the public to less biased information

Predicts: That more BENIGN or PUBLIC SPIRITED governments should have higher

levels of media ownership

o With greater freedom of the press, and better social outcomeso Public choice theory: government ownership undermines political and economic

freedom

Government owned media distorts and manipulates information to entrenchincumbents

Less fear of abuse by unscrupulous politicians Competition assures voters and consumers access to accurate information (on

average)

Predicts: That LESS BENIGN or LESS PUBLIC SPIRITED governments should have

higher levels of media ownership

o With less freedom of the press and shittier social outcomes Findings

o Government ownership of the media is greater inc ountries that are poorer, havegreater overall state ownership in the economy, lower level of school enrollments, and

more autocratic regimes

o They focused EXPLICITLY on voting as opposed to cash flow rights in firms Discussion question: does Djankovs focus on voting within privately held media

outlets mean a different outcome than if they focused on cash flow

o They classified each group as owned by the state, families, widely heldcorporations, and other

Media Regulations and Ownershipo Many states regulate how much of a media company one owner can own

Variable Constructiono Two variables for ownership, percentage of firms ine ach category (state or private)

i.e. phillipines newspapers are 40% state and 60% private

Patterns in Media Ownershipo Descriptive Statistics

Families and states own the media everywhere Only 4% of media is held by an enterprise, and less than 2 percent have

other structures

Less than 1% are employee owned


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Family controlled newspapers are 57% Family controlled television are 34% State has 29% of newspapers on avg 60% of tv is state on avg

o Way more TV is owned by states than newspapers Might be because governments that want to censor news would want to own

TV

This is born out as more African states own a monopoly on TVo Newspapers in Western Europe and Americas are mostly held privately

Determinants of Media Ownershipo How ownership patterns are associated with different characteristics of countrieso Causality seems to run from the media ownership to these country characteristicso Four patterns

Level of development Richer countries have less state ownership of the press (not tv and

radio)

Government ownership in other sectors Primary school enrollment

Levels of state ownership of the radio are lower in countries withhigher primary school enrollment

Autocracy Ownership by the state is sharply and statistically significantly less in

less autocratic countries

CHALLENGES THE PUBLIC INTEREST VIEW Consequences of State Ownership of the Media

o Freedom of the press Greater state ownership is associated with a greater number of journalists jailed They also censor the internet more heavily

o Political and Economic Freedom Government ownership of the press is associated with lower levels of political

rights

Unbalanced election coverage as in the Ukraine Stronger for the press than TV

The latter is insignificanto Health

Lower life expectancy if you have a state owned media predominanting Greater infant mortality Less access to health system responsiveness

o RobustnessMcChesney and Schiller


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This paper addresses the changing balance of public and private control over media andtelecommunications in the global political economy, patterns of concentration and investment

and the possibilities for improving the contribution of media and telecom to dev in diff parts of

the world

The Myth of Free Communications in the USo The conventional view is that the press should be free and independent from gov

control or censorship

o The reality is the state, in the US and everywhere else, has always played an integral roleo Postal service began ito Copyright controlso Telephoneo Broadcasting controls for spectrum issueso The question therefore is not whether or not the government plays a foundational role,

as it does

But whose interests and what values do government communication policies encourage? The communication system has centralized in the US The Move to Neoliberalism: The US System Goes Global

o US analysis is important as that is what is being exported across the planeto Colonialism affected colonies

Misdevelopment made communications infrastructures set to suit colonialmasters

NWICO: New World Information Communication Ordero Has not gone unopposed, there have been protectionist policies enacted in

Norway, Denmark, spain,s outh Africa, korea The Global Media System

o Two facets: Dominant companies (typically US based) move across the world at breakneck

speed

They aim to become SUPRANATIONAL Consolidation is key. Link up with a big boy.

o There are reciprocal changes in the advertising world Usually it is the largest firms in the economy that advertise

o There are also like 100 firms that are national or regional power houses 1/3-1/2 come from North America

o Many of the major companies have shareholders betweens everal companieso Movies are being exported from the US more and moreo Many movie companies outsource their work to local companies to produce LOCAL filmso unpopular ideas can be silenced, and inconvenient facts kept dark, without any need

for an official ban

McChesney and Schiller say that media content Internet sites remain few andfar between and it would be difficult to find an investor willing to bankroll


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any additional attempts has this changed since the articles publishing date of

2003?

Global Consolidation: A Two Stage Processo First stage: media buyouts across media types and national borders (1980-2000)o Second stage: internal consolidation as waves of bankruptcy hit

Telecommunicationso Huge transfer of state owned telecom to private via WTOo Tons of dark fiber laido Internet systems drew these investments

Conclusiono Principles for reform:

Debates on the topics of the pros and cons of the neoliberalization of the media,etc

Public as opposed to private must be revisitedHughes and Lawson

Democracy has spread in Latin America but there is no deepening of democracy, this is due too Generalized weakness in the rule of lawo Holdover authoritarian legislationo Oligarchic ownership of media outletso Uneven journalistic standardso Limited audience access to diverse sources of information

Mirrors the experience of colonialism (?) No journalistic shield laws High concentration of ownership Some alternative ownership patterns in print media Some alternative ownership patterns in radio and Internet

o But woefully low audience Little training of journalists Barriers to access also

o These correspond along income levels Remedies

o Technology innovation may fade some barriers to entryo Different challenges to press freedom by region

Some have no formal laws but are otherwise open Others have laws but are closed

o Most serious problem: impunity and lack of rule of law Intractable

o Name special prosecutors to investigate crimes against journalistso Allow foreign supranational entities to investigate

OAS Special Rapporteur


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o Laws Abolish defamation and libel laws

