the media and public opinion

February 16, 2010

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 Quality of coverage Private vs. public Tone of coverage

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

Priority given to an issue by media

Perceived importance

Agenda Setting

Priority given to an issue by media

Perceived importance

Source

Personal experience

Agenda Setting

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 issue by media

Prominence in evaluations

Priming

Attention given to an issue by media

Prominence in evaluations

Trust in source

Change in importance

Prior knowledge

Priming: 2005 UK General Election

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

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

Num

ber o

f sto

ries

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 or

A recession for which Gordon Brown/Labourbear a large responsibility?