1 Prof. Matthew A. Baum Fall Office Hours: MW 1:30-2:30, or by appointment Phone:

Transcription

1 1 Prof. Matthew A. Baum Fall 2009 Office: T244 MW 11:40-1 p.m. Location: T301 Office Hours: MW 1:30-2:30, or by appointment Phone: DPI-608 Political Communication Syllabus Overview: This course considers the degree to which Americans' political opinions and actions are influenced by the mass media, particularly television, as well as the influence of the mass media on public policy. Topics to be covered include the history of the mass media, recent trends in the news media, theories of attitude formation and change, the nature of news, the ways in which the news shapes the public's perceptions of the political world, campaign communication, how the media and public opinion affect the manner in which public officials govern, and the general role of the mass media in the democratic process. Requirements: (1) Term paper. There will be one paper (approximately pages, double spaced), based on a topic covered in the course. The paper counts for 40% of the final grade and will be due at the last meeting of the class. (2) Group project. For the group project, teams of students will prepare a proposal, in the form of a policy briefing, for reforming some aspect of the conduct of political campaigns in America. At the end of the semester, each team will submit their proposal, in writing, and then present a summary (approximately 30 minutes) to the class, followed by a Q&A session. The group project will count for 35% of the final grade. (3) Participation. There are two elements to the participation grade. First, for each class meeting, 1-2 students will be asked to find a newspaper or news magazine article that relates to one or more of the theoretical perspectives addressed in the pertinent lecture or readings. The student(s) will summarize the story (verbally) and explain how it relates to the theoretical concepts we are addressing in the course. This will be followed by a class discussion. Second, participation in class discussions will also count toward the overall participation grade. Together, these two elements count for 25% of the final grade. All readings are available online, included in a course reader, or both. I. Course Overview (September 2) II. Introduction to the Mass Media A. Historical Development (September 9) - Davis, Richard The Press and American Politics, 3 rd Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Chs. 2-3, pp Discussion Topic: What, if any, lessons do the eras of the partisan press and/or yellow journalism hold for contemporary politics and political communication? Are there any parallels that, in your view, would help us to understand what to expect in the future? B. Economics: technology, regulation and competition (September 14) - Baum, Matthew A. and Sam Kernell Has Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television? American Political Science Review 93 (March): Aufderheide, Patricia Communications Policy and the Public Interest, in Doris A. Graber, editor, Media Power in Politics, 4 th Edition. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. Ch. 31. pp

2 - Hamilton, James T All the News That s Fit to Sell: How the Market Transforms Information into News. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapter 1 ( Economic Theories of News ) and Chapter 9 ( Content, Consequences, and Policy Choices ). - Popkin, Samuel L., "Changing Media, Changing Politics", Perspectives on Politics, 4(2), (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp Crowley, Michael Shadow Warriors. New York Magazine (June 28). ( 9372/) - Meyer, Philip Saving Journalism: How to Nurse the Good Stuff Until it Pays. Columbia Journalism Review (June). ( Discussion Topic: Is news a public good or a commodity, whose content is driven by market considerations? Can it be both? How should news be treated by society? Can public be induced to consume more, and more serious, political news? Should it be? C. A new news paradigm? (September 16 and 21) - Prior, Markus Any Good News in Soft News? The Impact of Soft News Preference on Political Knowledge. Political Communication 20(April/June): Baum, Matthew A. Soft News and Political Knowledge: Evidence of Absence or Absence of Evidence? Political Communication 20 (April/June): Baumgartner, Jody and Jonathan S. Morris The Daily Show Effect: Candidate Evaluations, Efficacy, and American Youth. American Politics Research 34(3): Fisher, Marc "The Metamorphosis," American Journalism Review (November). - Hindman, Matthew Political Accountability and the Web s Missing Middle. Paper presented at the Princeton Conference on Changing Media and Political Accountability, November 30-December 1, Princeton, NJ. - Smolkin, Rachel The Expanding Blogosphere. American Journalism Review (June/July) ( Discussion Topic: Is the blending of news and entertainment good or bad for democracy? What effects is this trend likely to have on politics and public policy? III. Mass Media and Public Opinion A. The Debate over Public Competence (September 23) - Glynn, Carroll J., Susan Herbst, Garrett J. O Keefe and Robert Y. Shapiro Public Opinion. Boulder: Westview Press. Ch. 8, Public Opinion and Democratic Competence, pp Discussion Topic: What are the requirements for citizenship in a republican democracy? How much information do citizens need to fulfill their democratic responsibilities? B. Media Effects (September 28, 30 & October 5) - Ansolabahere, Stephen, Roy Behr and Shanto Iyengar The Media Game. New York: MacMillan Publishing. Chs. 6-7, pp