Desacato Legal status for journalists to protect sources

o Change ownership patterns Antimonopoly regulations Make awards for broadcast licenses more open and transparent

o Promote journalistic professionalism Scholarships Simple and mundane things like style manuals and ethical guidelines

o Expand media access Assess taxes on tv sets and expand public media

Prospectso Some promising changes

Gentzkow

Growth of the Independent Preso Idea of fair and balanced is new phenomenon, measured against life span of

newspapers

o Thurlow Weedo Indie papers were anomalies in 1870 but by 1920 they were the normo While the indie papers may still have been biased, they at least CLAIMED not to be

The Decline of Partisan Contento They used ANCESTRY.COM?!o Spino Less time to the story

Coverage of Teapot Domeo By 1920s it was mostly fact basedo No evident spino Other ways of biased reporting

Republican newspapers reported less of the story in the BREAKING NEWS period Less than 1/8th of the facts During RESOLUTION period, the papers were less distinguishable

Discussion question: why was this the case? Do they feel the pressurefrom other papers to report the story? Why at this point in the newscycle?

Understanding the Rise of the Independent Presso Reasons for the rise

Reduction in cost for newsprint Steam driven presses, cheaper paper, etc

Cost of newspapers went down


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Also they got larger (more news) Communication advances

Telegraph cables (all of US in 1840s, transatlantic in 1866) Pre civil war and after there was a shift to newspaper writers/editors as being

discrete jobs

o Market scale, circulation, and advertising rates Civil War WW1 huge increase in circulation rates Corresponding with the larger readership the advertising revenue became more

important to bottom line

o Market Competition Important for several reasons

One the story always GOT OUT because there were more paperso Cross City Evidence

By the Teapot Dome scandal (1920s) newspapers with more circulation werepublishing more facts

o Summary Reporting became more complete and less subject tto spin They have not directly confronted the role of spin-less news in political

outcomes

What do you think the outcome would be? Corruption and the independent press

Panel of judges. Think in terms of Greece. Not too small not too big. Economic challenges.

15 minutes to talk about initial positions

Randomly selected 1 with 3 mins to present for team.

First 15 and rebuttal 5 mins, come up with a list of points that each side should be addressing

PRO PUBLIC

Public tends to provide info more political. Private corps dont necessarily focus on this. They focus on

producing readership. Priorities are not the same.

Free press has never really been free.

Prevents conglomeration. Can compete with big states.

Family owned media is not the best thing. Oligarchs.

Reduces diversity.

Editorial independence.


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Homogenization of content.

Copyright concerns.

PRO PRIVATE RESPONSE

Leans towards more unbiased media. Portraying boths ides. All views.

Gov spins a fact for themselves.

More independence during Teapot Scandal meant less spin.

Anti government education.

Internal competition.

Can compete on a global market place. More resources. Global AND domestic.

Information is a public good, it should be granted to private govs just as much.

Higher level of journalistic professionalism due to HIGHER SALARIES

More heterogenous content

Want to reach as many consumers as possible. Provide a lot of views.

State main interest is to rep itself.

GOVERNMENT SHOULD PAY FOR GOVERNING NOT IMAGE MANUFACTURING

They export media to other countries which is critical if they want to compete. State media serves

domestic interests.

States are just as easily corrupted as families.

Pro Public rebuttal

Most private companies get some public funding. Also, rely on leaks and whatnot.

Government supports education and social issues.

Private media trying to be good for everyone means more entertainment.

Competition globally is colonization

If the state is corrupted, it is more obvious than when private corporations go corrupt

Families have no one to answer to but stockholders

Coverage not relating to social issues.


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Less of an emphasis on journalistic codes of ethics. Objectivity. Etc

Pro Private Rebuttal

Focused on the news NOT ENTERTAINMENT. Profit driven of course.

Targeting the most number of people.

Not a monopoly.

Already pay fines and fees. Dont need more money taken.

Public Media Didn't Emphasize

the problem of supranational media conglomerates being outside the scope of control

could have elaborated on the Latin American experience of private media and ill effects

didn't emphasize how market forces would be counteracted (who would be tuning in)

elaborate on copyright concerns

Private Media Didn't Emphasize

Some claims went uncited "news not entertainment emphasis"

Aalberg explicitly stated that media privatization didnt lead to a reduction in news quality

37

RQ: Why did NP become information?

Hypothesis: population, technology, costs competition, audience size Informative and unbiased

Independent variablemediating variable dependent variable

Necessary conditions: unless you have X you will NEVER have Y

Sufficient: you need NOTHING else, all you need is X to get Y

In order to show a causal relationship you must find a correlation AND non spuriousness AND temporal

precedence


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Readings

Donsbach and Patterson Paritsanship, Professionalism, and Political Roles in Five Countries

Most empirical studies of journalists thinking and decision making have been conducted as casestudies

The western journalist experience is its own thingo Access to power, high degree of professionalism, etc

Scholars can look for generalizable theories, or do case studies of single countries Most studies go without comparison or replication McLeod is an Exception Kepplingers Theory of Instrumental Actualization is REPLICATED HERE perhaps for the first time Survey Design: Cross National Media and Democracy Project

o Only journalists involved in daily newso Journalists and editors coded as journalistso 50/50 newspaper and broadcast

Broadcast 50 was 7/10 tv, 3/10 radioo Procedure for selecting random journalists was sketchy

Italy had a roster to choose from UK had 15 from same paper

Case 1 : Journalists as Political Actorso Vestiges of the partisan press remain in EUo 7 point scale left to right, tended left but not al the sameo Italian journalists were most liberal at 3.01o Britain and Sweden 3.4 and 3.5o It seems the partisanship of a journalist shades the news, does not OVERTLY color ito This left right scale presumes a left-right spectrum that is international, how well does

it match up to the regional left-right divide in each country? Perhaps a slightly right

bias in the international sense would be FAR RIGHT in that individual state.

