BREE 420 Lecture 22: CANS 406 22 March Notes
25 May 2018
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Department
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Chapter 8: The Political Culture of News
Mediatization of political life
- Pol institutions and media become deeply intertwined
- Media doesn’t define politics any more than poli structures dictate news
- “Copernican revolution” of media where in the last 50 yrs media in Europe (in the US
over the last century) has become more vis and independent of parties
o “yesterday everything circled around the parties, today everything circles around
and in the space of the media” (154)
Public scrutiny in US politics
- Public scrutiny of political life changed over time
o First cent of US hist, politics behind closed doors, in secret, no public
participation
o Late 19th c., special interest groups voiced opinions about politics but didn’t really
affect outcomes because key decision maker was the Senate
o the 17th amendment in 1913: electing senators once done by state legislatures to
popular vote
o Legislative changes in 1929 made it possible for public hearings to become
standard practice
o 1969 – became routine for interest groups to offer public testimony
o 1981 – television coverage of hearings made a great publicity opportunity for
interest groups
- 100 years ago presidents didn’t try to court public opinion
o Public mood had no influence
o President Roosevelt pioneered the practice of appealing to the public – politics
were still insider politics
From bargaining to going public
- Samuel Kernell – the fundamental strategy of presidential leadership has shifted from
“bargaining” to “going public”
o Gov’t needs media entourage consultants
o Gov’t became form of campaigning
- Foreign and domestic travel increased from President Hoover to Jimmy Carter
- What accounts for a presidential strategy of “going public”?
o Federal gov’t growing influence in daily life created interested poli constituencies
outside of Washington; gave reason to speak to them
o Became easier to reach these constituencies with radio and tv, jet aircraft made
travel easier
o Decline of political parties limited public adherence to a particular party standard,
reduced personal loyalty to party-based networks, weakened relations btwn party
professionals and political elites that once made pol bargaining convenient/neutral
o Congress became more democratic and egalitarian, each member of Congress
became more entrepreneurial in conducting politics
** Black Mirror Question: How do we uphold merit-based judgements in politics? On one
hand, it’s boring and no one pays attention or it’s funny and loses its merit. Dangers in scenarios
in Lincoln and BMirror; how do we progress?
How does the US compare?
- Place of media in society depends on the place
o Sweden is much smaller, so only a few sources have a very large degree of
control on public discourse
▪ Only an elite few had to be convinced of a position for that one to
dominate – go unquestioned
▪ e.g. criticizing US policy in Vietnam
- US media directly affect foreign policy making whereas in the Netherlands the Foreign
Ministry operates outside the context of news coverage and pub opinion
o US coverage – persistent, widespread
o Dutch coverage – limited, random
- US and Sweden’s laws protect free and open expression better than UK, France, and
Germany but France, Germany, and Sweden accommodate a wide range of views in
central parliament while American two-party system prevents extreme/idiosyncratic
views from getting attention
- How should the news media cover private lives of public officials?
o “Pudenda over politics” (US, UK)
o Germany civil law strong protection to private lives – “intimate sphere” coverage
illegal
- Relationship of press and pol parties
o US – pol parties are invisible – national pol events portrayed as a battle btwn
president and Congress
o Italy – newscasters interview a spokesperson from each leading party, reinforces
parties’ presence to the people
- News for security and preservation of their country
o Israel – economic censorship as a danger to free press than state censorship
▪ Press in Israel began as a revolutionary Zionist press, still retains
commitment to Zionism
▪ Overt censorship on military matters is rare – journalists exercise self-
censorship
▪ Very self-conscious about risks to national security of reporting and
publishing in Israel re: Arab-Israeli conflict – rare in the states
o US Case: 9/11 wave of patriotic fervor – journalists become aware of what they
publish when they imagine enemies reading their content
Quote
- Conclude chapter: from “labour intensive” to “capital intensive”
Document Summary
Pol institutions and media become deeply intertwined. Media doesn"t define politics any more than poli structures dictate news. 100 years ago presidents didn"t try to court public opinion: public mood had no influence, president roosevelt pioneered the practice of appealing to the public politics were still insider politics. Samuel kernell the fundamental strategy of presidential leadership has shifted from. Bargaining to going public : gov"t needs media entourage consultants, gov"t became form of campaigning. Foreign and domestic travel increased from president hoover to jimmy carter. On one hand, it"s boring and no one pays attention or it"s funny and loses its merit. Us media directly affect foreign policy making whereas in the netherlands the foreign. Ministry operates outside the context of news coverage and pub opinion: us coverage persistent, widespread, dutch coverage limited, random. Us and sweden"s laws protect free and open expression better than uk, france, and.
