A nation fragmented : the public agenda in the information age / Jill A. Edy and Patrick C. Meirick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Edy, Jill A., 1966- author.

Meirick, Patrick C., 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media--Political aspects--United States--History--20th century.

Mass media.

Mass media--Political aspects--United States--History--21st century.

Press and politics--United States--History--20th century.

Press and politics.

Press and politics--United States--History--21st century.

Political planning--United States--History--20th century.

Political planning.

Political planning--United States--History--21st century.

United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

United States.

United States--Politics and government--1989-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (273 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; Rome ; Tokyo : Temple University Press, [2019]

Summary:

The transformation from an undifferentiated public to a surfeit of interest groups has become yet another distinguishing feature of the increasing polarization of American politics. Jill Edy and Patrick Meirick contend that the media has played a key role in this splintering. A Nation Fragmented reveals how the content and character of the public agenda has transformed as the media environment evolved from network television and daily newspapers in the late 1960s to today's saturated social media world with 200 cable channels. The authors seek to understand what happened as the public's sense of shared priorities deteriorated. They consider to what extent our public agenda has "fallen apart" as attention to news has declined, and to what extent we have been "driven apart" by changes in the issue agendas of news. Edy and Meirick also show how public attention is limited and spread too thin except in cases where a highly consistent news agenda can provoke a more focused public agenda.  A Nation Fragmented explores the media's influence and political power and, ultimately, how contemporary democracy works.

Contents:

The public agenda in the information age

A history of the public agenda, 1975-2014

The character of the public agenda, 1975-2014

Broadcast news and the public agenda, 1968-2010

Media choice, news agendas, and the public agenda

Building consensus on public priorities : can the public agenda be focused?

Political responsiveness and the public agenda

What happened to "us"?

Appendix A: Coding the "most important problem" question

Appendix B: Computing diversity and volatility in the public agenda

Appendix C: Measuring agenda setting and alternate time series models

Appendix D: Collecting data on the media system and using ridge regression

Appendix E: Analyzing the pew excellence in journalism news coverage index

Appendix F: Coding major presidential addresses

Appendix G: Policy agendas project public agenda and house hearings data.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781439916018

1439916012

OCLC:

1048660693