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A Consensus Theory of Political Journalism |
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Abstract:
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The depiction of political issues in the media has long defied analytic understanding and description. Important work, such as Bennett's Index Theory or Gans' Paraideology Theory – in which mass media professionals largely set the voices in their coverage to mirror that of mainstream government debate – offer compelling visions, but are only intermittently supported by data. This paper suggests that such theories enjoy inconsistent support because they fail to consider the interaction between journalists' incentives and the political climate. A theory is advanced here that the journalists' objective to please their superiors, please themselves, limit negative feedback, and expend minimum energy, in other words to minimize costs and maximize benefits, relies on tactics that vary with the scope of consensus support for an issue. That is, for example, the inclination to insert drama into coverage, present the appearance of objectivity, and conform to popular opinion rises and falls based on the degree of political consensus present for the issue. As an issue approaches near universal support, a reporter is likely to have little inclination or ability to present drama or objectivity, but is also quite likely to conform to established popular consensus. Conversely, as an issue approaches a complete lack of political consensus, reporters are much freer to ignore popular opinion, but are more likely to present coverage consistent with the desire to insert drama and their own personal opinion. This theory is tested by analyzing U.S. media coverage on a sample of six political issues debated in Congress and reveals that combining journalists' incentives with political consensus suggests a better way to understand the political journalism process. |
Most Common Document Word Stems:
coverag (58), polit (56), consensus (46), report (32), journalist (32), govern (31), media (29), object (28), index (27), theori (26), issu (26), u.s (25), sourc (23), news (22), journal (22), one (20), articl (18), tactic (18), studi (17), dissensus (17), opinion (17), |
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Association:
Name: American Political Science Association
URL: http://www.apsanet.org
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Citation:
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MLA Citation:
| Niven, David. "A Consensus Theory of Political Journalism" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL, Sep 02, 2004 <Not Available>. 2009-05-26 <http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p60844_index.html> |
APA Citation:
| Niven, D. , 2004-09-02 "A Consensus Theory of Political Journalism" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL Online <.PDF>. 2009-05-26 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p60844_index.html |
Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The depiction of political issues in the media has long defied analytic understanding and description. Important work, such as Bennett's Index Theory or Gans' Paraideology Theory – in which mass media professionals largely set the voices in their coverage to mirror that of mainstream government debate – offer compelling visions, but are only intermittently supported by data. This paper suggests that such theories enjoy inconsistent support because they fail to consider the interaction between journalists' incentives and the political climate. A theory is advanced here that the journalists' objective to please their superiors, please themselves, limit negative feedback, and expend minimum energy, in other words to minimize costs and maximize benefits, relies on tactics that vary with the scope of consensus support for an issue. That is, for example, the inclination to insert drama into coverage, present the appearance of objectivity, and conform to popular opinion rises and falls based on the degree of political consensus present for the issue. As an issue approaches near universal support, a reporter is likely to have little inclination or ability to present drama or objectivity, but is also quite likely to conform to established popular consensus. Conversely, as an issue approaches a complete lack of political consensus, reporters are much freer to ignore popular opinion, but are more likely to present coverage consistent with the desire to insert drama and their own personal opinion. This theory is tested by analyzing U.S. media coverage on a sample of six political issues debated in Congress and reveals that combining journalists' incentives with political consensus suggests a better way to understand the political journalism process. |
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| Document Type: |
.pdf |
| Page count: |
20 |
| Word count: |
5556 |
| Text sample: |
| A Consensus Theory of Political Journalism David Niven Florida Atlantic University and John Glenn Institute of Public Service and Public Policy Ohio State University Prepared for the 2004 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Chicago The depiction of political issues in the media has long defied analytic understanding and description. Important work such as Bennett's Index Theory or Gans' Paraideology Theory in which mass media professionals largely set the voices in their coverage to mirror that |
| procedure they associated with objectivity." 3 As Fishman (1980 35) colorfully quotes a newspaper editor discussing the material available for his political reporter to cover "It's a bottomless pit. City government county government are both a bottomless pit. He never has enough time to write everything he might write." 4 Craig Gilbert "House Backs Permanent Tax Cut in Mostly Party-Line Vote." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel March 8 2002 4A. 5 John Lancaster and Helen Dewar "Congress Clears Use of Force |
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