©FYNDLAY.
PO306 Midterm #1 Exam Study Guide.
Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide (Shanto Iyengar)
Ch. 1 - Introduction: Image is Everything - Answers✔Media-Based Politics in the United States
Outline of the Book - Behavior and Performance of the Press, Shaping the News: Candidates,
Advocacy Groups, and Elected Officials, Media Effects
Ch. 2 - The Press and the Democratic Process: The American System in Comparative
Perspective - Answers✔Summaries:
1. Mass media in democratic societies serve three important functions: (1) Providing an electoral
forum for candidates and political parties to debate their qualifications for office before a
national audience, (2) Contributing to informed citizenship by providing a variety of perspectives
on the important issues of the day (the public sphere function), (3) Serving as a watchdog
scrutinizing the actions of government officials on behalf of citizens
2. The centrality of the media's role in the political process depends on universal access to media
and on the relative strength of other political institutions - political parties in particular
3. The media became central to US politics in the 1960s, at a time when major changes in the
candidate nomination process were weakening political parties. These changes were made
possible by the almost universal spread of TV occurring at the time
4. The American media system (particularly with respect to broadcast media) differs from that of
most other industrialized democracies in two respects: (1) It is almost entirely privately owned,
(2) Its regulation is relatively weak
5. Print media, in the US and elsewhere, have never been subject to the same level of
government control as broadcast media
6. The US also has weaker regulatory standards governing the coverage of elections. Whereas
politicians in the US must purchase access to the broadcast media (usually in the form of thirty-
second campaign commercials), many other democracies grant free airtime to candidates in the
1
, ©FYNDLAY.
run up to elections. Some also have rules governing the balance of viewpoints presented in news
during political campaigns.
Ch. 3 - The Media Marketplace: Where Americans Get the News - Answers✔Summaries:
1. Historically, where Americans get their news has depended on the development of new
technologies for transmitting information. In the 1920s, radio began to supplant newspapers as
the main source of news for most Americans, and radio was itself supplanted by TV in the
1950s.
2. The spread of cable TV - and more recently the Internet - has transformed the news landscape,
but the most serious threat to network news today is local news.
3. The credibility of the media in the eyes of the American public has declined sharply in recent
decades.
4. Market forces influence the form and content of news. Market pressures are especially intense
in the world of broadcast news, where soft news, sitcoms, and reality TV shows attract much
larger audiences than serious news does. News producers adapt to the competition from soft
news, sitcoms, and talk shows by making their own news programs more entertaining and less
serious. The current 24-hour news cycle has also increased pressure, as news organizations strive
to deliver the news faster than their competitors do.
5. Organizational processes and the professional principles of journalists also influence what is
reported. Modern political journalism rests on two dominant values: objectivity and autonomy.
In attempting to protect their autonomy, reporters tend toward a more analytic form of news
coverage centered on interpretation and analysis. Ad watches, candidate strategy, the horse race,
and scandal stories feature prominently in this kind of coverage.
6. Accessibility and appropriateness also shape news coverage. In terms of everyday news,
Washington DC is the center of the universe for most major news organizations and that's where
most of their correspondents are stationed (and hence has access to stories). The appropriateness
of a story for a particular news outl
Ch. 4 - Reporters, Official Sources, and the Decline of Adversarial Journalism -
Answers✔Summaries:
1. As coverage of 2003 invasion of Iraq illustrates, the media tend to be less adversarial in
dealing with national security and foreign policy than in dealing with domestic issues
2. One explanation for the media's less adversarial stance is indexing. In a news system based on
official sources, reporters' coverage of issues mirrors the level and intensity of elite debate. The
higher the level of elite dissent, the easier it is for the reporter to pit competing sources against
each other. Where domestic political events are concerned, the presence of vocal and
authoritative critics grants journalists the necessary leverage to question official accounts. On
matters of foreign policy, however, critics of government policy tend to fall silent and the press
is left with only official sources.