3 - Druckman, James N The Power of Television Images: The First Kennedy-Nixon Debate Revisited. Journal of Politics 65(May): Schudson, Michael Trout or Hamburger: Politics and Telemythology. in Doris A. Graber, editor, Media Power in Politics, 4 th Edition. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. Ch. 17, pp Iyengar, Shanto and Adam F. Simon New Perspectives and Evidence on Political Communication and Campaign Effects. Annual Review of Psychology 51: Discussion Topic: Based on your own understanding of what democracy, means, does the U.S. have a real democracy or do we have only the illusion of democracy, with voters manipulated to support whatever policies and candidates media and political elites favor? IV. Media, Public Opinion and Politics A. How the Media Cover Politics (October 7 & 14) - Davis, Richard The Press and American Politics, 3 rd Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Chs , pp Hallin, Daniel C Whose Campaign is it, Anyway? Columbia Journalism Review (January/February). - Patterson, Thomas Bad News, Period. PS: Political Science and Politics 29 (March): Druckman, James N., Martin J. Kifer, and Michael Parkin The Technological Development of Congressional Candidate Websites: How and Why Candidates Use Web Innovations. Paper presented at the Princeton Conference on Changing Media and Political Accountability, November 30-December 1, Princeton, NJ. - Smith, Terrence Courting the Cameras The Newshour with Jim Lehrer (August 6). ( Discussion Topic: How should politics and elections be covered? How well do the media measure up to this standard? What would you anticipate would be the practical beneficial effect political coverage along the lines you suggest? B. Media Bias (October 19) - Groeling, Tim and Samuel Kernell Is Network News Coverage of the President Biased? Journal of Politics 60 (November): Baum, Matthew A. and Phil Gussin In the Eye of the Beholder: How Information Shortcuts Shape Individual Perceptions of Bias in the Media. Quarterly Journal of Political Science 3:1: Groseclose, Tim and Milyo, Jeff A Measure of Media Bias. Quarterly Journal of Economics 120(November): Martin Gilens and Craig Hertzman. "Corporate Ownership and News Bias: Newspaper Coverage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act." Journal of Politics 62(May): Cunningham, Brent Re-thinking Objectivity. Columbia Journalism Review (July/August). ( Discussion Topic: Do you believe the media are biased? If so, how? Is this good or bad for politics and democracy? How do you know bias when you see it? What are the implications for political discourse in America of citizen perceptions of bias in the media? 3 3

4 4 C. Campaign Advertising & Political Participation (October 21 & 26) - West, Darrell M Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaigns, Third Edition. Washington D.C.: CQ Press. Ch. 3, pp Cappella, Joseph N. and Kathleen Hall Jamieson A Spiral of Cynicism: The Press and the Public Good. New York: Oxford University Press, pp Gilens, Martin, Lynn Vavreck and Martin Cohen Mass Media and Public Perceptions of Presidential Candidates, Journal of Politics 60(November): Discussion Topic: What steps, if any, can/should be taken to increase citizen participation in politics? Guest Lecturer: Nicco Mele (October 28). Topic TBD D. Gauging Public Opinion (November 2) - McGraw, Kathleen M Manipulating Public Opinion. In Norrander, Barbara and Clyde Wilcox, editors, Understanding Public Opinion. Washington D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, pp Kegay, Michael R Public Opinion and Polling During Presidential Scandal and Impeachment, Public Opinion Quarterly 63: , Discussion Topic: How can we improve the use of public opinion polls in the news media in order to (a) help political leaders better understand what the public thinks and wants, and (b) help the public, as well as leaders, better understand what the polls can and cannot tell us about public attitudes? V. Media, Public Opinion and Public Policy A. Influencing Public Policy (November 4) - Glynn, Carroll J., et al Public Opinion. Ch. 9 Public Opinion and Policymaking, pp Discussion Topic: How much influence do you think public opinion has on public policy? How much should it have? B. Case study: The CNN Effect & Operation Restore Hope (November 9) - Sharkey, Jacqueline "When Pictures Drive Foreign Policy," American Journalism Review 15, No. 10 (December). - Mermin, Jonathan Debating War and Peace. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapter 6, pp Baum, Matthew A. and Phil Potter The Relationship Between Mass Media, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis Annual Review of Political Science (Forthcoming). C. Case study: Media, Public Opinion, and Iraq (November 16 & 18) - Jacobson, Gary C Public Opinion and the War in Iraq. Paper presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA, August 30 th -September 3,

5 5 - Berinsky, Adam J. and James N. Druckman Public Opinion Research and Support for the Iraq War. Public Opinion Quarterly 71(Spring): Discussion Topic: Is media influence on politics or foreign policy good or bad for democracy? Why? VI. Group Presentations (November 23, 25, 30 & December 2) 5