lOMoARcPSD|7632540
2144 Politico-tainment Lecture + Reading Notes
Political Science ‘In-Yo-Face’: Politico-tainment & Political (Con)Science (The University
of Western Ontario)
StuDocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
, lOMoARcPSD|7632540
Sydney Barzakay 2020-2021
Polisci 2144: Reading Material and lecture Notes
Week 2:
Understanding the Relationship between Politics & TV
Schedule:
What is Political TV?
● Political news
● Political interviews
● Political satire
● Political fake news
● Political drama
● Political comedy
Why Does PTV Matter?
● Why should we study it?
● Does it impact politics? Political engagement?
● Does it shape how we understand politics?
● Is it not just entertainment?
● Do people care about the politics or political messages they watch on TV?
● Important medium for political communication: ideas, ads, news, etc.
● Accessible to many (not all)
○ Diversified = cable TV, satellite TV, streaming TV, mobile TV
○ Counters ableism: hearing impaired, descriptive TV
○ Time control: when convenient/available to watch
= important to deep dive into all these questions
Tryon: “dislike of politics” - WHY PEOPLE TEND TO DISLIKE IT
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
, lOMoARcPSD|7632540
Sydney Barzakay 2020-2021
1. Inauthentic: does not connect with real-life events or values (what politicians
are discussing isn’t liked by many, we don’t like what we see… therefore
political tv can make it a little more authentic)
2. Corruption & greed: PTV can give accountability = news, political satire, etc. •
Hope/redemption = dramas, comedies
→ hope for justice to be served when it maybe doesn’t in real life
Tryon’s “Political spectacle”
● Actors: Politicians & Media
● Goal: “idealized images” of the Political (engagement, identity, values, purpose,
etc.)
● Events: “romanticized image” political tv gives us this opportunity reflect on
these events and idealize some of them (characters who need to be saved are
saved or live to fight another day)
● Helps:
○ Inform → what is happening, what is going on in the world
○ Understand → what is my opinion, it can also give us an opinion
○ Act → what should I do?
● Political Culture = political attitudes, views, beliefs
● PTV can be a mirror and can help you reflect on how society has operated
(Saturday night live → Alic Baldwin)
● PTV actually can provide a MOLD of how we want the world to be
● Problem = what sort of engagement?
○ Passive= yell at the TV (Putmans opinion)
○ Active= discuss with other people (Tyron) → tryon explain thats you don’t
need to protesting or speaking up to be “active”
Having discussions are active
How We Understand PTV?
● Authors
● Frameworks
● Concepts
● Jeffrey Jones mediated citizenship via TV
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
, lOMoARcPSD|7632540
Sydney Barzakay 2020-2021
○ Helps us to understand politics → 2102 Pew Research: watchers of
Political satire more knowledgeable than watchers of Political news
○ PTV helps us to understand politics and understand our political world
○ Mediates citizenships by Encouraging or discouraging our political
participation
■ Women’s Marches in 2016 -onwards
○ Suggests particular participation activities
■ Scandal ‘backroom fixer’ Olivia Pope --> someone who doesn't
want to be in the limelight doesn't want to run for office but want to
be in the back deciding who's going to win, who's going to lose,
someone controlling things from the back,
■ I.e in canada liberal party, Eddie goldenberg known to be a liberal
operator, involved in campaigns etc. a backroom fixer
■ The Mayor’s ‘electioneering’ (Trump?)
● Amanda Lotz (how PTV had changed)
1. Network era: set the role of political news & what counted as political news →
ABC, NBC, CBS, CTV, CBC, Global (the same story told in different order played
within all of these)
- They do have specific parameters of what kinds of stories they will decide
to showcare or not
2. Rise of multichannel transition: more TV stations, including 24 -hour, &
diversifying political TV (vice news and cable news)
● CNN, CP24, CBC News World, MSNBC
● News channels from around the world
● New formats of Political TV on different channels
3. Post-network era (TODAY): unstable broadcasters & fragmented audiences
(come and go- sun news example)
● TV shows, community TV, podcasts, satire/fake news, etc.
● Resources for research and investigation?
● May disappear? Do they have enough depth like we used to in older
show decades
● Viewers = select news (Echo chamber ← reinforce own views)
● Narrow political community ≠ opposing views?
