Media Systems Online and Off: Comparing the Form of News in the United States,Denmark, and France

This study examines how media system differences in the form of news change or stay the same as newspapers in the United States (liberal), Denmark (democratic corporatist), and France (polarized pluralist) move from print to online. Internet technological affordances are posited to move online news toward more advertising and information (liberal model) and more opinion and deliberation (polarized pluralist model). In the liberal direction, advertising and more localized, light news increase; toward polarized pluralism, news as a whole declines while deliberation, opinion, and nonjournalistic voices increase slightly. A lesser degree of change in France may be due to greater state insulation from market pressures; some contradictory tendencies in Denmark indicate that technological influences are shaped by contextual national factors.     

Information and Arena: The Dual Function of the News Media for Political Elites

How do individual politicians use the news media to reach their political goals? This study addresses the question by proposing an actor‐centered, functional approach. We distinguish 2 essential functions (and subfunctions) the mass media have for political elites. The media are a source of information; politicians depend on it for pure information and they can profit from the momentum generated by media information. The media also are an arena elites need access to in order to promote themselves and their issues. These 2 functions offer certain politicians a structural advantage over others and, hence, are relevant for the power struggle among political elites. A systematic functional account enables comparisons of the role of the media across politicians and political systems.     

Strategic elites,the press,and race relations

In public discourse about race relations, social and political actors interact with the press with the goal of shaping the picture of social reality accepted by policymakers and citizens. In a departure from research focusing on how elites shape news coverage, this research examines what policymakers do ‐ in a strategic sense ‐ with discourse about race in news media. Evidence linking press content or journalists' comments about race with advocacy by elites of certain legislative policies would be suggestive of how mass communication has been ‘used’ in public discussion about race relations. With this in mind, this research examines 2 important congressional debates about race relations during a critical era in U.S. history.     

French Abstract

This article integrates priming and framing into a cognitive-processing model that illustrates how the effects of watching a presidential debate might be influenced by a priming message as it interacts with an individual's schema. We examine how the frame of postdebate news analysis primes audience reflection on a previously viewed segment from the 2004 presidential debates (a process we identify as "primed reflection"). Results show that the influence of postdebate news analysis is a function of the interaction between the news-analysis frame (policy vs. performance) and the individual-level factors, namely, political knowledge and propensity to reflect on media content.     

The Impact of Political Talk Radio Exposure on Attributions About the Outcome of the 1996 U.S. Presidential Election

This study investigates the media's potential to affect audiences' interpretations of news events. It compares perceptions of the causes of the 1996 presidential election outcome across four media consumption groups: listeners to the program of Rush Limbaugh, listeners to other political talk radio, consumers of mainstream news media, and nonconsumers of news media. Limbaugh listeners were more likely to discount substantive election explanations than were consumers of other types of political talk radio, consumers of mainstream news media, and nonconsumers of news media. These differences in interpretation parallel differences between the content of his program and that of other media.     

Managing the Public Sphere: Journalistic Construction of the Great Globalization Debate

There is little consensus on what constitutes open, deliberative media discourse. We offer a simple, measurable, and comparative model based on 3 aspects of source and issue construction in news accounts: access, recognition, and responsiveness. The model is applied to coverage of 2001–2003 World Economic Forum (WEF) meetings and protests against the organization's role in global economic policies. Both demonstrators and WEF participants were granted news access, but WEF actors were recognized more formally and given greater input in news content, including ownership claims to many activist issue positions. Journalistic deference to the WEF communication agenda limited mutual responsiveness. The journalistic process systematically managed the debate about globalization on terms that favored elites over citizen-activists.     

Cynicism and Social Trust in the New Media Environment

This article, with minor modifications, was the author's presidential speech to the International Communication Association conference, May 2001. It summarizes trends in social trust, trust in government, media, and other social institutions and evaluates the news and entertainment media's roles in these trends. Alternatives to causal accounts are proposed, including variations on genetic or "memetic" forms of explanation for media influences on macrosocial trends.     

