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
issue by media
Perceived importance
Agenda Setting
Priority given to an
issue by media
Perceived importance
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
issue by media
Prominence in
evaluations
Priming
Attention given to an
issue by media
Change in importance
Trust in source
Prior knowledge
Prominence in
evaluations
Priming: 2005 UK General Election
30
Number of stories
25
20
15
10
5
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
Day before election
NHS
Tax
Crime
Asylum/Immigration
Iraq
5
4
3
2
1
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?