The Psychology of Media and Politics - Hardcover

Comstock, George; Scharrer, Erica

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0121835529 ISBN 13: 9780121835521

Publisher: Academic Press, 2005

Synopsis

Research indicates that people discount their own opinions and experiences in favor of those of "experts" as espoused in the media. The framing of news coverage thus has a profound impact on public opinion, and political decision making as a response to public outcry. However, the choice of how to frame the news is typically made to solicit viewership and high ratings rather than to convey accurate and meaningful information. The Psychology of Media and Politics discusses why people discount their own opinions, how the media shapes the news, when this drives political decision making, and what the effect is on the future of society.

Issues addressed include:

• How powerful are the media in shaping political beliefs/judgment?
• How has this power changed in recent years?
• How does media influence voting behavior?
• To what extent do media opinions affect political decision making?

• Demonstrates the ways in which the media both constrain and facilitate democratic participation
• Provides insight into why individuals have varying levels of attention to and interest in politics
• Discusses such issues as political advertising, polls, debates, and journalists' pursuit of scandal
• Describes why only some Americans turn out to vote in prominent elections
• Offers a model of personal- versus social-level influences that extends beyond politics into other important topic areas
• Brings together research and theories from the fields of Communication, Psychology, and Political Science
• Reviews hundreds of key sources, both historical and contemporary

About this title

Book Description:

This book is about how individuals make political decisions and form impressions of politicians and policies, with a strong emphasis on the role of the mass media in those processes.

From the Back Cover:

The media have a central role in modern politics. They provide the knowledge that individuals gather and consider about candidates and their platforms, the basis on which impressions of candidates are formed and emotional responses to contemporary issues are inspired, as well as a forum in which these ideas are gleaned from and discussed with others. Through their provision of poll information, their airing of political advertisements and political debates, and their coverage of political actors, campaigns, and issues, the media function as a key player in the political arena. Taking a perspective from the field of communication, a field that places the media at the center of the analysis and necessarily draws from a number of disciplines including psychology, political science, and sociology in doing so, The Psychology of Media and Politics assesses the ways in which individuals arrive at political impressions, knowledge, and decisions. The conclusions drawn in the book from a close analysis of decades of social science research put recent political phenomena into perspective and have crucial implications for media and politics in the 21st Century.

About this edition

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0121835529
• ISBN 13: 9780121835521
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328