Media, Society and Politics Full Summary

Media, Society and Politics

CH1 + Mullen

 Five principles in political communication
- Political power usually can be translated into power over the news media
- When authorities lose control over the political environment they also lose control of the news
- There is no such thing as objective journalism
- The media is dedicated to a good story. That’s it. Can majorly impact the political process.
- Most important effect of news media on citizens are mostly unintentional or unnoticed
 Political power and power over the media
- Political power = better position to distribute a message
 News media is interested in elites  elites get more positive coverage
 Media attention  rich get richer, poor get poorer
- Need to be heard is still central in the political game  if you don’t exist in the media, you don’t exist politically
 Become known  mobilize supporters  influence public opinion  influence policy
- Media and politics are competitive symbioses  each side tries to exploit the other with minimum cost  each
side needs the other to succeed
- Elites VS non-elites’ coverage  inequality is structural
 Front door  powerful get more/automatic media access
 Side door  civil disobedience  provide drama without sacrificing legitimacy
 Back door  the powerless have to work hard to get in the media  weaker political actors who do
something weird  must be interesting
 Noam Chomsky – Political economy of mass media
- Propaganda model of media criticism  market forces, internalized assumptions and self-censorship motivate
newspapers and television networks to stifle dissent
- US media as business that sells a product to other businesses  audiences = consumers
- “Naïve” liberal model  media as a lapdog
- Media as a watchdog  Bennet & Serrin 2005
 Liberal idea  media take initiative  investigative reporting  independent scrutiny  documenting,
questioning and investigating  provide public with official and timely information
- A well-functioning media is paramount for democratic societies
 Report events objectively as the occur to allow informed political choices
 Control power-holders and expose abuse of power
 US media fails to perform its democratic task and are akin to totalitarian propaganda systems  media
is often involved in misinformation (Chomsky)
 Foucault - Power is everywhere  diffused and embodied in discourse, knowledge and regimes of truth
- Norms are embedded beyond our perception  self-discipline with no outside coercion
- Panopticism  systematic ordering and controlling of human populations through subtle and often unseen
forces  surveillance techniques
- Power = the intention production of causal effects
 Ability to achieve one’s goals or objectives
 Ability to overcome opposition, to exercise control over people
 Power is hierarchical  relations between a superior (principle) and a subordinate (subaltern)  intentional
act of a superior  subordinate has some freedom of choice and resistance
- 4 forms of power
 Corrective forms  affecting the options for actions
 Physical force or coercion on decisions or compliance (zero-sum)  limiting options
 Manipulation, agenda-setting and non-decisions  changing the basis of choice
 Persuasive forms  affecting the reasons for actions

,  Shaping the meaning and significance of things  cognitive symbolism
 Values-shaping  thought control  ideological and discursive hegemony and disciplining
- Force and coercion  physical coercion based on negative bodily and emotional sanctions  violent actions
against the mind or body of the sub  principal reduced subs options to zero  also humiliation
- Manipulation and propaganda  principal changes the bases on which the subaltern perceives the rational
bases of action without the subaltern noticing it  sub chooses on ‘rational’ grounds what the principal wants
- Signification and cognitive symbolism  power relations are articulations of meaning
 Framing  frames shape individual understanding and public opinion concerning an issue and by stressing
the specific elements or features of the broader controversy
 Frames are ideologically laden packages of truth claims about reality  they compete
- Value shaping  dominant ideology
 Ideological hegemony  a situation where a particular ideology is pervasively reflected in a society in al
principal social institutions  permeates dominant cultural ideas and social relationships \
 Filters of propaganda model that determine media content
- Herman and Chomsky  US media functions as a mechanism of propaganda thought 5 filter  most media
have been filtered to express dominant ideology and interests  traces routes by which money and power are
able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the governments and elites to get their
messages out
1. Size and ownership of media companies  mainstream media is trapped by interests of advertisers and
authority of the government  profit-seeking is imperative and creates bias  information presented favors
their interests
2. Advertising as a main income  news is a filler to get readers to see ads
3. Sourcing  mass media need stable and reliable news-material flow  economics dictate concentration of
resources
 Churnalism  pre-packaged and ready to use news  media mainly refers to power-holders
 Indexing theory  sources and views in media are indexed according to power balance among political
institutions and actors  journalists mostly cite dominant actors using dominant views/frames  more
likely to determine political outcome, they give legitimacy to a story
4. Flak  negative responses to a media statement or broadcast  either withdrawal of from advertisers or loss
of viewers/listeners  undermining credibility of critics  PR companies
5. Anti-ideology and fear  scared people do not go against the system  dominant ideology controls people 
politics of fear: accept everything that is on your side  the way artificial fears are created to rid of ideology
opposition and make people afraid so they will accept authority



CH2 + Blumler

 Political control and media independence
- When authorities lose control over the political environment they also lose control over the news
- Political environment  everything people are doing, thinking and saying about an issue at a particular place
and time
 Authorities level of control over important events
 Control over the flow of relevant information
 Ability to maintain a high level of elite consensus surrounding their policies  if consensus breaks down,
policy changes occur
 Independent media  three points on a continuum
- Right end  news media are completely dependent on authorities for everything
- Left end  news media have highest level of independence  true watchdogs