Week 1
Readings
(Benett, 2016) "The politics of illusion”; news in a changing information system
Aim: important information delivered in timely fashion to people who want to know it (info about
government and public life)
- News characteristics: timely and important
- Digital natives: people born after 1980, who grow up in a highly personalized media
environment
- Daily Us: brought people together around the same report of common news
- "Old mass media": problems, threats and triumphs
- Daily Me: information system that delivers personalized information (ex. 30% of people
get news from FB)
- "Legacy" news sources: TV, radio, daily papers; as legacy media gets older, the
"us" shrinks
Mass media era = one-to-many communication logic
- Audience!
Social media era = many-to-many communication logic (interaction)
- No audience, only public
Governing with the news
- "How it is sold to the people”
- Politicians need to get their positions into the news to establish themselves; signal to
public/ votes that they're visible and active leaders
News can…
a) Shape public opinion among citizens (who are still playing attention)
b) Sway different political factions to join/ oppose political initiatives
c) Hold officials more or less accountable for initiatives
d) Inform citizens about what government is doing
- Agenda setting: using the news to influence what public regards as important to them to think
about society and politics (from big news to small stories)
- Infotainment: news that resembles entertainment
- Indexing:(reporting system) Mendency of mainstream news organization to index/ adjust range
of viewpoints in a story to dominant-positions (whom journalists perceive to have enough power
to affect the outcome of the citation)
Case study: Political comedy reveals "truthiness"about news
- TV =not the authoritative source of info anymore (to stay alive it resorted to "infotainment"
business; increasingly more disconnected from reality
- "Truthiness:" political status that officials introduce into news that are not completely consistent
with available evidence;
- "apparent truth while important evidence is left out"
,Comedy
- Important medium for starting out truth
- "Post-truth" age: columnists have freedom to tell readers when they think politicians are lying
Why do people opt out of news?
- Due to confusing information system which the press offers little perspective
- Media logic! News information feels like its for insiders only
What is news?
a) Reporting of actions and events b) Over a growing variety of publicly accessible media c) by
journalism organization and an expanding spectrum of other content products (including ordinary
citizens)
- Information that is timely and often sensational & familiar
- News is constructed through the constantly changing interactions between journalists, politicians,
and citizens who often seek different ends
- (In legacy media) Journalists = "gatekeepers": screened information (ideally) according to its
truth and importance
First amendment & constitutions
- Guarantee quality press?
- Profit-driven media hides behind it (used to: avoid social responsibility; e.g. free speech)
(Stromback, 2008) Four phases of mediatization and analysis of the mediatization in politics
Mediated politics:
- Mass media as a main channel for information exchange and communication between people and
political actors
- (mediates opinion formation) situation in which media have become the most important source
of information and vehicle of communication between governors and governed
- Politics is mediated when mass media are the main channels through which politics is
communicated and from which depictions of "reality" are conveyed → impacts how
people perceive "reality"
- People depend on media for information about politics and society
- Politicians need media for information about people's opinions and trends in
society (and reaching out to people)
Mediatized politics:
1. "Mediatization:" changes assumptions with communication media and their development
- Increasing media influence = influence can be exerted on people's perception
2. Media logic: (framework used to interpret phenomena) form of communication through which
media present and transmit information
a. Format: how media is organized/ style which is presented/ focus and emphasis on
particular characteristics of behaviour, grammar
, b. Dominance in societal processes of news values and storytelling techniques the media
makes use of to take advantage of their own medium and its format and to be competitive
to capture people's attention
3. Political logic: collective and authoritative decision making; and implementation of political
decisions (distributing political power → who gets what when and how)
Mediatization of politics (as number increases, independence of media increases)
1. Degree to which media constitute the most important/ dominant source of information
2. Degree to which media are independent from political inspirations (how media are governed)
a. Experiences of media experiences = stronger
3. (Adapt to media logic) Degree to which media content is governed by political logic/ media logic
4. Degree to which political actors are governed by political logic/ media logic
a. Colonize politics (adopt same media logic)
b. "Permanent campaigning"
c. Media content is government by media logic (inescapable)
Plessing (2017) Shifting south african media diversity debate form the stick to the carrot
- South africa…
- Story in being told through the eyes of white males
- Has middle class bias (low class remains unheard; issues are misinterpreted; access to
media is unequal)
MMDA: legislation passed in 2001 designed to ensure access to information by marginalized groups;
- Support for community broadcasters and local independent newspapers
- AIM: promote media diversity and access to information
"Stick approach:" state having a policing role of the media
- Instrea: government should actively promote media-diversity
State intervention
Wrong reasons Right reasons
- Controlling content - Promote media diversity
- Curbing freedom to the press - Pluralism
- Diversity
Issues
- Newspapers are dependent on their "market value"
- To increase readership they need to be more attractive to advertisers (but in the case of
marginalized/ poor group such as South Africa it's not attractive, and this leads to less
media attention)
- No "big" audience = suppress media pluralism = push out of market because
advertisers will always favour market leaders
- News and information are in danger of becoming a mere commodity (not public good)
- Economic viability of print media has deteriorated
, - Print has decreased; advertiers's incomes has decreased; digital advertisement is more
profitable than that of print = downsizing
- News media = platform for political and social debate = fourth estate (important in
democratic society)
Lecture 1
Political communication: interactions between political actors, media and public
- Power! Who exercises power on who
- Who "shapes" relationships?