Influences of media on social movements: Problematizing hyperbolic inferences about impacts

Pronouncements about the value of information and communication technology (ICT) (hereafter traditional, new, and social media) to social movements – hyperbolic in popular media references to new and social media (e.g., Facebook revolution, Twitter revolution, etc.) – invite scholarly inquiries that critically assess the implications of these assumptions for African countries. Sensing the tendency toward technological determinism, a position which Castells warns is fraught with failure to recognize complex interactions between society and technology; authors examined popular press vis-à-vis scholarly assumptions about the value of media during social movements. Questions that critically analyze the roles and power of old versus new media in social movements should be posed particularly about 21st century iterations with citizens increasingly doubling as creators and disseminators of news and information. For example: to what extent do various media comparatively facilitate or constrain activists in social movements? How have new ICTs assisted citizen activists in circumventing the power and reach of traditional media? How have the roles of traditional versus new media in social movements been framed in the popular press and academic journals? What contextual factors (e.g., communal networks; third-party- and foreign-interventions, digital divide, etc.) may be accountable for the take-off and successes of social movements? In a continent fraught with cultural, political, and socio-economic divisions of historic proportions, authors critically assessed cases across Africa of variegated employment of old (i.e., radio, newspaper, television) and new media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, mobile telephone text messaging) by four social movements spanning 35 years. Assessments underscore citizen empowerment and multiplier capabilities of new media but affirm the value of contextual factors that minimize hyperbolic assumptions about the contribution of new media to the formation and progression of social movements.     

Deliberative Performance of Television News in Three Types of Democracy: Insights from the United States,Germany, and Russia

We show that television news is considerably more deliberative in established (United States, Germany) than in defective democracies (Russia) and slightly more deliberative in a power‐sharing political system (Germany) than in a power‐concentrating system (United States). We further demonstrate that public‐service channels, nonpartisan programs, and in‐depth news shows make stronger overall contributions toward deliberativeness than their respective counterparts. While national news cultures produce distinct national styles of mediated deliberation, individual channels in the United States (Fox, CNN) and Russia (REN) cut across these national patterns. The significance of deliberative media content for citizens and political elites is discussed.     

Localizing the Global: Exploring the Transnational Ties That Bind in New Immigrant Communities

This study seeks to examine the ways in which transnational life is lived at different “local” levels. In particular, we ask: What are some of the important aspects of immigrants' life that are enacted across borders? To what extent are ethnic media that serve the immigrant population connected to home countries in content and operation? To what extent does transnational news have local and global implications? Multiple methods are employed in this study, including a telephone survey of immigrant communities, interviews with media producers and senior editors, and a content analysis of ethnic newspapers. This study shows that transnational activities go beyond economics to include more social aspects and communication practices in immigrants' everyday lives.     

Taking Television Seriously: A Sound and Image Bite Analysis of Presidential Campaign Coverage, 1992–2004

This study updates and builds on Hallin's landmark investigation of sound-bite news by documenting the prevalence of candidate image bites, where candidates are shown but not heard (as opposed to being shown and heard), in general election news over 4 election cycles. A visual analysis of broadcast network (ABC, CBS, and NBC) news coverage of the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 U.S. presidential elections finds that image bites constituted a greater percentage of total campaign coverage than sound bites, with candidates appearing in image bites significantly more than sound bites. Even as candidate sound bites continue to shrink over time, image-bite time is increasing in duration—and candidates are being presented in image bites almost twice as much as journalists. Sound bites are also found to be largely attack and issue focused. Based on these findings, we call for greater appreciation of visual processing, nonverbal communication, and voter learning from television news in the study of media and politics.     

Cynics All Around? The Impact of Election News on Political Cynicism in Comparative Perspective

Previous research suggests that the news media's reporting about politics in terms of strategy fosters political cynicism. The question remains, however, what individual and contextual factors facilitate or inhibit this effect. In this study, we draw on a unique multimethod and comparative cross‐country design, combining a media content analysis (N = 48,892) with a 2‐wave panel survey conducted in 21 countries (N = 22,791) during the 2009 European Parliamentary elections. Our findings show that citizens who are less aware of the election campaign become more cynical. Furthermore, strategy news has an effect on cynicism in countries in which quality of governance is higher. Overall, our study provides the first comprehensive overview over the conditional impact of election news on political cynicism in comparative perspective.     

Explicating Media Salience: A Factor Analysis of New York Times Issue Coverage During the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election

Media salience—the key independent variable in agenda-setting research—has traditionally been explicated as a singular construct. Nevertheless, scholars have defined and measured it using a number of different conceptualizations and empirical indicators. To address this limitation in research, this study introduced a conceptual model of media salience, suggesting it is a multidimensional construct consisting of 3 core elements: attention, prominence, and valence. Furthermore, the model was tested through an exploratory factor analysis of The New York Times news coverage of 8 major political issues during the 2000 presidential election as a case study. The data revealed that 2 dimensions of media salience emerge: visibility and valence. Based on the factor analysis, 2 indices are created to measure the construct, which are intended for use in future investigations.     

