Summary Literature Media, Society and Politics (Gadi Wolfsfeld - Making sense of media and politics: Five principles in political communication.)
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Media, Maatschappij en Politiek (S_MMP)
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
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Making Sense of Media and Politics
Summary of Gadi Wolfsfeld - Making sense of media and politics: Five principles in political communication. Brief summary of the other literature that is part of the profession.
College aantekeningen Media, maatschappij en politiek (S_MSP) Making Sense of Media and Politics
College aantekeningen Media, maatschappij en politiek (S_MSP) Making Sense of Media and Politics
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Literature MMP
Making sense of media and politiss Five priniiples in politial iommuniiatonn
Introduiton
The five principles:v
Politicl power icn usuclly be rrcnslcred inro power over rhe news med ica
The news: media are more interes:ted in elites:
When rhe curhorites lose ionrrol over rhe politicl environmenr rhey clso lose ionrrol
over rhe newsa
Politcal environmentv everytthinc people are doinc, thinkinc, s:aytinc about an
is:s:ue at a partcular place and tme
The authorites:’ level of control over events:
Their control over the fow of relevant informaton
Their abilityt to maintain a hich level of elite cons:ens:us: s:urroundinc
their policies:.
There is no suih rhing cs objeitve journclism (nor icn rhere be)a
The med ic cre d ed iicred more rhcn cnyrhing else ro relling c good srory cnd rhis icn
often hcve mcjor impcir on rhe politicl proiessa
Infotainmentv this: tytpe of news: is: not reallyt pure informaton and or jus:t
entertainment; it is: s:omethinc in between.
The mosr imporrcnr efeirs of rhe news med ic on iitiens rend ro be uninrentoncl
cnd unnotied a
The efects: are unintentonal becaus:e, contraryt to popular opinion, journalis:ts:
do not s:pend mos:t of their tme aaemptnc to s:wayt public opinion.
The efects: are unnotced in that citiens: are us:uallyt not aware that are beinc
infuenced.
H1s Politcal power and power over the media
One of the major problems: confrontnc all politcal actors: is: that theyt mus:t compete with
hundreds: and s:ometmes: thous:ands: of other actors: who als:o want to cet into the news:.
Journalis:ts: run afer the politcallyt powerful and politcallyt weak run afer journalis:ts:
Politicl power icn usuclly be rrcnslcred inro power over rhe news med ica
The relatons:hip between journalis:ts: and politcal leaders: van be cons:idered a compettve
s:ytmbios:is:. It is: a s:ytmbiotc relatons:hip becaus:e each depends: on the other in order to
achieve their coals:. Leaders: want publicityt and the journalis:ts: want interes:tnc informaton
theyt can turn into news:. The reas:on the relatons:hip is: als:o compettve is: that each wants: to
cet the mos:t informaton form the other while “paytinc” as: liale as: pos:s:ible.
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,Power Comes: in Manyt Forms:
One of the mos:t important rules: of internatonal news: is: that there is: alwayts: a food of
informaton that fows: from the haves: to the have-nots: and a mere trickle that runs: in the
oppos:ite directon.
Not Jus:t More Coverace but Us:uallyt More Pos:itve
There are two doors: for cetnc into the news:. The front door is: res:erved for VIPs:v the people
with politcal power. When thes:e people enter, theyt are us:uallyt treated with res:pect. Theyt
are covered becaus:e of who theyt are as: much as: for what theyt are s:aytinc.
The other wayt is: throuch the back door. This: door is: res:erved for weaker politcal actors: who
onlyt become news:worthyt if theyt do s:omethinc es:peciallyt weird or deviant.
Is: There a Side Door?
Civil obedience is: a wayt for weaker croups: to provide news: people with drama without
completelyt s:acrificinc lecitmacyt. This: tactc provides: drama with a minimal amount of
downs:ide. The relatve s:ucces:s: of s:uch tactcs: depends: on three factors:v the level of violence
that authorites: us:e acains:t the croup, the extent to which people can identfyt with ytour
caus:e, and the level of violence ytou us:e.
Cumulatve Inequalityt
Another ramificaton of the firs:t principle is: the idea of cumulatve inequalitytv not onlyt does:
politcal power trans:late to power over the media, but the politcal actors: who mos:t need
acces:s: to the news: are the ones: that find it the mos:t diicult to obtain.
What About the News: Media
Politcal Movements: and the New Media
There are four major coals: politcal movements: aaempt to achieve where the new Internet
media could be us:efulv
1. It s:hould help movements: in their eforts: to mobiliie s:upporters: to their caus:e.
2. Have their mes:s:aces: and s:tories: appear in the traditonal media which will allow
them to reach a much wider audience.
3. Have an infuence on public opinion s:o the wider audience becomes: more
s:ytmpathetc with the movement.
4. Have an impact on politcs:.
Slacktvis:m is: a combinaton of the word s:lacker and actvis:m. The idea is: that there are quite
a number of dicital actvites: people can carryt out that make them feel cood about
thems:elves: but have abs:olutelyt no impact on either s:ocietyt or politcs:.
There are two veryt diferent tytpes: of movements: who s:eem to have benefited the mos:t
from the emercence of the Internet. The firs:t are what are known as: Trans:natonal Advocacyt
Networks: (TANs:). Groups: dealinc with climate chance, the dancers: of clobaliiaton, nuclear
proliferaton, crueltyt to animals:, and human richts: are all examples: of movements: who have
far more power and infuence now than in the pas:t becaus:e of their abilityt to mobiliie
s:upporters: and res:ources: from around the world.
