Changing Minds or Changing Channels?
Changing Minds or Changing Channels?

Author: Kevin Arceneaux

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2013-08-27

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 022604744X

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We live in an age of media saturation, where with a few clicks of the remote—or mouse—we can tune in to programming where the facts fit our ideological predispositions. But what are the political consequences of this vast landscape of media choice? Partisan news has been roundly castigated for reinforcing prior beliefs and contributing to the highly polarized political environment we have today, but there is little evidence to support this claim, and much of what we know about the impact of news media come from studies that were conducted at a time when viewers chose from among six channels rather than scores. Through a series of innovative experiments, Kevin Arceneaux and Martin Johnson show that such criticism is unfounded. Americans who watch cable news are already polarized, and their exposure to partisan programming of their choice has little influence on their political positions. In fact, the opposite is true: viewers become more polarized when forced to watch programming that opposes their beliefs. A much more troubling consequence of the ever-expanding media environment, the authors show, is that it has allowed people to tune out the news: the four top-rated partisan news programs draw a mere three percent of the total number of people watching television. Overturning much of the conventional wisdom, Changing Minds or Changing Channels? demonstrate that the strong effects of media exposure found in past research are simply not applicable in today’s more saturated media landscape.

How Partisan Media Polarize America
How Partisan Media Polarize America

Author: Matthew Levendusky

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2013-09-05

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 022606915X

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Forty years ago, viewers who wanted to watch the news could only choose from among the major broadcast networks, all of which presented the same news without any particular point of view. Today we have a much broader array of choices, including cable channels offering a partisan take. With partisan programs gaining in popularity, some argue that they are polarizing American politics, while others counter that only a tiny portion of the population watches such programs and that their viewers tend to already hold similar beliefs. In How Partisan Media Polarize America, Matthew Levendusky confirms—but also qualifies—both of these claims. Drawing on experiments and survey data, he shows that Americans who watch partisan programming do become more certain of their beliefs and less willing to weigh the merits of opposing views or to compromise. And while only a small segment of the American population watches partisan media programs, those who do tend to be more politically engaged, and their effects on national politics are therefore far-reaching. In a time when politics seem doomed to partisan discord, How Partisan Media Polarize America offers a much-needed clarification of the role partisan media might play.

Mass Media and American Politics
Mass Media and American Politics

Author: Johanna Dunaway

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 2022-02-05

Total Pages: 729

ISBN-13: 1544390998

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A comprehensive, trusted core text on media’s impact on attitudes, behavior, elections, politics, and policymaking, Mass Media and American Politics is known for its readable introduction to the literature and theory of the field, and for staying current with each new edition on issues of new and social media, media ownership, the regulatory environment, infotainment, and war-time reporting. Written by the late Doris Graber--a scholar who has played an enormous role in establishing and shaping the field of mass media and American politics--and now lead by Johanna Dunaway, this book has set the standard for the course. New to this edition: Extensive coverage of political misinformation - the role changing communication technologies and mass media more generally are playing in its consumption and dissemination, as well as how the press is handling and should handle reporting on political misinformation, especially as it pertains to the presidency, elections, and crises like Covid-19. Updated coverage of the role social media and other popular digital platforms are playing (or not playing) in the effort to stop the spread of mis- and dis-information on their platforms, with special attention to both foreign and domestic efforts to use these platforms to incite violence, cause confusion about, and/or encourage distrust in, democratic institutions. Expanded treatment of rising affective, social, and ideological polarization in politics, with a special focus on whether and how mass media are contributing to these forms of polarization. New updates on causes and consequences of expanding news deserts, declining local news, and rampant growth of hedge-fund media ownership. Up to date coverage of what researchers are learning about the implications of growth in digital, social and mobile media use. What does it mean for attention to news and politics?

Mass Media and American Politics
Mass Media and American Politics

Author: Doris A. Graber

Publisher: CQ Press

Published: 2017-07-20

Total Pages: 616

ISBN-13: 1506340253

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This comprehensive, trusted core text on media's impact on attitudes, behavior, elections, politics, and policymaking is known for its readable introduction to the literature and theory of the field. Mass Media and American Politics, Tenth Edition is thoroughly updated to reflect major structural changes that have shaken the world of political news, including the impact of the changing media landscape. It includes timely examples of the significance of these changes pulled from the 2016 election cycle. Written by Doris A. Graber—a scholar who has played an enormous role in establishing and shaping the field of mass media and American politics—and Johanna Dunaway, this book sets the standard.

