POL 346 Lecture 16: MEDIA EFFECTS
5 Feb 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
MEDIA EFFECTS
Political Communication Overview
Media as the forth estate in American democracy
Main job of media is to inform the public
Surveillance and patrol functions
Second main role is interpretation
Political communication scholars study the impact of media on public opinion and
political behavior
Impact of campaign messaging, such as campaign ads (next week)
Impact of mass/news media (today’s lecture)
Key Question: Does media matter?
Detour: Problems With Measuring Media Exposure
Self-Report: asking what shows watched and/or how long they spend daily/weekly
watching the news
People who overreport time spent watching news are also likely to overreport turnout
Listing shows watched is problematic
Behavioral measures are better
Browser plug-ins
Experiments are another way of studying impact of actual exposure but have less
external validity
Problem of selective exposure
Do Media MatteR? Maximal versus Minimal Effects
Propaganda/Hypodermic Needle Model
1920s WWII period
Concerned about a “captive audience” for racist leaders like Hitler
Writings focused on the skills of the messenger and characteristics of the message
Little actual evidence for this -audience can resist the message!
Minimal Effects: Two Step Flow Model
Media content is filtered through opinion leaders in social networks
Minimal effects due to homogenous networks
Campaigns more effective at mobilizing than persuading
Current Era: Minimal Effects
What exists between the message being given and the message being received/yielded
to?
Minimal Effects: Selective Exposure
Lab experiments have a captive audience. Once given the choice, many experimental effects of
media exposure go away? Why? (Arceneaux 2013)
Document Summary
Self-report: asking what shows watched and/or how long they spend daily/weekly. People who overreport time spent watching news are also likely to overreport turnout. Experiments are another way of studying impact of actual exposure but have less. Impact of campaign messaging, such as campaign ads (next week) Media as the forth estate in american democracy. Main job of media is to inform the public. Political communication scholars study the impact of media on public opinion and. Detour: problems with measuring media exposure watching the news external validity. Concerned about a captive audience for racist leaders like hitler. Writings focused on the skills of the messenger and characteristics of the message. Little actual evidence for this -audience can resist the message! Media content is filtered through opinion leaders in social networks. What exists between the message being given and the message being received/yielded. People who are most affected by treatments in lab studies are the most likely to tune.
