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The Media and Public Opinion

February 16, 2010. The Media and Public Opinion. Announcements. Office hours, Thursdays 1:00-3:00pm Amory 232A. No appointment is necessary. Slides from last week will be posted. Review on Media Coverage. Media a source of information about politics Concerns about what the media cover

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The Media and Public Opinion

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  1. February 16, 2010 The Media and Public Opinion

  2. Announcements • Office hours, Thursdays 1:00-3:00pm Amory 232A. No appointment is necessary. • Slides from last week will be posted.

  3. Review on Media Coverage • Media a source of information about politics • Concerns about what the media cover • Quality of coverage • Private vs. public • Tone of coverage

  4. Newspaper coverage in Britain

  5. Public Reaction to News Coverage in the US

  6. Public Evaluations of TV news in Britain

  7. Evaluations of Campaign Coverage

  8. 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?

  9. 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?

  10. Media Effects • Categories of effects: • Cognitive processes; making sense of politics • Opinion on issues • Make choices between candidates • Processes: • Agenda Setting • Priming • Framing • Persuasion

  11. Definitions • Agenda Setting – influence on what people think is most important problem • Priming – make respondents recall particular issues when evaluating leaders/issues • Framing – emphasis on particular aspects of a story (remember example about question wording) • Persuasion – convert respondent’s position on a particular issue/leader

  12. Agenda Setting • Media can drive not “what to think” but “what to think about” • Transmission of salience • Citizens develop ideas about what is and is not important, which problems are and which are not proper subjects for government action, and these ideas shape and constrain what government attempts to do • Concerned with salience and not tone/direction

  13. Agenda Setting Priority given to an issue by media Perceived importance

  14. Agenda Setting Priority given to an issue by media Perceived importance Personal experience Source

  15. Most Important Problem (US)

  16. Health Care (US)

  17. Priming • The more attention the news media pay to a particular aspect of political life – the more frequently that aspect is primed – the more people will incorporate what they know about it into their political evaluations

  18. Priming Attention given to an issue by media Prominence in evaluations

  19. Priming Attention given to an issue by media Prominence in evaluations Change in importance Trust in source Prior knowledge

  20. Priming: 2005 UK General Election

  21. Framing • “A frame operates to select and highlight some features of reality and obscure others in a way that tells a consistent story about problems, their causes, moral implications, and remedies” (Entman 1996)

  22. Framing • Frames organize (or reorganize) information that citizens already have in mind • Frames suggest how policies should be thought about • Frames imply what if anything should be done • In campaigns, frames are used to interpret actions of candidates

  23. Example of Framing on the Environment • Global warming • Climate change • Climate crisis

  24. Framing: The Horton Menace • Journalists ignored the facts about furlough programs in adopting strategy frame • Adopted the language of the Bush campaign • Failed to check facts that seemed compatible with their narrative

  25. Framing: Coverage of the 2000 Election and its Aftermath • Possible frames • Gore won the popular vote • Bush ahead in FL, meaning that he had won the electoral college

  26. Coverage of the 2000 Election and its Aftermath • Frames that weakened the Democratic position • Chaos frame • Recount frame • Bush challenge in other states • Military ballots frame • Later reinforced notion that Bush the winner

  27. Framing: The Recession Is the dominant media frame a global recession or A recession for which Gordon Brown/Labour bear a large responsibility?

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