Conference Outline: Final Draft Oct 29 th, 2004

Transcription

1 Conference Outline: Final Draft Oct 29 th, 2004 Title: Subtitle: Date: Venue: Sponsors Information Society, Media and Democracy Research findings and cross-cultural evidences Dec 2 nd, 2004, 9.00 am 7.30 pm swissnex, San Francisco, 730 Montgomery Street San Francisco-Zurich Initiative, swissnex Introduction: Mass media and democracy cannot be separated in modern societies. The political process can be regarded as closely intertwined with all kinds of public communication. Over the last decades, public relations has not only developed as one of the most important fields of communication research, but the numerous links between journalism and political as well as organizational communications have gained importance for both sides: Political decision making and the mass media have developed close relations with interdependency as the main characteristics. Policy has adapted to the structures of mass media as much as the media have adjusted to the rules of policy making. The conference provides the opportunity to learn more about the complex relations between modern mass media and mass communication and democracy in a comparative perspective. The Department of Communication at Stanford University and the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, will provide insights into their respective research tradition as well as results from recent research work. Each panel will last for about 90 minutes with three or four speakers each and time of discussion thereafter. In the evening, all conference participants are invited for a networkingevent at swissnex. Opening of the Conference (9.00 am) Dick Fredericks, former US Ambassador to Switzerland Christian Simm, Director swissnex (requested/tentativ) Panel 1: Journalism as a civic force cross cultural perspectives ( am) Journalism has become the major force in political deliberations as well as decision making. Over the last years, the influence of the mass media on the democratic processes has increased in the US as well as in Europe. Commercializations, increasing market concentration as well as internationalization have shaped the interdependent relations between politics and the media. Prof. William Woo, Stanford University Prof. Ted Glasser, Stanford University Prof. Frank Marcinkowsky, University of Zurich Ursula Schnyder, journalist, Correspondent for the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, San Francisco

2 Panel 2: Online Technology as a Globalizing Force ( am) Online technology offers limitless opportunities to increase the interest of the public in politics and provides for genuine new tools to enhance democratization, social capital, and political participation. However, cross cultural research results also suggest a more prudent approach: online technology may further increase the wealth and knowledge gap as well as barriers to access to political information and participation. Dr. Mirko Marr, University of Zurich Dr. Josef Trappel, University of Zurich Prof. Clifford Nass, Stanford University Prof. Syed Shariq, Stanford University Bruno Giussani, journalist, Switzerland; European Forum/Stanford Institute for International Studies Lunch at swissnex ( pm) Panel 3: Public Opinion, Participation and Deliberation ( pm) This panel explores informed public opinion and opportunities for participation and uses of the media in the US and Europe. Data from Deliberative Polls, both onlne and face to face will be discussed along with comparative data from Western Europe. Prof. James S. Fishkin, Stanford University Prof. Heinz Bonfadelli, University of Zurich Prof. Robert Luskin, University of Texas, Austin Prof. Jon Krosnick, Dept. of Communication, Political Science, and Psychology, Stanford University Panel 4: Mass Media and Political Campaigns Evidence from the 2004 presidential Elections ( pm) In an increasingly competitive environment, how can news organizations live up to their civic responsiblities? How do America s news media compare with their European counterparts? Dr. Urs Dahinden, University of Zurich Phil Taubman, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Times Jon Sawyer, Washington Bureau Chief, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Prof. Shanto Iyengar, Stanford University Networking event at swissnex ( pm)

3 Bios of speakers: Prof. Heinz Bonfadelli, University of Zurich: Heinz Bonfadelli is an internationally recognized expert in audience and knowledge gap research. He has done research primarily in the area of media and communication research with special emphasis on political communication as well as on utilization and effects of the media (Bonfadelli 2002, 1994, Bonfadelli and Marr) Dr. Urs Dahinden, University of Zurich: Dr. Urs Dahinden works as a senior researcher and lecturer at IPMZ, the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich, Switzerland. He received his MA in communication, sociology, and computer science from the University of Zurich and his PhD from the technical university in Darmstadt, Germany. He was a visiting research fellow at Carneggie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. His research interests are in the field of science and technology communication, political communication, new information and communication technology and empirical research methods. Prof. James S. Fishkin, Stanford University: James S. Fishkin works on the theory and practice of deliberative democracy as well as on theories of distributive justice. He received his B.A. from Yale in 1970 and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale as well as a second Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cambridge. He is the author of a number of books including Tyranny and Legitimacy (1979), The Limits of Obligation (1981), Justice, Equal Opportunity and the Family (1982), Democracy and Deliberation: New Directions for Democratic Reform (1991), The Dialogue of Justice (1992), The Voice of the People: Public Opinion and Democracy (1995). He is best known for developing Deliberative Polling - a practice of public consultation that employs random samples of the citizenry to explore how opinions would change if they were more informed. Professor Fishkin and his collaborators have conducted Deliberative Polls in the US, Britain, Australia, Denmark, Bulgaria and other countries. While Deliberative Polling events are typically televised, face to face discussions, he has recently conducted the first online version in collaboration with the Political Communication Lab at Stanford and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. Prof. Theodore L. Glasser, Stanford University: Theodore L. Glasser s research and teaching focuses on media practices and performance, with emphasis on questions of press responsibility and accountability. His books include Custodians of Conscience: Investigative Journalism and Public Virtue, written with James S. Ettema; Public Opinion and the Communication of Consent, edited with Charles T. Salmon; and The Idea of Public Journalism, an edited collection of original essays. He is the immediate past president of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Tampere, Finland; as the Wee Kim Wee Professor of Communication Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; and as a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