Case 2 : Journalists as News Professionalso American exceptionalism: the idea of journalists having rightso Not uniquely American but may run more deepo Surveys find that American journalists are indeed relatively distincto US journalists relied way more heavily on personal initiative for storieso Also distinct in distinctions for editor, reporter, and editorial staffo American journalists ranked near the top in how much they wanted to INFLUENCE

POLITICS

But they do not pursue this goal by championing their subjective values andbeliefs

But instead by digging out info Case 3 : Political Roles and News Systems

o Passive active dimension


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Hypotheseso Hyp1: tv election news coverage will be lowest on commercial US channels and highest

on public EU channels

not confirmed, smallest was on german newscastso Hyp2: the average sound bite is shorter in US than euro

More cynical culture less party dominated Clearly confirmed

o Hyp2b: in Europe, public service channels have longer bites Partially confirmed

o Hyp3: more speaking time for journalists than candidates in US Disconfirmed. Greatest in UK and Germany.

o Hyp3b: in Europe, public service channels give more time to candidateso Hyp4: EU has more substance to its bites, US more attack

Mixed. Attack rhetoric was dominant in US.o Hyp5: average length of candidate bites are shorter in election campaigns that are

tightly scripted (high levels of journalistic intervention)

True. Highly scripted.o Hyp6a: pure image bites at least equal sound bites

confirmedo Hyp6b: image bites are used more over time and more in commercial than public

channels

No proof of growth but commercial DO use more than publico Hyp7: image bites are selected and packaged in a way more disadvantageous to

candidates in the US

Not perfectly confirmed, some variance.Sheafer, Tamir and Wolfsfeld Party Systems and Oppositional Voices in the News Media

Thesis: news media operating in polarized multi party democracies will allow greater access tooppositional voices than those in two party democracies

Examines US and Israel Sphere of consensus vs sphere of legitimate controversy

o Former little OPPOSITIONAL discussion, latter much more The Political Contest Model and the Politic-Media-Politic Principle

o Political contest model: look at the competition in the media as a struggle for politicalcontrol

o Central component of this model is the PMP principle, where politics influence mediawhich influences politics

Circular Media is NOT PASSIVE They do not reflect political realities they actively transform them.

Party Systems and Oppositional Voices in the Media


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o Continuum Two party systems: US, both centric, compete for mass appael Moderate pluralist: small number of parties with little distance between and

low polarization

Polarized party: lots of parties with huge diff between extremeso Number and span of parties will impact amount of dissenting opinion heard in media

Logistics: more access to legislators when you are assigned to the legislativeBEAT of a lot of parties. You have to really work to seek out the opposition if you

are not.

The WIDER the number of ACCEPTED parliamentary voices, the better thechance even WIDER NON PARLIAMENTARY voices will be heard

They are open to hearing views unlike their owno Contests over Political waves

Watershed moments Why Israel and US?

Aims to use a combination of most similar and most different strategieso Results

More gov initiated waves in Israel than US No political waves started by opposition party in US In 2/3 years no extraparliamentary actors could initiate one either Commonly happened in Israel US

Commonly waves sparked by events abroad And classified as routine

Both states had 0 waves initiated by the news media Seems they really do REACT more than create news

Oppositional Voices in Waves Way more oppositional voices in Israeli press than US during a wave 2x as many dissenting as supportin in Israel Slightly more supporting than opposing in US

Van Aelst, Walgrave Minimal or Massive

Time Series Analysiso Causality is deduced by which came first (media or political action)o In this respect, it was found that the media had more impact on certain segments, less

on others

MP Surveyso Politicians perceive the media impact as huge

Conclusiono Are the mass media agenda setters?

They are not modest setters,t hey seem to be strong


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SO SAYS THE MPs2/12/2012

Readings Notes

Swanson

Campaign practices have been changing rapidly in many countries Some things in common

o Candidates elected based on their appearance in mediao Media experts hiredo Increasing amount of $ spent

Will these changes be exported to states via demonstration effect? Aim is to examine how much they really are similar Aims to examine how much Americanization is going on Americanization for this essay defined not as cultural imperialism Increasing Complexity and the Political Process

o Rise of polyarchy (Dahl) or an increase in the number of intermediary structuresbetween the voter and the election

o Rise of catchall or electoral parties, basically just giving information about the electiono Somewhat charismastic leadershipo Empowerment of the individual leaders, at the expense of the parties

Modernization and Media Powero Mass media accentuates the personalization of candidates

is this really that different from the personalization during the stump-speechera of politicking?

o Rise of TV as integral more money needed Modernization and Redistribution of Political Functions

o Political parties lost their means of communication (newspapers) and thereby have losttheir grip on the means of production of politics

o Rise of single issue parties (not traditional parties)o Fundamental cause of widespread Americanizing of campaigns

Is the reproduction of the media structure in the US elsewhereo Advertising becomes key, which means politics are shaped by it, which loops back

The Elements of Modern Campaigningo Some major issues associated with modernizing or Americanizing campaignso Personalization of Politics

Personal relationships with candidates Candidates run on their own

o Scientificization of Politics Experts, technicians, etc in the politics field Information is comprehended through experts


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Party politicianso Detachment of Parties from Citizens

Less interpersonal contact, more opinion polls In periods of rapid change this may delay response by politics

o Autonomous Structures of Communication Media is both competition and cooperation for politics

o From Citizenship to Spectatorship The rise of political spectacle Constituents are viewers, spectators No interest in diagnosing and solving real problems, just a focus on adhering to

the FORM the RITUAL

Contextualization of Modern Campaigningo Modern campaigning is contingent on a few contextual influences

