Democracy without citizens : media and the decay of American politics / Robert M. Entman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Entman, Robert M., author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Journalism--Political aspects--United States.

Journalism.

Journalism--Objectivity--United States.

Government and the press--United States.

Government and the press.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 232 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York ; Oxford University Press, 1989.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"The free press cannot be free," Robert Entman asserts. "Inevitably, it is dependent." In this penetrating critique of American journalism and the political process, Entman identifies a "vicious circle of interdependence" as the key dilemma facing reporters and editors. To become sophisticated citizens, he argues, Americans need high-quality, independent political journalism; yet, to stay in business while producing such journalism, news organizations would need an audience of sophisticated citizens. As Entman shows, there is no easy way out of this dilemma, which has encouraged the decay of democratic citizenship as well as the media's continuing failure to live up to their own highest ideals. Addressing widespread despair over the degeneration of presidential campaigns, Entman argues that the media system virtually compels politicians to practice demagoguery. Entman confronts a provocative array of issues: how the media's reliance on elite groups and individuals for information inevitably slants the news, despite adherence to objectivity standards; why the media hold government accountable for its worst errors--such as scandals and foreign misadventures--only after it's too late to prevent them; how the interdependence of the media and their audience molds public opinion in ways neither group alone can control; why greater media competition does not necessarily mean better journalism; why the abolition of the FCC's Fairness Doctrine could make things worse. Entman sheds fascinating light on important news events of the past decade. He compares, for example, coverage of the failed hostage rescue in 1980, which subjected President Carter to a barrage of criticism, with coverage of the 1983 bombing that killed 241 Marines in Lebanon, an incident in which President Reagan largely escaped blame. He shows how various factors unrelated to the reality

of the events themselves--the apparent popularity of Reagan and unpopularity of Carter, differences in the way the Presidents publicly framed the incidents, the potent symbols skillfully manipulated by Reagan's but not by Carter's news managers--produced two very different kinds of reportage. Entman concludes with some thoughtful suggestions for improvement. Chiefly, he proposes the creation of subsidized, party-based news outlets as a way of promoting new modes of news gathering and analysis, of spurring the established media to more innovative coverage, and of increasing political awareness and participation. Such suggestions, along with the author's probing media criticisms, make this book essential reading for anyone concerned about the state of democracy in America.

Contents:

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Preface and Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction

I: UNDERSTANDING MEDIA INFLUENCE

1: The Dilemma of Journalism: Democracy Without Citizens

Citizenship and Free Press Ideals

Does Citizenship Matter to Democracy?

2: Objectivity, Bias, and Slant in the News

On Liberal Bias in the News

Objectivity, News Slant, and the Political Market

3: Straight Talk on Slanted News: "Bias" and Accountability in Reporting Carter and Reagan

The Importance of Being Billy

Explaining Slant in Scandal News

Foreign Crisis and News Slant

Reality and News Slant

Autonomy and Accountability

Reality and Slant in the Iran-Contra Affair

4: How the Media Affect What People Think-and Think They Think

The Research Tradition

Information Processing and Media Impacts

Testing Media Influence

Findings and Implications

Audience Autonomy Reconsidered

II: IMPROVING JOURNALISM

5: Newspaper Competition arid Free Press Ideals: Does Monopoly Matter?

Economic Market Logic vs. The Marketplace of Ideas

The Impact of Competition

Enriching the Marketplace of Ideas

Economic Markets and Publisher Power

6: Faith and Mystification in Broadcast Deregulation

The Fairness Doctrine in Theory and Operation

Competition's Benefits: New Supply, More Demand?

Removing the Doctrine to Enhance Autonomy

7: Improving Journalism by Enhancing Citizenship

Demagoguery and the Dilemmas of Interdependence

The Supply and Demand Sides of Journalism's Dilemma

Acknowledging Intractability

Appendix A: Citizenship and Opinions: Data and Statistical Analysis

Appendix B: Public Opinion Impacts: Data and Statistical Analysis

Findings

Alternative Explanation: Selective Exposure

Appendix C: Newspaper Competition: Data and Statistical Analysis.

Results

Notes

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 1990.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-221) and index.

Derived record based on print version record and publisher information.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780190281717

0190281715

9780197723692

0197723691

9781280525223

1280525223

9780198022022

0198022026

9780195053135

0195053133

OCLC:

191936242