2
PO306 Midterm #1 Exam Study Guide.
Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide (Shanto Iyengar)
Ch. 1 - Introduction: Image is Everything - Answers✔Media-Based Politics in the United States
Outline of the Book - Behavior and Performance of the Press, Shaping the News: Candidates,
Advocacy Groups, and Elected Officials, Media Effects
Ch. 2 - The Press and the Democratic Process: The American System in Comparative
Perspective - Answers✔Summaries:
1. Mass media in democratic societies serve three important functions: (1) Providing an electoral
forum for candidates and political parties to debate their qualifications for office before a
national audience, (2) Contributing to informed citizenship by providing a variety of perspectives
on the important issues of the day (the public sphere function), (3) Serving as a watchdog
scrutinizing the actions of government officials on behalf of citizens
2. The centrality of the media's role in the political process depends on universal access to media
and on the relative strength of other political institutions - political parties in particular
3. The media became central to US politics in the 1960s, at a time when major changes in the
candidate nomination process were weakening political parties. These changes were made
possible by the almost universal spread of TV occurring at the time
4. The American media system (particularly with respect to broadcast media) differs from that of
most other industrialized democracies in two respects: (1) It is almost entirely privately owned,
(2) Its regulation is relatively weak
5. Print media, in the US and elsewhere, have never been subject to the same level of
government control as broadcast media
6. The US also has weaker regulatory standards governing the coverage of elections. Whereas
politicians in the US must purchase access to the broadcast media (usually in the form of thirty-
second campaign commercials), many other democracies grant free airtime to candidates in the
1
, ©FYNDLAY.
run up to elections. Some also have rules governing the balance of viewpoints presented in news
during political campaigns.
Ch. 3 - The Media Marketplace: Where Americans Get the News - Answers✔Summaries:
1. Historically, where Americans get their news has depended on the development of new
technologies for transmitting information. In the 1920s, radio began to supplant newspapers as
the main source of news for most Americans, and radio was itself supplanted by TV in the
1950s.
2. The spread of cable TV - and more recently the Internet - has transformed the news landscape,
but the most serious threat to network news today is local news.
3. The credibility of the media in the eyes of the American public has declined sharply in recent
decades.
4. Market forces influence the form and content of news. Market pressures are especially intense
in the world of broadcast news, where soft news, sitcoms, and reality TV shows attract much
larger audiences than serious news does. News producers adapt to the competition from soft
news, sitcoms, and talk shows by making their own news programs more entertaining and less
serious. The current 24-hour news cycle has also increased pressure, as news organizations strive
to deliver the news faster than their competitors do.
5. Organizational processes and the professional principles of journalists also influence what is
reported. Modern political journalism rests on two dominant values: objectivity and autonomy.
In attempting to protect their autonomy, reporters tend toward a more analytic form of news
coverage centered on interpretation and analysis. Ad watches, candidate strategy, the horse race,
and scandal stories feature prominently in this kind of coverage.
6. Accessibility and appropriateness also shape news coverage. In terms of everyday news,
Washington DC is the center of the universe for most major news organizations and that's where
most of their correspondents are stationed (and hence has access to stories). The appropriateness
of a story for a particular news outl
Ch. 4 - Reporters, Official Sources, and the Decline of Adversarial Journalism -
Answers✔Summaries:
1. As coverage of 2003 invasion of Iraq illustrates, the media tend to be less adversarial in
dealing with national security and foreign policy than in dealing with domestic issues
2. One explanation for the media's less adversarial stance is indexing. In a news system based on
official sources, reporters' coverage of issues mirrors the level and intensity of elite debate. The
higher the level of elite dissent, the easier it is for the reporter to pit competing sources against
each other. Where domestic political events are concerned, the presence of vocal and
authoritative critics grants journalists the necessary leverage to question official accounts. On
matters of foreign policy, however, critics of government policy tend to fall silent and the press
is left with only official sources.
2