Election Systems First past the post gives more power to the individual than the party Proportion systems are typically party list, so this effect may be

mitigated

The Structure of Party Competition Elements of the modern bipartisan model can be found virtually

everywhere

Regulation of Campaigning National Political Culture

Perhaps the most important aspects of modern campaigning concernpolitical socialization and participation

In many Mediterranean states the family parish and friendship networksbecome the main channels of political information at election time

o In modern times, these are underminedo Thus elections have to create their own pathwayso US more individual to individual donations (people to

candidate)

o Europe is more individual to party National Media System

New election campaign models are HEAVILY TIED TO commercial tv There is a focus on the party in party list states

o In the adsPlasser Institutional and Cultural Limits to Americanization

There are severe constraints to how far Americanization can be taken Structural, institutional and cultural impediments PREDICATES ITSELF ON MODERNIZATION THEORY?! Core features of the postmodern logic


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o Centralization of media in political systemo Politics is a struggle to control popular perception of choices via mediao Transition from labor intensive to capital intensive methods of getting the word outo Opposition researcho More a show than a political debate etco Journalists and elites in a struggle

Journalists fight back to these moveso Interpretive journalismo Cut back time on election coverageo Framing of issues based on personality or game

Which implies for the electorateo Political cynicismo Media avoidance

Does the changing meaning of Americanized Political Communication render it a term toounwieldy and dynamic to use?

Whole thing seems predicated on American exceptionalism. They are using the modernizationtheorists idea of a unilinear trajectory, that all states are heading in the same direction, and

plopping Americanized at the end of the line.

Assumed demonstration effects due to temporal relationship Dependency theorists

o Us is eroding traditional values by imposing its own Wants to distinguish between us INFILTRATION and outside IMITATION

o it seems it is often imitation by the eliteso but they use this term modernization

seems to be ignoring the potential depth of the infiltration (outside influencescan effect values too)

press-media dealignment: this idea that its a drive for readers, not a following of norms andmores

Factors Determining Campaign Practiceso Australia, Latin America, Europe, Asiao Few similarities found, party-centric everywhere but US

Refers to the non-US model as the traditional model why?o Four mediating factors identified as important for understanding the modernization of

campaign processes

The regulatory environment The electoral and party system The media system The electorate

Capital intensive vs labor intensive campaigningo Capital = tv and whatnoto Labor = stumping, out mobilizing, people involved, etc


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Media System Features Shaping Campaign Practiceso The easier it is for candidates to use the media, the more they willo Conversely the harder, the less they relyo Thus if you have a state run place, like Georgia

You get the incumbent getting way more attentiono Pragmatic vs sacerdotal vs partisan

Sacerdotal: Japanese. Very uniform. Staged press conferences. All reporters onsame page. Etc.

Pragmatic: US. Partisan: UK (reducing)

o Russia has a 4th: merchandising Pay to report negatively on opponent

o Intimidated Also Russian

o Only through line through all 22 states Get info to public quickly

Cultural Constraints of Americanizationo Straight talking is great in the US, we value emotion. Not so much in Japan, they hate

that shit.

o Folksy crap is a no go in Germanyo Use of campaign words and promotions that use words like liberty = run the gamut of

reactions

o TO WHAT EXTENT DOES THE VARYING INTERPRETATIONS OF CAMPAIGN MATERIALbetween states, as mentioned by Plasser COMPLICATE THE LEGITIMACY OF

ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE EU?

Americanization as seen by Campaign Officialso Some have to focus on voter turn outo Others have to be more worried about corruption (or perceptions therein)

Norris Virtuous Cycle Chap 7

Modernization Premodern campaigns have 3 characteristics

o Direct forms of communication between candidates and individualso News media has partisan press as dominant styleo Electorate is anchored by strong party loyalties

Moderno Party organization coordinated more closely, with expert relianceo News media is national news mediao Electorate is decoupled from party loyalties

VERY REMINISCENT OF ROSTOWS STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT Postmodern campaigns


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Linkage: channels between citizens and political elites that allow for communication andmobilization

o Direct: tv, personal interactiono Indirect: churches, organizations, etc

Policy focus: the extent to which the candidate says what they will do in office Theories of Convergence vs Evidence of Diversity

o Seem to be converging within nations In brazil

o Whereas in peru they have remained distinct No convergence over time with regards to linkage and cleavage

o Its both left and right and right and left Thus not structural (i.e. end of cold war etc)

Convergence might be happening in policyo but campaigners do not get socialized abroad etc like politicians may

The Theory of Success Contagiono The idea is that candidates, regardless of placement on spectrum, are likely to adopt the

first electioneering policy that is proven

o Direct: imitateo indirect: policy professionals play a roleo corollary: failure avoidance

Varieties of Electioneeringo Isnt this kind of a reification, the methods used get you elected so you use the methods

and around we go?

