Class Discussion
• Blog Post #2 was due by 11 a.m. today.
• Post ASAP if you did not do it yet. Penalty is 25% off if
submitted within 24 hours from now.
• Go to the board and write the topic of one article
you blogged about.
• We’ll go around the room and discuss them.
CITIZENS & THE NEWS
BENNETT CH. 3
DR. KRISTEN LANDREVILLE
The Mediator
• How many of you have direct, personal experience
with…
• Illegal Immigration?
• Middle-East Peace Process?
• Foreign Trade?
• How about…
• Taxes?
• Jobs?
• Health Insurance?
• Point
• Many issues are not ever personally experienced.
If Love is a Battlefield, Try News
• The Kingdom of Public Opinion
• News is a battleground for…YOU!
• Thoughts: Political attention
• Group Influence: Formation of issue publics.
• Behavior: Shaping political behavior (e.g., voting).
• Soldiers in battle are…
•
•
•
•
•
Journalists
Politicians
Public relations and marketing reps
Lobbyists for interest groups
Celebrities
Opinion Management
•
•
•
•
Goal: Get their agenda and message out
Step 1: Hire communication professionals
Step 2: Keep their issue personal rather than distant
Step 3: Take advantage of the 4 information biases
• Stage dramatic events (e.g., Glenn Beck / Al Sharpton rallies)
• Personalize the issue (e.g., Joe the Plumber)
• Inspire authority distrust (e.g., Obama’s 2008 campaign
message of not trusting Republican administration and Bushassociated allies)
• Assist in fragmentation of news by focusing on present,
dramatic, and personal events
• Step 4: Hire polling firms to confirm their agenda
But, What Public Opinion?
• Issues are complex
• Recent health care bill was more than 1,000 pages
• News focuses on horserace
• Political drama of issues
• Media strategy of power players
• Endorsements by power players
• Public does not always have opinions
• Do you have concrete opinion on all issues?
Fear & Loathing of the “Don’t Knows”
• Result: Push Polls
• Fear: News “pushes” respondents to have opinion
• “Don’t know” can mean…
• “I don’t care.”
• “I’m in the middle, moderate, and can see both sides.”
• “I really don’t know what I think.”
• One word or phrase can change everything
• Loathing: Interest groups use their language in polls
• Welfare vs. poor (Smith, 1987)
• Welfare led to less generosity
• Welfare led to thoughts of waste and bureaucracy
Read the Fine Print
CITIZENS & THE NEWS
BLOG POST #3
• Blog Post #3 originally due on Mon. 9/13 by 11 a.m.
• Now due on Wed. 9/15 by 11 a.m.
• Instructions now posted to COJO 2480 tab on
klandreville.wordpress.com
Contrived Pursuit of Domination
• Public not utterly
polarized and paralyzed
• Benefits elites to be
polarized
• News reports issue
polarization
• Push pulls conducted to
trigger divisions
• Reality: Public-at-large is
OK with their “side” losing
Remember the purple!
News, What News? I Was Watching
American Idol.
• Media landscape reflects and reinforces social
fragmentation and increasingly personalized lives.
It’s Like Getting the Attention of a 2-Year-Old
• Politicians, interest groups, etc., who want our attention
create messages that are:
1. Simple
2. Emotional (fear and anger)
3. Mass
4. Repeated
• So that we:
5. Think they’re correct
6. Communicate (especially via interpersonal channels)
Some Tricks of the Trade
• Examples of Political Campaigns Using These Tactics
Marketing the Iraq War
• “From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new
products in August,” Andrew Card, White House chief of staff.
• Battle Plan, Start Date = Fall 2002:
•
•
•
•
Simple Message: A link between Saddam, Iraq, and al Qaeda exists.
Fearful Message: We can’t risk letting Saddam off the hook.
Mass Message: Make news every night.
Repeated Message: Bush, Rice, Powell, Rumsfeld, Cheney
• Public Opinion Result:
• Saddam helped Osama bin Laden and has WMDs.
• What could have media done better in their pre-war
reporting?
Let’s Revisit the Kingdom of Public Opinion
• Citizens are the insurgents battling a kingdom run amok.
• We feel disconnected from politics.
• There is little room for alternative agendas in mainstream
news.
• Kingdom does not speak to us, especially young people.
• Hard to reach
• Unlikely to get involved
• Best left to state of inattentiveness
Got My iPod In My Ears
And My Cynicism On High
More Data
• Less than 10% of 18-34 year-olds view a
nightly network news program
• Vs. 23% of men and 32% of women over age 50
• 2000 election debate vs. WWE
Smackdown!
• Smackdown! Drew 4 times audience
• 18-29 year-olds and comedy TV shows
• 7 times more likely to learn about elections from
comedy than voters older than 50
So I Don’t Vote
• Voter Turnout Rates Among 18-29 Year Olds
State
2000
Pres.
2004
Pres.
% Change
2002
Mid.
2006
Mid.
% Change
Colorado
37%
50%
13% Points
29%
31%
2% Points
Wyoming
47%
53%
6% Points
30%
26%
-4% Points
Hawaii
23%
34%
11% Points
20%
21%
1% Point
Minnesota 51%
71%
20% Points
45%
43%
-2% Points
National
49%
9% Points
22%
25%
3% Points
40%
So Just How Knowledgeable Are
YOU?
Political Knowledge Quiz
• Modified Delli Carpini & Keeter Political Knowledge Quiz
• Write answer on paper.
1.
How many four-year terms can the president of the United
States serve?
•
•
•
•
2.
1
2
3
Unlimited
Whose responsibility is it to determine if a law is constitutional or
not?