● Not the same understanding because there are so much diversity and
more resources
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
2144 Politico-tainment Lecture + Reading Notes
Political Science ‘In-Yo-Face’: Politico-tainment & Political (Con)Science (The University
of Western Ontario)
StuDocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
, lOMoARcPSD|7632540
Sydney Barzakay 2020-2021
Polisci 2144: Reading Material and lecture Notes
Week 2:
Understanding the Relationship between Politics & TV
Schedule:
What is Political TV?
● Political news
● Political interviews
● Political satire
● Political fake news
● Political drama
● Political comedy
Why Does PTV Matter?
● Why should we study it?
● Does it impact politics? Political engagement?
● Does it shape how we understand politics?
● Is it not just entertainment?
● Do people care about the politics or political messages they watch on TV?
● Important medium for political communication: ideas, ads, news, etc.
● Accessible to many (not all)
○ Diversified = cable TV, satellite TV, streaming TV, mobile TV
○ Counters ableism: hearing impaired, descriptive TV
○ Time control: when convenient/available to watch
= important to deep dive into all these questions
Tryon: “dislike of politics” - WHY PEOPLE TEND TO DISLIKE IT
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
, lOMoARcPSD|7632540
Sydney Barzakay 2020-2021
1. Inauthentic: does not connect with real-life events or values (what politicians
are discussing isn’t liked by many, we don’t like what we see… therefore
political tv can make it a little more authentic)
2. Corruption & greed: PTV can give accountability = news, political satire, etc. •
Hope/redemption = dramas, comedies
→ hope for justice to be served when it maybe doesn’t in real life
Tryon’s “Political spectacle”
● Actors: Politicians & Media
● Goal: “idealized images” of the Political (engagement, identity, values, purpose,
etc.)
● Events: “romanticized image” political tv gives us this opportunity reflect on
these events and idealize some of them (characters who need to be saved are
saved or live to fight another day)
● Helps:
○ Inform → what is happening, what is going on in the world
○ Understand → what is my opinion, it can also give us an opinion
○ Act → what should I do?
● Political Culture = political attitudes, views, beliefs
● PTV can be a mirror and can help you reflect on how society has operated
(Saturday night live → Alic Baldwin)
● PTV actually can provide a MOLD of how we want the world to be
● Problem = what sort of engagement?
○ Passive= yell at the TV (Putmans opinion)
○ Active= discuss with other people (Tyron) → tryon explain thats you don’t
need to protesting or speaking up to be “active”
Having discussions are active
How We Understand PTV?
● Authors
● Frameworks
● Concepts
● Jeffrey Jones mediated citizenship via TV
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
, lOMoARcPSD|7632540
Sydney Barzakay 2020-2021
○ Helps us to understand politics → 2102 Pew Research: watchers of
Political satire more knowledgeable than watchers of Political news
○ PTV helps us to understand politics and understand our political world
○ Mediates citizenships by Encouraging or discouraging our political
participation
■ Women’s Marches in 2016 -onwards
○ Suggests particular participation activities
■ Scandal ‘backroom fixer’ Olivia Pope --> someone who doesn't
want to be in the limelight doesn't want to run for office but want to
be in the back deciding who's going to win, who's going to lose,
someone controlling things from the back,
■ I.e in canada liberal party, Eddie goldenberg known to be a liberal
operator, involved in campaigns etc. a backroom fixer
■ The Mayor’s ‘electioneering’ (Trump?)
● Amanda Lotz (how PTV had changed)
1. Network era: set the role of political news & what counted as political news →
ABC, NBC, CBS, CTV, CBC, Global (the same story told in different order played
within all of these)
- They do have specific parameters of what kinds of stories they will decide
to showcare or not
2. Rise of multichannel transition: more TV stations, including 24 -hour, &
diversifying political TV (vice news and cable news)
● CNN, CP24, CBC News World, MSNBC
● News channels from around the world
● New formats of Political TV on different channels
3. Post-network era (TODAY): unstable broadcasters & fragmented audiences
(come and go- sun news example)
● TV shows, community TV, podcasts, satire/fake news, etc.
● Resources for research and investigation?
● May disappear? Do they have enough depth like we used to in older
show decades
● Viewers = select news (Echo chamber ← reinforce own views)
● Narrow political community ≠ opposing views?
● Not the same understanding because there are so much diversity and
more resources
Downloaded by Armaan Bawa ()