Chile: Direct Contagion from the Lefto

Door to door campaigningo Little emphasis on policy

Brazil: Indirect Contagion from the Righto Collor wanted to establish direct contact with the people and create a cleavage between

the people and the ELITES

o No dedication to policyo His success was weako He was neopopulist and thus the next pres did not attempt that againo Cardoso focused on policyo Cardoso focused on unityo Cardosos shit got copiedo Got put in to the indirect (POLICY EXPERTS) realm as well

Peru: Limited Contagion and Inward Oriented Reactionso Copying Fujimori was a mistakeo No convergence upon a single methodo But Fujimori was a populist in his first election, and unsuccessfulo Thus they have drifted about (peru has) looking for their method


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2/15/2012

Trait Personalization from low to high

o Focusing on parties/policies to candidate Scientificization from low to high

o Party politicians to role of experts Commercialization from low to high

o Less money to moreo Less market driven to more market

Detachmento Low detachment to high detachment

Spectatorshipo Low to high

Autonomy of communicationo State /party affiliated to private/neutral

Some technological determinism Feedback

o Local indirect to focus groups personal/direct Constant campaign

o Low before (only before election) high later, all the time Negative campaigning

o Low negative to high negative All of the above are dependent variables, changes over time Below independent variables System of representation

o Proportional vs winner take allo Proportional focuses on parties not candidateso Winner take all tends to focus more

Electorate party loyalty Issues of access Political culture Type of media system (state/private, dual)

o Sacerdotal vs pragmatic Distinct cleavages vs cross cutting IDs Americanzation Regulatory environment Budgets Importance of issue organizations Type of media that is most utilized


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Role of internet

More involvement Midway point No new techs completely get rid of the old User generated content

2/19/2012

Readings: Lee (The Impossibility); Dragomir; Cleary; Stromberg

Lee : The Impossibility of Mobilizing Public Opinion

Two questions are importanto First, can a public articulate a coherent opiniono Second, are there mechanisms for that opinion to be heard

In Defense of Public Willo Surveys are relied ono Collective demands for accountability occur when

Properly motivated and adequately informed state and civil society actorsengage

Institutional mechanisms for two way communication exist Building citizen capacity through deliberative moments and civic education Training journalists to work for accountability Fostering horizontal and lateral relations

A Framework for Political Contexts of Generating Public Will Defining Publics

o Voter turnout doesnt work, the most democratic states hover around 50%o The universal turnout is no good either, they are clientelistic or oligarchico Means defining citizens

Modes of Public Expressiono Many mechanisms beyond opinion pollso Varying costs, varying levels of anonymity

Power and Empowermento A consideration must be made for how imperative change is when the people ask for it

given the mechanisms in place

o Is it tokenism? Is it empowered? EtcDragomir: Central and Eastern Europe

Very poor public media here Often changes with a new regime change Opinions match that of elite Transition from communist state control to modern post com


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European Broadcasting at a Glanceo France saw its broadcasting go public in 1982o Western Europe remained state controlled until berlin wall felo Audiences and Programming

Increased fragmentation as numbers of players increase 90% of Italys media is owned by Berlusconi In Western Europe public dominates

Is Western Europes dominant public media due to the relatively recentemergence of private media or does it reflect a media culture that will

persist?

Eastern Europe more privateo Regulation

Originally due to limited number of airwaves Scarcity rationale

Specific tasks, like appointing policy managers Technical tasks, assigning frequencies Appointments leave ROOM FOR POLITICAL INTERFERENCE

Some have argued for, and some have gotten, civil involvement inappointments

o Public Service Broadcasting It was intended to be an alternative to and raise the standards of public Has come under increased scrutiny for its privileged position vis a vis budgets

o Governing Structures Each change in administration often triggers immediate and complete change of

officials

Governed by two main bodies Council of governors: enforces policy, oversees budget Management board: day to day ops

o Why Pays the Bill? Financing directly through the state is viewed as hazardous vis a vis

independence

License fees are thought to be a better idea Some states decide when it is raised It remains static

o Commercial television Consolidating and concentrating in Europe Tied to viewers, lowbrow stuff is beefed up therefore Hiding of ownership

o Changing Times and New Tech The Market

Internationalized


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Challenges on regulatory frameworks Satellite, internet Access to scheduled programs, DVR

Where Public Service Broadcasting is Going The idea of lead in programming. Popular throwing to distinctive. Rise of providing tailor made content and services

The Fate of News News sources expanding quickly Growth of news outlets means less authority centralization Some say the news is suffering, some benefiting

o Media Gatekeepers and the Concept of a Balanced Public Forum Internal vs external diversity External can be achieved by publishing a wide array of individually partisan

papers

Measured quantitatively and qualitatively Quantitative = stopwatch analyses of time

Television News as a Balanced Public Forumo Has been broadly moving towards tabloidizationo News has also become a very popular genreo Moving Away from the State

Have made some strides towards unbiased news In general public broadcasters devote more time to domestic political life

o Public Service Broadcasters Heavy legacy of communist regimes has left a state legacy

Regimes use media to strengthen power Differences between public and private are fading Public is usually insulated, but in places like Moldova it can be blatantly pro

government

o Media Watchdogs or Lapdogs Positive bias remains in many public broadcasting firms Private is marked by more a turn to tabloid Watchdog

Jeopardized as many journalists are brought up on charges due tosecrecy or defamation laws

Concentration of ownership leads to a narrowing of breadth of topics Conclusion

o Television is the dominant media form in Europeo It has failed to provide a public forumo In Central and Eastern it is not balanced they favor state intnso Must have more journalistic professionalization


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Cleary Electoral Competition and responsiveness in Mexico

Two competing theories of how democracy produces responsive governmento Ability to sanction politicians that do not conform to will, select others(electoral)o Ability to articulate demands (participatory)

there are many problems with the electoral idea there is an idea that government will respond to public will when participation is more frequent

o maybe due to simple embarrassmento maybe due to enhanced acculturation of social norms via networkso or networks increasing info avail to them

The Advantages of the Mexican Caseo Using public utilities and income regionally for resources as standins for political

responsiveness

political involvement maps well to socioeconomic status (education, income, etc) high to high Did the rise in electoral competition create an improvement in government?

o Correlation link, doesnt look causalo When you look longitudinally, the areas with higher responsiveness were ALWAYS

higher

o Service provision was higher before elections were competitive Models of Public Utility Provision

o It seems there is a lack of correlation between government performance andcompetition

But competition might impact other causes which then impact performance Locally raised Revenue Conclusion

o Increased competition does not lead to more responsive governmento Two potential reasons

Politicians more interested in own betterment They try to do good but are stymied

StrombergRadios Impact on Public Spending

Radio period is a good data set because it nicely divided poor and rich Did radio influence the distribution of New Deal funds? Yes

2/22/2012

ASSIGNMENT IS POSTED FOR LITERATURE REVIEW ON BBo There are examples there.o The Cleary and Stromberg have good lit reviews as well.

