Mass Media and American Politics

by Doris A. Graber

Overview

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The eighth edition of Graber’s classic text is thoroughly updated to reflect major structural changes that have shaken the world of political news. Graber combines comprehensive coverage and cutting-edge theory as she shows students how the media influence governmental institutions and functions, and in turn how the government shapes the way the media disseminate information. Her broad coverage has three focal points: the media’s role in both the public and private sectors; its impact on the attitudes of ordinary Americans and political elites; and the ways in which the news media cover government and politics.

In addition to new photos, cartoons, screen shots, and data, this edition includes:

• major changes in reporting, notably in the 2008 elections, brought about by the Internet;
• the subsequent erosion of the mainstream media’s influence on the political agenda;
• new media, including more on blogging, social networking, and political entertainment shows;
• the latest on media laws and recent court cases;
• the evolution and current state of war-time reporting;
• and how the FCC regulates media ownership and content.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781604264609
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/13/2009
Edition description:	Eighth Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Doris A. Graber is professor emeritus of political science and communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has written and edited numerous articles and books on the news media, public opinion, and information-processing. They include Media Power in Politics, Sixth Edition (2010), The Power of Communication: Managing Information in Public Organizations (2003), a prize-winning book about Processing Politics: Learning from Television in the Internet Age (2001), and On Media and Making Sense of Politics (2012), a comparative study of learning about politics from entertainment broadcasts.

Johanna Dunaway is associate professor of communication at Texas A&M University and a recent Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy. She has written extensively on the relationship between the structural and contextual features of media outlets and election news content. Within this research program, she has examined news coverage of political campaigns, immigration, and events such as the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Her current research examines the impact of the changing media environment across individuals, communities, and the news industry. In addition to these primary research agendas, she has published in numerous other areas, including public opinion, political behavior, and political advertising. Her work appears in journals such as the Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Communication, Political Communication, Political Research Quarterly, Political Behavior, Journalism Studies and Social Science Quarterly.

Table of Contents

	Tables, Figures, and Boxes	xi
	Preface	xv
Chapter 1	Media Power and Government Control	1
	Political Importance of Mass Media	2
	Functions of Mass Media	6
	Effects of Mass Media	13
	Who Should Control News Making?	18
	Models of the News-Making Process	24
	Summary	29
Chapter 2	Ownership, Regulation, and Guidance of Media	33
	Control and Ownership: Public and Semipublic	34
	Patterns of Private Ownership	38
	Government Regulation of the Media	48
	Summary	55
Chapter 3	Press Freedom and the Law	59
	Access to the Media	60
	Access to Information	68
	Individual Rights Versus the Public's Right to Know	76
	Summary	87
Chapter 4	News Making and News Reporting Routines	92
	Profile Sketch of American Journalists	93
	Gatekeeping	99
	Effects of Gatekeeping	117
	Appraising the News-Making Process	127
	Summary	130
Chapter 5	Reporting Extraordinary Events	137
	Four Crises	138
	Media Responses and Roles	140
	Covering Pseudo-Crises	154
	Summary	155
Chapter 6	The Media as Policymakers	159
	The Ethics of Melding Political Activism with Journalism	160
	Manipulative Journalism in Perspective	161
	Muckraking Models	162
	Beyond Muckraking: Journalists as Political Actors	171
	Agenda Building	175
	Documentaries and Docudramas	184
	Methods: Fair and Foul	186
	Summary	189
Chapter 7	Media Impact on Attitudes and Behavior	195
	Differential Effects of Print and Broadcast News	196
	The Role of Media in Political Socialization	198
	Patterns in Socialization	201
	Choosing Media Stories	203
	Learning Processes	207
	Learning Effects: Knowledge and Attitudes	210
	Learning Effects: Behavior	219
	Summary	225
Chapter 8	Elections in the Internet Age	235
	The State of Research	236
	The Consequences of Media Politics	237
	Media Content	248
	Media Effects	259
	Summary	265
Chapter 9	The Struggle for Control: News from the Presidency and Congress	271
	The Adversarial Relationship	272
	The Media and the Executive Branch	276
	The Media and Congress	294
	Summary	304
Chapter 10	Covering the Justice System and State and Local News	310
	The Media and the Courts	310
	Covering State and Local Affairs	320
	The Contents of Subnational News	327
	Summary	336
Chapter 11	Foreign Affairs Coverage	342
	The Foreign News Niche	343
	Making Foreign News	344
	Appraising Foreign News Making	369
	Exporting News	370
	Summary	373
Chapter 12	Trends in Media Policy	381
	Dissatisfaction with the Media	382
	The Impact of New Technologies	388
	The Shape of the Future	403
	Summary	408
	Index	413

Editorial Reviews

Mass Media and American Politics is expansive, drawing insights from political science, media studies, psychology, and many other fields. This excellent book provides students with a clear guide to the intersection of politics and journalism.”

John Pitney

Mass Media and American Politics is a great text. I like the balance it strikes in its academic approach to the study of media and the study of politics. Graber and Dunaway do a great job of tying the two topics together successfully and showcasing how these separate entities are not mutually exclusive.”

Emily Wanless

I have always felt that Mass Media and American Politics is quite simply the best of the broad media textbooks out there. I don’t expect to be switching to another in the foreseeable future.”

Tyler Johnson

Mass Media and American Politics is the best, most comprehensive book for political communication. This text has made it easy for my students to learn about research and theory related to political journalism and the political communication system in America. It has great utility and provides insight, and while being all-inclusive, is not overwhelming for students.”

Jason Martin