11
Media, Politics, and
Government: Talking
Heads are Better than
None
Reality and Beyond
• The mass media are powerful because of
their vast reach and scope
• In addition to this multiplicative effect, the
mass media literally shape the very reality
of politics
• Political reality is mediated reality
Reality and Beyond
• How do you know China exists if you have
never been there?
• You do not have to experience things
directly (experiential reality) in or to
accept them to be real (agreement
reality)
• This is particularly true of politics
Reality and Beyond
• We construct our reality by putting
together bits and pieces of information
• It is thus important to examine:
1.How these bits of information are brought
to you and
2.How you use them to create your view of
politics
Reality and Beyond
• We constantly see, hear, and smell far
more than our brains can perceive
• The reality created by this mass of
information depends on our particular
cognitive framework
• We notice things that fit our existing beliefs
and fail to notice things that do not
• Essentially, we are prone to fooling
ourselves
News Media and Politics
• We get most of our political information
from the news
• Our agreement reality about politics is
based on this information
• Consequently, it is important to examine
how news filters, ignores, selects, or
distorts the political information they
presents
The Business of the News
• News is a big business
• What do they sell?
• They sell you, the audience, to advertisers
• The business is based on presenting the
news in a way that will attract as wide an
audience as cheaply as possible
• Stories are often distorted to fit a dramatic
imperative that will attract an audience
Conflict Makes the World Go
„Round
• First, the very premise of the dramatic
story structure is action and change driven
by conflict
• Journalistic norms of fairness and
objectivity exaggerate the emphasis on
conflict by providing equal coverage of
opposing sides
• Even if one side represents a near
consensus
Sex and the City
• Second, sex sells
• Not only are beautiful people featured
• A sexual element adds to the presumed
newsworthiness of a story
Honey, the Dingo Stole Another
Baby
• Third, the unusual is dramatic and thus
newsworthy
• Even if it is important, the commonplace is
not news
The Tragically Hip
• Fourth, stories must be tragic
• Human impact is another aspect of
newsworthiness
• The dramatic imperative of the commercial
news distorts what is presented as news
• We build our reality of politics from these
distorted images
• Political consensus and cooperation are
often lost behind the drama presented
Elite Dominance of the Sources
of News
• Because elites are prominent and unusual,
they are presumed to be newsworthy
• The ability to gain news coverage is
tremendously valuable to political elites
• Elites want to get coverage and the media
wants to cover elites
• This mutual exploitation model is driven
by economic forces and self-interest
Braunwarth “Political Rhetoric”
(ch. 5 Reader)
• Political Issues are inherently complex
• TV Media can only present part of the issue
• Political Actors try to present their own self-interested
“frames” or picture of reality
• To avoid appearance of bias, the media practice a “norm
of objectivity” which includes reliance on official sources
with little commentary or criticism
• Allows public officials virtually free reign to construct their
“spin” on political reality
• Very difficult for news spectators to figure out because of
the lack of context in which these constructions could be
better understood
Framing Public Opinion
• How are issue framed? Try this exercise:
• Don‟t think of an elephant
• What did people think when Nixon said, “I am not a
crook”?
• Why a “tax burden” rather than “membership dues”
or “service fees”?
• Why “strong and resolute” rather than “intelligent
and compassionate”?
• The way a policy is framed or worded is often more
important than the policy itself
• Particularly important given high levels of ignorance
• Both parties are increasingly attentive to framing but
which view of reality has been winning the framing
debate?
Understanding the Distortions is
the Key
• First, to be critical consumers of
information, we must appreciate how the
media presents the news
• Second, we must also be cognizant of our
predispositions and how we use them to
make sense of the world
• Third, we must be on guard for those who
would manipulate our predilections for
their own benefit
Contemporary Examples
• Can you think of how the presentation of a
contemporary issue might be distorted in order
to meet the media‟s dramatic imperative?
• How might people with different predispositions
construct different realities based on the
presentation this or another contemporary
issue?
• Can you think how political elites might
manipulate the presentation of an issue in order
to further their own ends?