The Politics of News the News of Politics: The News of Politics

by Doris A. Graber (Editor)

Moving beyond the focus on journalists typically found in books on the dynamics of the newsmaking process, The Politics of The News of Politics extends its examination to the struggle between journalists, political actors, and the public for control of the news in democratic countries. The book shows how the news media function as an intermediary between governments and citizens, as well as between political actors (such as parties and interest groups) and the public. Essays present a diversity of views and are written by a distinguished group of authors that includes Walter Cronkite, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Jarol B. Manheim, and Kathleen Frankovic. The Politics of The News of Politics is policy-oriented in its diagnosis of the problems faced by the parties whose influence affects newsmaking in existing and emerging democracies and, in the process, it generates ideas about possible reforms. Several chapters (Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 11) offer a comparative approach that offer students insight into the impact on newsmaking of diverse cultural factors. Accessible yet sophisticated, the selections in The Politics of The News of Politics cover significant issues rarely discussed in books about political news, ranging from the ingenious ways that governments and interest groups draw attention to their concerns in favorable ways, to the impacts of public opinion polling, market research, and new communication technologies on the newsmaking process, to the trials and tribulations of journalists in both Western democracies and democratizing societies of Central and Eastern Europe.

268 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I use in teaching an undergraduate course in media and politics. This book includes chapters by T. Patterson and Kathleen Jamieson Hall, along with many other top scholars in the field. Though it is becoming a bit dated (the case studies involve the 2004 presidential election for instance) several of the foundational ideas presented by the authors are first rate. And I think it is written in an attainable way for the non-academic. Statistics and research are presented but in a way that is interesting and practical, not in academic-speak.

This is a good volume to introduce yourself to some of the pivotal thinkers in politics and media and understand the issues that are paramount, as well as what certain scholars think of those issues.