Selecting Serious or Satirical,Supporting or Stirring News? Selective Exposure to Partisan versus Mockery News Online Videos

The present investigation combines cognitive dissonance theory with entertainment-education frameworks to study selection and effects of news. Selective exposure to satirical and partisan news was examined with online clips to test hypotheses on overcoming resistance to persuasive messages. An experiment (n = 146) presented news choices, varied in stance (conservative vs. liberal) and format (serious partisan news vs. satirical news). Results show political interest fosters selection of serious partisan news. Clips with partisan alignment were more frequently selected; only for the satirical news clips, Democrats did not exhibit such confirmation bias. Selecting satirical news affected internal political efficacy, and selecting online news clips induced attitude reinforcement according to message stance.     

Young Voters' Responses to the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election: Social Identity,Perceived Media Influence,and Behavioral Outcomes

Hostile news perceptions, perceived media influence, and behavioral outcomes among Republicans and Democrats were examined before and after the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Predictions were grounded in social identity/self‐categorization theories, and influence of presumed influence. Hostile news perceptions were greater among Republicans, especially Fox News viewers. Third‐person perceptions (TPPs) for ingroup and outgroup (own party, other party) varied based on media message (debates, news, spin, polls, comedy) and party affiliation. TPPs were larger for the outgroup than the ingroup, but only for Republicans. Following the election, changes in media perceptions were related to the election outcome and interpersonal discussion. Greater perceived influence on outgroup voters was associated with stronger support for censorship, and a lower voting likelihood among Democrats.     

Chasing the Bad News: An Analysis of 2005 Iraq and Afghanistan War Coverage on NBC and Fox News Channel

This study analyzes all stories aired on NBC Nightly News and Fox News Channel's Special Report With Brit Hume during 2005 about the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and compares that coverage with real‐world indicators to address an important question: Did the news media over‐report bad news from these conflicts, as claimed by the Bush administration and as one might expect given research into the press' negativity bias? This study finds that while both channels focused a fair amount on negative storylines, overall the news actually underplayed bad news from both countries. Fox News was much more sympathetic to the administration than NBC, suggesting that scholars should consider Fox as alternative, rather than mainstream, media.     

Sound Bite News: Television Coverage of Elections, 1968–1988

Based on samples of network evening news broadcasts from each presidential election from 1968 through 1988, this article shows that the average sound bite has declined from 43 to 9 seconds. This change is interpreted as part of a general shift in the style of television news toward a more mediated, journalist-centered form of journalism. Three factors help explain this change: (a) the evolution of television "know-how," (b) the weakening of political consensus and authority during the last 20 years, and (c) changes in the economics of the industry. This change has significant consequences for journalism in the 1990s.     

Influence of communication during the distant phase of the 1996 republican presidential primary campaign

This study examines the influence of five communication modalities on voters' perceptions of candidates during what Popkin terms 'the distant phase' of the presidential primary campaign. During the final week of the New Hampshire primary campaign, researchers surveyed 315 prospective votes in four states whose primaries followed New Hampshire's by 1, 2, 4, and 5 weeks. The results revealed that political talk radio exerted the greatest influence on voters' perceptions of Bob Dole and considerable impact on perceptions of Steve Forbes. In addition, prospective voters' conversations with other people, television news, and candidate spots (only for Forbes) exerted modest influence on voters' perceptions of Republican candidates.     

Modeling Patterns of News Recognition and Recall

This study examines the influence of television news coverage, story attributes, and audience characteristics on public recognition and recall of the news. In the summer of 1989, survey respondents were asked, within 7 days of the dates on which 21 different news stories broke, whether they recognized a particular story, and, if so, what they could remember about it. Results indicate that (a) stories receiving heavier television news coverage are better recognized and recalled; (b) respondents who are generally well informed about public affairs succeed in learning most types of news, regardless of their reported levels of media use; and (c) news stories focused on personalities and domestic news items are better recognized and better recalled than other kinds of standard political news. these findings are discussed in light of research on "personalized bias" in news reporting and its impact on political it formation-holding and public opinion.     

Effects of Media Criticism on Gatekeeping Trust and Implications for Agenda Setting

This study explores causes and consequences of gatekeeping trust, a new media trust construct defined as trust that the news media selects stories based on judgments of the importance of problems. If this form of trust—rooted in a misunderstanding of news story selection practices—is what drives agenda setting effects, these effects can be seen as a miscommunication between the media and the public, and perhaps a correctable one. An experiment manipulating exposure to and expression of media criticism finds gatekeeping trust can be reduced without also affecting more desirable forms of media trust. Gatekeeping trust is also the only media trust construct to positively predict an indicator of agenda cueing and negatively predict an indicator of agenda reasoning.