Open versus Closed
Open versus Closed

Author: Christopher D. Johnston

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-02-17

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 110815591X

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Debates over redistribution, social insurance, and market regulation are central to American politics. Why do some citizens prefer a large role for government in the economic life of the nation while others wish to limit its reach? In Open versus Closed, the authors argue that these preferences are not always what they seem. They show how deep-seated personality traits underpinning the culture wars over race, immigration, law and order, sexuality, gender roles, and religion shape how citizens think about economics, binding cultural and economic inclinations together in unexpected ways. Integrating insights from both psychology and political science - and twenty years of observational and experimental data - the authors reveal the deeper motivations driving attitudes toward government. They find that for politically active citizens these attitudes are not driven by self-interest, but by a desire to express the traits and cultural commitments that define their identities.

Information and Democracy
Information and Democracy

Author: Stuart N. Soroka

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2022-02-03

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1108491340

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A large-scale empirical investigation into the frequency and accuracy of media coverage of public policy.

Conservative Political Communication
Conservative Political Communication

Author: Sharon E. Jarvis

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2021-04-14

Total Pages: 219

ISBN-13: 1351187228

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Conservative Political Communication examines the evolution of appeals, media, and tactics in right-wing media and political communication, tracking trends and shifts from the early days of contemporary conservatism in the 1950s to the Trump administration. The chapters in this edited volume feature the work of senior and junior scholars from the fields of communication, journalism, and political science employing content analytic, experimental, survey, historical, and rhetorical research methodologies. Analyses of the rise of the 24-hour news cycle, the range of partisan news sources, and the role of social media algorithms in political campaigns yield insights for our media and information ecosystems. A key theme across these chapters is how right-wing channels and communications help and hinder partisan fragmentation, a condition whereby novice elected officials create personal conservative brands, appeal to the base through partisan media, and complicate senior leadership’s ability to engage in bargaining, compromise, and deal-making. This volume interrogates conservative media and messaging to track where these processes came from, how they functioned in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, and where they may be going in the future. This book will interest scholars and upper-level students of political communication, media and politics, and political science, as well as readers invested in today’s political media landscape in the United States.

Political Polarization in American Politics
Political Polarization in American Politics

Author: John Sides

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2015-03-12

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 1501306278

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Political Polarization in American Politics provides short, accessible chapters about the nature and extent of political polarization within the American public and in American political institutions. These chapters capture the central ideas and debates in political science research on polarization, and are written by leading scholars in this subfield. Each chapter is accompanied by discussion questions and a guide to further reading, making this a great addition to any course looking at issues of polarization.

The American Professor Pundit
The American Professor Pundit

Author: Brian R. Calfano

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-07-13

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 3030708772

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This book considers the production of political media content from the perspective of academics who are increasingly asked to join the ranks of voices charged with informing the public. The work draws on the authors’ first-hand experience and relationships with media reporters, managers, producers, and academics offering their expertise to a wide array of media outlets to understand and report on the dynamics shaping how the academic voice in political news may be at its most useful. Featured prominently in the book is the trade-off between a conventional form of political punditry, which is often characterized by partisan rancour, and a more analytical, theoretical, and/or policy-based approach to explaining politics to both general and diverse audiences. Along the way, the work draws on original survey, in-depth interview, and experimental data to garner insights on what academics in media, reporters, and media managers perceive are the appropriate roles for academics featured in political media. This book also contains relevant technical tips for effective media communication by academics.

Through the Grapevine
Through the Grapevine

Author: Taylor N. Carlson

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2024-07-06

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 0226834166

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An enlightening examination of what it means when Americans rely on family and friends to stay on top of politics. Accurate information is at the heart of democratic functioning. For decades, researchers interested in how information is disseminated have focused on mass media, but the reality is that many Americans today do not learn about politics from direct engagement with the news. Rather, about one-third of Americans learn chiefly from information shared by their peers in conversation or on social media. How does this socially transmitted information differ from that communicated by traditional media? What are the consequences for political attitudes and behavior? Drawing on evidence from experiments, surveys, and social media, Taylor N. Carlson finds that, as information flows first from the media then person to person, it becomes sparse, more biased, less accurate, and more mobilizing. The result is what Carlson calls distorted democracy. Although socially transmitted information does not necessarily render democracy dysfunctional, Through the Grapevine shows how it contributes to a public that is at once underinformed, polarized, and engaged.