4 Prof. Shanto Iyengar, Stanford University: Shanto Iyengar is Harry & Norman Chandler Professor of Communication and Professor of Political Science. He teaches courses in the areas of political communication and mass media effects and is the director of the Political Communication Lab., a research group that utilizes the Internet to study politics and media. His research has been published in several journals including American Political Science Review, Communication Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Public Opinion Quarterly. Iyengar's books include Going Negative: How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate (co-authored with Steven Ansolabehere), Do the Media Govern? (co-edited with Richard Reeves), and Is Anyone Responsible: How Television Frames Political Issues. Prof. Jon Krosnick, Stanford University: Jon Krosnick is Professor of Communication, Professor of Political Science, and Professor of Psychology (by courtesy) at Stanford University, Director of the Methods of Analysis Program in the Social Sciences, and Associate Director of the Research Institute for the Social Sciences. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty in 2004, Dr. Krosnick was professor of psychology and political science at Ohio State University, where he was a member of the OSU Political Psychology Program and co-directed the OSU Summer Institute in Political Psychology. Robert Luskin, University of Texas in Austin: Robert Luskin is Associate Professor at the University of Texas in Austin. His research interests lie with political behavior, public opinion and voting behavior, political psychology and the effects of political information on the texture and outcomes of representative democracy. Prof. Frank Marcinkowski, University of Zurich: Frank Marcinkowski has specialized in political communication and to be affiliated with an institute of communication sciences. He has published widely on issues ranging from the long-term development of political coverage in the media (Bruns/Marcinkowski 1997, Marcinkowski et al 2001), on theories of the media system and the public sphere (Marcinkowski 1993, Marcinkowski 2002b), and on the role of the media in elections and direct democratic voting (Marcinkowski/Nieland 2002, Marcinkowski 2004, 2005). In 2004, Marcinkowski and Barbara Pfetsch (University of Hohenheim) were selected by the board of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) to serve as co-editors of a special edition of the Political Quarterly (PVS-Sonderband) dedicated to the state of the art in German political science on politics in the media democracy. Dr. Mirko Marr, University of Zurich: Dr. Mirko Marr works as a senior researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich, Switzerland. He earned his MA in communication, linguistics and German literature from the University of Leipzig, Germany, and his PhD in communication from the University of Zürich. His research focuses on journalism, online communication and media & sport.

5 Prof. Clifford Nass, Stanford University: Clifford Nass earned a B.A. cum laude in mathematics (1981) and a Ph.D. in sociology (1986), both from Princeton University. Before attending graduate school, Nass did research on computer graphics, data structures and database design for IBM and Intel. Nass is interested in human-computer interaction, non-parametric statistical methods, and the psychology of technology. He is co-director of the Social Responses to Communication Technology project, an industry-supported research program. He is co-author of The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media Like Real People and Places (Cambridge University Press) and author of over 35 publications on technology and statistical methodology. Dr. Josef Trappel, University of Zurich: Josef Trappel is head of the Center for knowledge transfer and applied media research at the Institut for Mass Communication and Media Research of the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Prior to joining the University in 2003, he was head of the media in an international consultancy company in Basel, Switzerland. His work concentrates on new communication technologies and their implications on mass media and mass communications. Prof. Willian F. Woo, Stanford University: William Woo is Lorry I. Lokey Visiting Professor in Professional Journalism. He has been a journalist for more than 40 years. He is an honors graduate of the University of Kansas, where he majored in English literature. In , he was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He is a lecturer in ethics at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley and a consulting professor in journalism at the University of Hong Kong.