February 16, 2010

Review

 Quality of coverage
 Evaluations
Newspaper coverage in Britain
Public Reaction to News Coverage in the US
Public Evaluations of TV news in Britain
Evaluations of Campaign Coverage
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?
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?
Media Effects

 Categories of effects:
 Cognitive processes; making sense of politics
 Opinion on issues
 Make choices between candidates
 Processes:
 Agenda Setting
 Priming
 Framing
 Persuasion
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
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
Agenda Setting

Priority given to an
Perceived importance
issue by media
Agenda Setting

Priority given to an
Perceived importance
issue by media

Personal
experience
Source
Most Important Problem (US)
Health Care (US)
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
Priming

Attention given to an
Prominence in
issue by media
evaluations
Priming

Attention given to an
Prominence in
issue by media
evaluations

Change in importance
Trust in source

Prior knowledge
Priming: 2005 UK General Election

30

25

20
Number of stories

15

10

0
29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Day before election

NHS Tax Crime Asylum/Immigration Iraq
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)
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
Example of Framing on the Environment

 Global warming
 Climate change
 Climate crisis
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
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
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
 Framing: The Recession

Is the dominant media frame

a global recession

or

A recession for which Gordon Brown/Labour

bear a large responsibility?