Cleary: theories of responsiveness in mexico, to heading of advantages ofMexican case


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Stromberg: starts with page 2 the sentence despite seemingly clearcutreasons and it goes until the next page where he starts talking about outline

paper procedes as follows

Dragomiro Media is a cause of good governance and is also an outcome

Leeo Takes on clearys challenge heads on

Good governanceo Using societies resources to manage affairs and problems

World Bank key dimensions of good world gov Voice and accountability Political stability and lack of violence Government effectiveness Regulatory quality Rule of law Control of corruption

Distinct from democracy Low levels of democracy, high levels of governance

o Singapore is a good exampleo Lack of civic and political liberties and freedom and ability to

choose leaders

o But a government that is pretty good at being accountable tocitizens

Opposite more common, high democracy, low levels of governanceo Think about Italy. India.

Fair amount of corruption. Services are not deliveredeffectively. Problems of stability.

In reality they tend to go together, and theoretically that makes sense, but theyCAN exist independently

How do we then achieve good governance?o Readings present 2 wayso 1 electoral mechanism for good governance (Stromberg) and cleary found no evidence

for

How are police officers controlled when they are not elected? Well the guy at the top is elected

Media matterso Frames issues for officialso Electioneeringo Informing individuals about misdeeds etco Accurately provide assessment of policy outcomes for citizenso Letting officials know what citizens want


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Bottom to top Policy feedback loop

descriptive hierarchies Annenberg Librarian

o Email her any questionso Look under Course Documents Resourceso Annenberg library homepage is a way to filter things down to comm.o Sharon Blacko Searching Franklin for books

Just hit keywordso Look up the DATABASES on the resources page she set up

Lexis nexis is good for newspapers Newsbank is also very satisfying

o Lexis nexis -> news -> searcho WorldNewsCOnnection : translations of foreign paperso EBSCO is helpful, good stuff

Always click CHOOSE DATABASES in ebsco before searching COMMUNICATION AND MASS MEDIA COMPLETE (and) COMMUNICATIONS

ABSTRACTS

o Email dr. moehlero Public opinion polls research guide

Gethelp.library.upenn.edu/guides/polisci/polls.html Content analysis article being sent out

o It has a set up to say this is how you do qual, this is how you do quant, those distinctionsneed not be made so starkly

o You could follow the initial steps in quant in say SAMPLING and then use qualitativemethods to analyze

2/28/2012

Reinard Textual Analysis

3 forms of studieso Qualitative: critical assessmento Quantitative: content analysiso Interaction and regional analysis

Qualitative Analysis: Critical Studies of Textso Criticism requires 3 steps

Standards presented Data described and applied against standards Degree to which it meets or does not is described

o Burkes Dramatistic Criticism


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Dramatist pentad Act, scene, agent, agency, purpose

Burkean system really can only measure effects May also be difficult to replicate

The Never Ending Development of Critical Methodso narrative paradigm viewing it as a storyo Can be evaluated based on probabilityo Narrative fidelity is the consistence of new accounts with oldo Mythic perspective

Not untrue, just the story put forth of an event Quantitative analysis

o Content analysis Deriving measureable numbers from content. E.g. how many times butter is

mentioned

o And interaction/relational analysis If content analysis cannot be used to make causal statements, can it ever be

anything other than idiographic in nature? (versus nomothetic)

Iyengar et al Cross National versus Individual Level Differences in Political Information

Knowledge gap between most interested and least is largest between Scandinavia and US Individual differences are not as salient in information rich environments but very important in

less content rich areas

When a ton of news is out there, there is a higher level of inadvertent exposure Pure market had lowest hard news (US and UK)

McCann , Lawson et al Presidential Campaigns and the Knowledge Gap in 3 Trans Democracies

Modern campaigns COULD potentially reduce knowledge gaps but are unlikely to do so Knowledge gap tends to be widened not because lower SES individuals are less able to learn but

because they are predisposed to disinterest

Norris To Them That Hath

Knowledge gaps path dependence Education and cognitive skills

o Longitudinal studies have found that life events can alter generational knowledge levels Lifetime learning through mass media

o Knowledge gap thesis: basically early formative shit screws you or sets you Consistently are knowledge gaps related to formal education cosmopolitan communications degree of info moving across national borders Cosmo operation index

o External barrier level: tariffs, taxes, domestic subsidies, etc


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o Limits on media freedomo Economic under-development

Some concern about coding DONT KNOW as INCORRECT Results

o Those with more formal education did bettero More news did bettero Interaction effect between early learning and exposure in later life

Use of the campaign news media gradually closes the gap between formal edand not

Prior News vs Entertainment How Increasing Choice Widens Gaps in Knowledge/Turnout

There is a presumption that things will spiral up or down, the cycle will be virtuous or viciouso Its not a dichotomous relationship

People who want to be involved take advantage of new media to become more knowledgeable,those who are not interested do the opposite and use it to tune out

Political interest may not be waning as news consumption numbers would indicateo We may have always been overstating the popularity of nnightly news broadcasts as

anything but inadvertent exposure

In a high choice environment peoples content preferences become better predictors of politicallearning than even education

2/29/2012

First part of Iyengar analysis = how to use content analysis to test a causal hypothesis Talk about political knowledge

o What kinds? When? How we measure Norris talks about knowledge

o Civic knowledge, basic knowledge of structure and system in which you exist General understanding of system of politics

o Heuristic knowledge Basic notion here is that citizens shouldnt be asked to find out detailed info, but

they can still get pretty close to choosing the right candidate by using heuristics

Shortcuts Biggest: party Also trusting that the majority is right (especially in primaries) Group endorsements Endorsements by experts Soft entertainment views Media signals

o Specific knowledge: as opposed to knowing how many terms a president can serve, youmight want to instead know specific things about Obama.


