Political Journalism in Comparative Perspective (Communication, Society and Politics)
Cambridge University Press, 4/28/2014
EAN 9781107036284, ISBN10: 1107036283
Hardcover, 264 pages, 22.2 x 14.5 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
Political journalism is often under fire. Conventional wisdom and much scholarly research suggest that journalists are cynics and political pundits. Political news is void of substance and overly focused on strategy and persons. Citizens do not learn from the news, are politically cynical, and are dissatisfied with the media. This book challenges these assumptions, which are often based on single-country studies with limited empirical observations about the relation between news production, content, and journalism's effects. Based on interviews with journalists, a systematic content analysis of political news, and panel survey data in different countries, this book tests how different systems and media-politics relations condition the contents of political news. It shows how different content creates different effects and demonstrates that under the right circumstances citizens learn from political news, do not become cynical, and are satisfied with political journalism.
1. Introduction
2. Comparing political journalism
3. Journalists
the people behind the headlines
4. Journalists and politicians
a troubled relationship
5. Do role conceptions matter?
6. What type of journalism produces public knowledge?
7. Does infotainment journalism lead to political cynicism? The effects of privatization versus personalization in the news
8. Good journalism, satisfied citizens? How perceived watchdog reporting affects satisfaction with political coverage
9. Political journalism
today and tomorrow.