= power relations!
Traditionally, media (e.g. newspapers, TVci) mediates information from political actions to public (& vise
versa)
(Free) Media as a fourth estate (branches of democracy)
- Judiciary, executive, legislative, media
Media Functions
Citizen-citizen (horizontal discussion)
Political actors- public (vertical communication
1. Inform (monitions, inform the citizens)
2. Education (explain what events and facts mean)
3. Platform function: exchange of ideas (public sphere/ public debate)
a. Media is the platform for this discussion/ debate
4. Watchdog function: control over political actors, publicity, for what politics does (wrong)
a. Look for and inform if things are going wrong; "politicians are humans"
5. Channel function: political, ideological opinions need to find way to public
a. Communication channel to inform public (used by politicians to communicate with e.g.
voters)
Role of Journalists
1. Disseminator of information (to public)
2. Interpreters (explain) → (connect to education goal of media)
3. Adversarial (vs. political actors and businesses)
a. Journalists should be critical of political actors and companies (is something going
wrong)
b. Watchdog function?
4. Populist mobilizer (mobilizing people)
a. Journalist seeking other stories (beyond "easy stories" from public)
Threats to journalistic roles
1. Commercialization = less news quality (media logic)
Readings
(Benett, 2016) "The politics of illusion”; news in a changing information system
Aim: important information delivered in timely fashion to people who want to know it (info about
government and public life)
- News characteristics: timely and important
- Digital natives: people born after 1980, who grow up in a highly personalized media
environment
- Daily Us: brought people together around the same report of common news
- "Old mass media": problems, threats and triumphs
- Daily Me: information system that delivers personalized information (ex. 30% of people
get news from FB)
- "Legacy" news sources: TV, radio, daily papers; as legacy media gets older, the
"us" shrinks
Mass media era = one-to-many communication logic
- Audience!
Social media era = many-to-many communication logic (interaction)
- No audience, only public
Governing with the news
- "How it is sold to the people”
- Politicians need to get their positions into the news to establish themselves; signal to
public/ votes that they're visible and active leaders
News can…
a) Shape public opinion among citizens (who are still playing attention)
b) Sway different political factions to join/ oppose political initiatives
c) Hold officials more or less accountable for initiatives
d) Inform citizens about what government is doing
- Agenda setting: using the news to influence what public regards as important to them to think
about society and politics (from big news to small stories)
- Infotainment: news that resembles entertainment
- Indexing:(reporting system) Mendency of mainstream news organization to index/ adjust range
of viewpoints in a story to dominant-positions (whom journalists perceive to have enough power
to affect the outcome of the citation)
Case study: Political comedy reveals "truthiness"about news
- TV =not the authoritative source of info anymore (to stay alive it resorted to "infotainment"
business; increasingly more disconnected from reality
- "Truthiness:" political status that officials introduce into news that are not completely consistent
with available evidence;
- "apparent truth while important evidence is left out"
,Comedy
- Important medium for starting out truth
- "Post-truth" age: columnists have freedom to tell readers when they think politicians are lying
Why do people opt out of news?
- Due to confusing information system which the press offers little perspective
- Media logic! News information feels like its for insiders only
What is news?
a) Reporting of actions and events b) Over a growing variety of publicly accessible media c) by
journalism organization and an expanding spectrum of other content products (including ordinary
citizens)
- Information that is timely and often sensational & familiar
- News is constructed through the constantly changing interactions between journalists, politicians,
and citizens who often seek different ends
- (In legacy media) Journalists = "gatekeepers": screened information (ideally) according to its
truth and importance
First amendment & constitutions
- Guarantee quality press?
