Search results

Mass media plays a crucial role in information distribution and thus in the political market and public policy making. Theory predicts that information provided by mass media reflects the media's incentives to provide news to different types of groups in society, and affects these groups?influence in policy-making. We use data on agricultural policy from 60 countries, spanning a wide range of development stages and media markets, to test these predictions. We find that, in line with theoretical predictions, public support to agriculture is strongly affected by the structure of the mass media. In particular, a greater role of the private mass media in society is associated with policies which benefit the majority more: it reduces taxation of agriculture in poor countries and reduces subsidization of agriculture in rich countries, ceteris paribus. The evidence is also consistent with the hypothesis that increased competition in commercial media reduces transfers to special interest groups and contributes to more efficient public policies

A review essay on books by: John Mueller, Policy and Opinion in the Gulf War (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1994); & W. Lance Bennett & David L. Paletz (Eds), Taken by Storm: The Media, Public Opinion and U.S. Foreign Policy in the Gulf War (Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1994 [see listings in IRPS No. 88]). It is argued that the Gulf War highlighted the conflict experienced by all democracies during war: the tension between the military need for the restriction of information & the citizens' democratic right to be given the information & opportunity needed to assess & alter policy. While both books suggest that the informational flow favored the military during the Gulf War, Bennett & Paletz argue that interactions between the media & military are characterized by interdependence & mutual exploitation. Mueller claims that despite serious political opposition & public doubt, George Bush was able to pursue the war because of public/media trust, the ease of portraying Saddam Hussein as a villain, & the generally accepted belief that the war would quickly solve a troublesome problem without many casualties. Both books assert that there were viable alternatives to war. Mueller claims that economic sanctions could have been successful while Bennett & Paletz conclude that the appropriation of the media by the military machine led to a significant restriction on information & challenged journalistic ethics. T. Sevier

Public relations and journalism have had a difficult relationship for over a century, characterised by mutual dependence and - often - mutual distrust. The two professions have vied with each other for primacy: journalists could open or close the gates, but PR had the stories, the contacts and often the budgets for extravagant campaigns. The arrival of the internet, and especially of social media, has changed much of that. These new technologies have turned the audience into players - who play an important part in making the reputation, and the brand, of everyone from heads of state to new car models vulnerable to viral tweets and social media attacks. Companies, parties and governments are seeking more protection - especially since individuals within these organisations can themselves damage, even destroy, their brand or reputation with an ill-chosen remark or an appearance of arrogance. The pressures, and the possibilities, of the digital age have given public figures and institutions both a necessity to protect themselves, and channels to promote themselves free of news media gatekeepers. Political and corporate communications professionals have become more essential, and more influential within the top echelons of business, politics and other institutions. Companies and governments can now - must now - become media themselves, putting out a message 24/7, establishing channels of their own, creating content to attract audiences and reaching out to their networks to involve them in their strategies. Journalism is being brought into these new, more influential and fast growing communications strategies. And, as newspapers struggle to stay alive, journalists must adapt to a world where old barriers are being smashed and new relationships built - this time with public relations in the driving seat. The world being created is at once more protected and more transparent; the communicators are at once more influential and more fragile. This unique study illuminates a new media age

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: The Bias and the Disruption -- Chapter 2: Mere Rhetoric: From Free Speech to Bread and Circuses -- Chapter 3: The News-Print Revolution -- Chapter 4: The Rise of the Public(s): From a Fuller World to Morse's Macrocosm -- Chapter 5: This Is Fascism -- Chapter 6: Playing Checkers: An Uneasy Triumph for Liberal Democracy -- Chapter 7: The Death of Liberal Democracy: Have We Got Fake(d) News for You -- Chapter 8: Democracy, If We Can Keep It -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index.

Cyber China: Upgrading Propaganda, Public Opinion Work and Social Management for the Twenty-First Century: Rogier Creemers, S. 85-100. - Support for Propaganda: Chinese perceptions of public service advertising: Ashley Esarey, Daniela Stockmann and Jie Zhang, S. 101-117

Since its original articulation in the early 1970s, the 'spiral of silence' theory has become one of the most studied theories of communication and public opinion. It has been tested in varied sociopolitical contexts, with different issues and across communication systems around the world. Attracting the interest of scholars from communication, political science, sociology, public opinion and psychology, it has become both the subject of tempestuous academic debate as well as a mainstay in courses on communication theory globally. Reflecting substantial new thinking, this coll.

"This book reviews relevant literature on media effects on opinion, changes in the media environment, and individual differences that may be relevant to media consumption and effects. It examines factors leading participants to select particular content. It also examines the impact of selective exposure on agenda setting and the effect of selective exposure on priming"--