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You might know specific things about his policy on THIS Not GENERAL but tailored specifically General TENDS to correlate with specific

NORRISo What is the research question?

Are the size and distribution of any knowledge gaps affected by the interactionof individual-level education and media use?

o What is their hypotheses? Formal education will cause stronger levels of civic knowledge and exposure to

the media will also cause stronger levels of civic knowledge but conditioned by

the type of media;

Formal education in childhood reinforces the learning effects arising fromexposure to the news media and the effect between education and news media

varies by degree of cosmopolitan communications within each society with

larger gaps between well and less educated correlating with size of parochial

communication systems.

o What methods do they use? They use cross-national surveys on media use and nationally equivalent

measures of civic knowledge.

o What do they find? There is a gap between those with formal education and not, with those with

more formal education having more civic knowledge, but that gap can be closed

through interaction effects with media exposure later in life.

Interaction termso Two independent variable, one dependent variable, causes different ways in which the

three things work together

Norriso Argues that the more open you are, the more media does to shrink gapso The less cosmopolitan you are the less they work

McCanno Findings

Campaigns increase inequalities where they already exist Modern campaigns replicate existing inequalities

o People who are highly attentive, there is no big gap between SES high and lowo

People who are not attentive, large gapo

Prioro Analyzes two things, knowledge and turnout as independent variableo Mediated by relative entertainment preferenceo Against internet/cable/etc exposure

Iyengar


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o Public versus private affecting knowledgeo Hard or soft affecting knowledgeo Public = more informed; private = less informed

Private in a publically minded polity will be more informative than a privatemedia in a capitalist minded polity

o Content analysis of two major TV channelso Survey measuring public awarenesso Results

Us and uk lowest levels of hard news coverage Scandinavia had high intl news knowledge, us lowest Us citizens slightly less informed about soft news than UK Market systems were overall more info deprived

Author Y X Z P Norris knowl media exp edu cosmo Mccann knowl camp exp SES Prior knowl internet -ent interest Iyengar knowl h/s media sys interest

Question: Is reporting in public media on scientifically controversial topics (GMO) congruent with state

policy on those topics?

Hypotheses: Public media tends to bias its reporting on scientifically controversial topics (GMO) toward

the policy position of the state.

Method: A content analysis of the public media reporting on a scientifically controversial topic (GMO) in

states with pro and anti GMO policies will be undertaken to ascertain bias.

No class April 4th

2 readings for each topic

Social media and revolution (Arab Spring)

ASSIGNMENT # 3 IS DUE


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Readings for 3/14

Scammell The Internet and Civic Engagement

A model of citizenship, with some of the classical republican dimensions of civic duty, public-spiritedness, and self-education, is an increasing apt description of consumer behavior

Politics and Consumptiono Dahl argued that democracy and markets need each other

realist democratic theorists, pluralistso The market gives economic actors powerful incentives for ignoring the good of others if

by doing so is a gain for me

o We hear all of this stuff about corporations cutting across state lines and rendering thenation powerless

o Corporations Have politicized themselves by rendering themselves untouchable by state

regulation They have thus POLITICIZED CONSUMPTION

First evidence of this? Greenpeace Corporations have made billions contrasting themselves AGAINST the bad

aspects of corporations (greed, etc)

Might the politicization of consumption Scammell speaks of be a net-negativefor political involvement? Is dissent becoming a commodity?

Citizen-Consumers and the Interneto The internet is supposed to change everything, and yet, we dont really see thato Itll be big!Aarts and Semetko Divided Electorate: Media Use and Political Involvement

Research has put forth two competing explanationso Media use diminishes political knowledge, increases cynicism, and decreases turnouto Media use contributes to learning, involvement, trust, efficacy and mobilization

Two findingso Regularly watching news on public channels has positive effects on cognition, efficacy

and turnout

o Regularly opting for commercial television news has negative effects Virtuous circle versus spiral of cynicism More nuanced then simply malaise versus mobilization Dependent Variables

o First, the indicators of political knowledge Candidate recognition, ability to place political parties on political issues, and

ability to identify members of the party coalition

o Second, the political attitudes External political efficacy, internal political efficacy, trust in institutions


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o Thirdly, turnout in 1998 election This variable depicts the strength of the relationship between the respondent

and the party-political system

Explanatory Variableso Measures of media exposure

Questionnaireso Age/level of education/political interest controlled for here

Methodso Types of TV use

Public tv afternoon/evening news Public tv news magazine Commercial tv evening news Commercial tv news magazine Commercial tv soap

o Radio News Entertainment Pop Classical

o Press Quality newspaper Popular newspaper Opinion weekly Gossip or light magazine Ladies magazine

Public Tv correlates with knowledge, turnout Radio press not so much No relationship between media use and trust in institutions (cynicism not so much) Private tv screws you up

Anduiza et al Political Participation and the Internet

Review main questions vis a vis the internet and political participationo The estimation of the impact of the internet on the levels and types of participationo The analysis of the causal mechanisms thereino The effect of the internet on participatory inequalities

The Effect of the Internet on Political Participation Conclusions

o The internet provides new modes for participationo The internet reduces costs of information and participation online

You have this situation on the internet where the cost of mobilizing is actually on the recipient.They have to sign up to get the newsletter.