- Profit-driven media hides behind it (used to: avoid social responsibility; e.g. free speech)
(Stromback, 2008) Four phases of mediatization and analysis of the mediatization in politics
Mediated politics:
- Mass media as a main channel for information exchange and communication between people and
political actors
- (mediates opinion formation) situation in which media have become the most important source
of information and vehicle of communication between governors and governed
- Politics is mediated when mass media are the main channels through which politics is
communicated and from which depictions of "reality" are conveyed → impacts how
people perceive "reality"
- People depend on media for information about politics and society
- Politicians need media for information about people's opinions and trends in
society (and reaching out to people)
Mediatized politics:
1. "Mediatization:" changes assumptions with communication media and their development
- Increasing media influence = influence can be exerted on people's perception
2. Media logic: (framework used to interpret phenomena) form of communication through which
media present and transmit information
a. Format: how media is organized/ style which is presented/ focus and emphasis on
particular characteristics of behaviour, grammar
, b. Dominance in societal processes of news values and storytelling techniques the media
makes use of to take advantage of their own medium and its format and to be competitive
to capture people's attention
3. Political logic: collective and authoritative decision making; and implementation of political
decisions (distributing political power → who gets what when and how)
Mediatization of politics (as number increases, independence of media increases)
1. Degree to which media constitute the most important/ dominant source of information
2. Degree to which media are independent from political inspirations (how media are governed)
a. Experiences of media experiences = stronger
3. (Adapt to media logic) Degree to which media content is governed by political logic/ media logic
4. Degree to which political actors are governed by political logic/ media logic
a. Colonize politics (adopt same media logic)
b. "Permanent campaigning"
c. Media content is government by media logic (inescapable)
Plessing (2017) Shifting south african media diversity debate form the stick to the carrot
- South africa…
- Story in being told through the eyes of white males
- Has middle class bias (low class remains unheard; issues are misinterpreted; access to
media is unequal)
MMDA: legislation passed in 2001 designed to ensure access to information by marginalized groups;
- Support for community broadcasters and local independent newspapers
- AIM: promote media diversity and access to information
"Stick approach:" state having a policing role of the media
- Instrea: government should actively promote media-diversity
State intervention
Wrong reasons Right reasons
- Controlling content - Promote media diversity
- Curbing freedom to the press - Pluralism
- Diversity
Issues
- Newspapers are dependent on their "market value"
- To increase readership they need to be more attractive to advertisers (but in the case of
marginalized/ poor group such as South Africa it's not attractive, and this leads to less
media attention)
- No "big" audience = suppress media pluralism = push out of market because
advertisers will always favour market leaders
- News and information are in danger of becoming a mere commodity (not public good)
- Economic viability of print media has deteriorated
, - Print has decreased; advertiers's incomes has decreased; digital advertisement is more
profitable than that of print = downsizing
- News media = platform for political and social debate = fourth estate (important in
democratic society)
Lecture 1
Political communication: interactions between political actors, media and public
- Power! Who exercises power on who
- Who "shapes" relationships?
= power relations!
Traditionally, media (e.g. newspapers, TVci) mediates information from political actions to public (& vise
versa)
(Free) Media as a fourth estate (branches of democracy)
- Judiciary, executive, legislative, media
Media Functions
Citizen-citizen (horizontal discussion)
Political actors- public (vertical communication
1. Inform (monitions, inform the citizens)
2. Education (explain what events and facts mean)
3. Platform function: exchange of ideas (public sphere/ public debate)
a. Media is the platform for this discussion/ debate
4. Watchdog function: control over political actors, publicity, for what politics does (wrong)
a. Look for and inform if things are going wrong; "politicians are humans"
5. Channel function: political, ideological opinions need to find way to public
a. Communication channel to inform public (used by politicians to communicate with e.g.
voters)
Role of Journalists
1. Disseminator of information (to public)
2. Interpreters (explain) → (connect to education goal of media)
3. Adversarial (vs. political actors and businesses)
a. Journalists should be critical of political actors and companies (is something going
wrong)
b. Watchdog function?
4. Populist mobilizer (mobilizing people)
a. Journalist seeking other stories (beyond "easy stories" from public)
Threats to journalistic roles
1. Commercialization = less news quality (media logic)