• President
• Congress
• Supreme Court
Political Knowledge Quiz
3. How much of a majority is required for the US Senate
and House to override a presidential veto?
•
•
•
•
One-half plus one vote
Three-fifths
Two-thirds
Three-quarters
4. In general, thinking about political parties in
Washington, would you say that Democrats are more
conservative than Republicans, or Republicans are
more conservative than Democrats?
• Democrats are more conservative
• Republicans are more conservative
Political Knowledge Quiz
5.
Do you happen to know which party currently has the most members
in the House of Representatives in Washington?
• Republicans
• Democrats
6.
Which of the following countries shares a border with Afghanistan?
•
•
•
•
7.
Russia
Pakistan
Iraq
Kazakhstan
Which of the following agencies was founded in the wake of the
terrorist attacks on 9/11?
•
•
•
•
Office of Homeland Security
Delta Force
National Security Agency
Department of Civilian Defense
Political Knowledge Quiz
8. Would you say there is more, less, or about the same amount
of crime in the US today as compared to 10 years ago?
• Less
• Same
• More
9. For every dollar spent by the federal government in
Washington, what percent of each dollar do you think goes
to foreign aid to help other countries?
10. What is the Democratic candidate for Wyoming’s governor
race?
11. What is the Republican candidate for Wyoming’s governor
race?
Answers
1. How many four-year terms can the president of the
United States serve?
• 2
2. Whose responsibility is it to determine if a law is
constitutional or not?
• Supreme Court
3. How much of a majority is required for the US Senate
and House to override a presidential veto?
• Two-thirds
4. In general, thinking about political parties in
Washington, would you say that Democrats are more
conservative than Republicans, or Republicans are
more conservative than Democrats?
• Republicans more conservative
Answers
5. Do you happen to know which party currently has the
most members in the House of Representatives in
Washington?
• Democrats
6. Which of the following countries shares a border with
Afghanistan?
• Pakistan
7. Which of the following agencies was founded in the
wake of the terrorist attacks on 9/11?
• Office for Homeland Security
8. Would you say there is more, less, or about the same
amount of crime in the US today as compared to 10
years ago?
• Less
Answers
9. For every dollar spent by the federal government
in Washington, what percent each dollar do you
think goes to foreign aid to help other countries?
• Less than 5%
10. What is the Democratic candidate for Wyoming’s
governor race?
• Leslie Peterson
11. What is the Republican candidate for Wyoming’s
governor race?
• Matt Mead
• Average Correct = 5
YES WE CAN!
CHANGES IN YOUTH PARTICIPATION
Changes in Youth Participation
• Some hope young people are changing
• 2004 Presidential Campaign
Changes in Youth Participation
• 2008 Presidential Campaign
What Is More Important?
Compromise Or Stand Firm?
Who Should Take a Lead Role In Making
Politics More Civil?
The Youth Vote
2000 & 2004
2008
PROCESSING THE NEWS
Not Just A Vegetable
• 2 Views of the Audience
1. Passive Audience:
• People are easily influenced, persuaded, and manipulated by
media.
• When audience is unfamiliar with issue, they are more passive.
2. Active Audience:
• People develop interpretative strategies to help them actively
construct meanings from the news.
• Personal issues mean an active audience is more likely.
• “What can I do to help?” – People need to feel empowered.
• In what circumstances are you an active vs. passive
audience member?
I
MY TV
Yes, You Actually Learn Too!
• Yes, you actually learn!
• TV stimulates our brains in comprehensive ways.
• TV gives us words, sounds, sights, and text to learn from.
• Visuals generate more emotion, which leads to more
attention and learning.
• Newspapers better for learning when:
•
•
•
•
You regard issue as personally affecting you.
You already closely follow the issue.
You are motivated to dig into the issue.
Results: less personal, less episodic, and more thematic
understanding of issue.
But In The End,
We Are All Cognitive Misers
• News is complex, confusing, and confrontational!
• We take cognitive shortcuts :
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cueing
Bolstering
Weighing
Personal Organizing
1. Cueing: Using cues and labels from trusted and familiar
reference groups.
• Democrat/Republican or Pro-life/Pro-choice
2. Bolstering: Selecting factoids provided by cues to support
arguments
• Our arguments mirror reference groups.
• Example: Obama wants to extend Bush-era tax cuts
But In The End,
We Are All Cognitive Misers
3. Weighing: Using emotions in news to direct
attention and learning.
• Negative campaigning: We hate it. We try to ignore it.
• But it works (sometimes). Why?
• We forget the source of negativity.
• If negativity is not addressed and countered, then we adopt
those beliefs.
• Solution for the attacked: “Wink and a shrug” approach.
4. Personal Organizing: Filtering news by one’s
values, interests, experiences, and lifestyle choices
• Example: Relating and understanding news stories with a
“student lens”.
So Why Do We Watch News Anyways?
• News for Democratic Purposes:
• Learn about politics, form opinions, take political action
• News for Curiosity and Surveillance:
• Keep tabs on world
• We like new events and novel twists on old themes.
• Example: Freedom of choice related to…abortion, drugs, doctors
• News for Entertainment and Escape:
• Drama, conflict, emotion, intriguing characters
• Art imitates life / “ripped from the headlines”
• Example: Iraq War & Battlestar Galactica
• Example: Law & Order on NBC
• News for Social and Psychological Adjustment
• Vicarious involvement
• Parasocial relationships
For Next Time…
• Blog Post #3: See instructions
• Due Wed. 9/15 by 11 a.m.
• Read Bennett, Ch. 4 on “How Politicians Make the
News”