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Inequality on the internetBaek A Comparative Analysis of Political Communication Systems and Voter Turnout

Institutional settings that reduce information cost for voters will increase turnout Empirical findings

o Campaign finance systems that allow more money to enter election campaigns areassociated with higher levels of turnout

o Broadcasting systems and access to paid political television advertising explain cross-national variation in turnout, but their effects are more complex than initially expected

Findingso The nature of government regulations seem to matter most, not the level of

government interference per se

o Establishing ceilings on campaign contributions and expenditures depress turnouto Free tv air time to candidates improve turnouto

There is a negative effect of private television that prevent there ever being a freemarket of ideas

3/14/2012

Baeko Larger percentage of pop watching public tv more likely they are to turn outo No affect from newspaperso No affect from partisan presso More money = more turnout

None. I read a few articles on it. I didnt talk to anyone about it.

Did you watch it? No

Did you read any postings about it? Yes

Did you like a page? No

Did you contact anyone? No

Did you pass it on? No

Did you search for additional information? Yes

20 minutes. I did learn a bit more about Invisible Children as an organization. Invisible children were

recommending US involvement in Uganda supporting the government. Arrest him, but supporting the

government is no better.


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3/20/2012

Bennett and Iyengar

Is it still relevant to think of mass media? Has that concept been made obsolete by audience fragmentation? Does this new environment foreshadow a return to a time of minimal effects? minimal effects theory

o 1940s and early 1950so Mass media messages filtered through social preference processes

Lang and lang countered saying TV was bigo But rising paradigm of minimal effects was too powerfulo What is the societal/historical context for the embracing of the minimal effects

paradigm in the 1940s and 50s? Was it just a simple misinterpretation of the

importance of television/new communications technology, or is the explanation more

complicated? The transition to strong effects

o Was not accompanied by a study of how the rapid disconnection of individuals fromsocial groups may have played a part

Agenda-setting paradigmo Motors on despite its probable lack of explanatory power

We need to focus more on past debates to avoid rehashing questions raised by past paradigms Intellectual Origins of Political Communication

o Not much in poli sci. freud. Cog psych. Brief look at the state of the field

o Poli comm. Is less about poli and more about psych, socio, econo Old paradigms must be shifted. They emerged pre-modern society, and now we are post

modern.

Toward an Agenda for Studying poli comm. In late modern communitieso Speaking of the internet and emerging technological communication mediums,

Bennett states: In short, it is clear that we are entering another important turning

point in communication technologies [and] social structure and identity formation

that affect the behaviors of audiences. Is this a shift we can declare now, or does time

have to pass before we can see the extent and permanence of the change?

Boas and Hidalgo Controlling the Airwaves Incumbency Advantage and Radio in Brazil

This idea that spending on yourself spoils of office may actually be a net negative, if its visibleo But something less monetary, or obviously monetary, like radio states, can be a net

positive

Conclusionso Brazillian radio is heavily biased and owned by elites


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o Radio licenses way increase the chances of a candidate winning (municipal electioncampaign)

o It is not necessarily that the politicians are being shady, they just may understand thebureaucratic machine better than others (and thus get licenses, etc)

o INCUMBENCY way increases the chances of getting a radio licenseo spoil of office

Greene Campaign Persuasion in Mexico

Conclusiono In new democracies, voters defenses against persuasive media messaging are not very

well developed

Partisanship is less strong Political knowledge is less

o Many voters who claim partisanship can be persuaded by persuasive messageso The more persuaded voters are

The more political accountability rests on the content of campaigns The more campaigns matter for who wins The more central are candidate strategies and campaign financing to those

outcomes

Partisanship and Information Acquisition in New Democracieso Influence levels

Conversion away Partial conversion. Makes initially undecided voters decide. Conversion home. Moves voters away from an intention inconsistent with their

predispositions to one that is. Activation. Involves initially undecided voters coming home to the candidate

associated with their pre campaign dispositions.

Reinforce. Weak.Ladd and Lenz Exploiting a Rare Communication Shift to Document the Persuasive Power of News

Media

Conclusiono Ability to persuade is 10-25% of readerso It is higher than the US congress incumbency advantageo The news media exert a strong influence on mass political behavioro Minor factors needs not only to be revised (As it has been) but reversed entirely


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3/21/2012

Notes

Why we have trouble with analyzing campaign persuasivenesso Self selection. You choose media that align with you. Hard to separate out whether or

not you are selecting media that aligns with your thinking or whether the media is

shifting your thinking

o Following versus leading audience politics and reportingo Partisanship

May be no effect or may be influenced but its immeasurable Limits to survey methodology People may be highly influenced by campaigns, but on both sides. So it might balance out. post modern personalities issue based, not lining up with party spectrum Fall of labor unions, religion, business organizations = fall of partisanship in US Non US reasons for dealignmnet

o Post modern personality thingo No longer bread and butter issues that line up easily along party lines/left righto ISSUE publics versus PARTISAN publicso Places with multiparty systems there is more of a chance for parties to rise that take up

these issues

oHomework

One of next weeks readings is not on blackboard but should be For assignment, write methodology section. Grade the readings on the XLS file

4/11/2012

Infotainment

Baum Soft News and the Oprah Effect

Lettermans audience is less polarized, and larger Is there an Oprah effect? could soft news better prepare its audience? Four effects