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,The s:econd tytpe of croup that has: s:een major chance in their fortunes: due to the Internet is:
terroris:t orcaniiatons:. The Internet provides: thes:e croups: with a number of important
advantaces:.
H2v Politcal Control and Media Independence
Althouch politcal power alwayts: provides: advantaces:, the news: media s:ometmes: co from
beinc lapdocs: to aaack docs:. The s:econd principle explains: when this: happens:v When
curhorites lose ionrrol over rhe politicl environmenr, rhey clso lose ionrrol over rhe newsa
The politcal environment is: s:implyt a ceneral term for everytthinc that people and croups: in a
partcular place and tme are s:aytinc and doinc about an is:s:ue.
Journalis:ts: cons:truct news: s:tories: about an is:s:ue byt turninc to their us:ual elite s:ources: and
trytinc to cauce the public mood about the topic. In a s:ens:e, everyt piece of data theyt collect
provides: them with clues: about the s:tate of the politcal environment.
The bes:t wayt to unders:tand the noton of leaders:’ politcal control is: to look at three major
indicators: of s:ucces:s:v
1. The extent to which theyt are able to take control over imporrcnr evenrsa
2. The abilityt of the authorites: to take control over the fow of informctona
a. When ytou have a monopolyt on the major commodityt journalis:ts: are anxious:
to buyt (informaton), ytou can preayt much s:et ytour own price.
b. Modern leaders: have to as:s:ume that anytthinc that is: put into writnc can
eventuallyt be made public.
3. How much leaders: are able to mobiliie c brocd ionsensus in supporr of rheir poliiies,
es:peciallyt amonc the politcal elite.
a. Elites: are the major s:ources: for journalis:ts:.
There are a number of reas:ons: whyt the pres:s: is: s:o s:ens:itve to the level of cons:ens:us: about
an is:s:uev
1. When thos:e in oppos:iton are unwillinc to come out publicallyt acains:t the pres:ident,
the journalis:ts: have no critcs: to quote.
2. There is: nothinc more unifytinc than havinc a common enemyt
3. When the vas:t majorityt of the public s:upports: the pres:ident, it makes: abs:olutelyt no
economic s:ens:e for journalis:ts: to run in the oppos:ite directon.
Politcal Control and Media Independence
Durinc a cris:is:, the news: media are ofen at their mos:t dependent. Oicials: provide the
informaton.
At the other end, are the s:ituatons: in which the news: media exhibit the hiches:t level of
independence, when theyt become true watchdocs:. Thes:e are thos:e are cas:es: where ins:tead
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, of beinc dependent on elite s:ources: theyt initate or uncover critcal news: s:tories: on their
own.
The news: media can als:o exhibit independence form the authorites: in wayts: that are not
related to s:candals:. for example, a critcal analyts:is: of a policyt. Inves:tcatve journalis:m cos:ts: a
creat deal of moneyt becaus:e while reporters: are workinc on the s:toryt theyt are not
contributnc to the dailyt producton of news:.
News: media s:pend the vas:t majorityt of tme trans:forminc events: that are initated byt others:.
This: is: whyt it is: s:o important to look firs:t at what is: happeninc in the politcal world in order
to unders:tand how the news: media cover is:s:ues: and events:.
Vietnam warv it was: the politcal environment s:urroundinc the war that chanced firs:t; the
chance in news: coverace refected what was: happeninc amonc the elite in America.
The Politcs:-Media-Politcs: Cytcle
A cood wayt to unders:tand what happens: when leaders: los:e control over the politcal
environment is: to think of it as: a cytclev politcal chance leads: to chances: in the wayt the news:
media cover is:s:ues: which leads: to further politcal chance. The is: the Politcs:-Media-Politcs:
(PMP) cytcle. Media do not merelyt refect politcal chance, in manyt cas:es: theyt can macnifyt
and accelerate chance.
The PMP cytcle is: an oncoinc proces:s: (think PMPMPMP…) in which at each s:tace politcal
actors: and journalis:ts: feed of one another.
The idea of embedded journalis:ts: is: that theyt are aaached to militaryt units:. The journalis:t
has: acces:s: to creat vis:uals: and live reports: form combat iones:, howeverv
Much eas:ier for the militaryt to control reports:, becaus:e theyt can decide what theyt
s:ee
Byt havinc journalis:ts: focus: of s:pecific baales: theyt are les:s: likelyt to deal with biccer
is:s:ues:
Journalis:ts: who s:pend a cood deal of tme with the s:oldiers: tend to identfyt with
them
Governments: have a much eas:ier tme maintaininc control over the politcal environment
and the media in a s:hort war. The veryt fact that a war coes: s:on for a lonc tme is: a s:icn of
failure. In additon, the chances: that mis:takes: will be made and that embarras:s:inc
informaton will come out als:o increas:es: with tme. Finallyt, as: the lencth of a war crows:,
covernment critcs: will inevitablyt feel les:s: conficted about cominc out acains:t the war.
Technolocyt, News:, and Informatonal control
Conventonal wis:dom has: it that the increas:ed abilityt of journalis:ts: to cather informaton
and imaces: has: made it more diicult for covernments: to maintain a monopolyt over
informaton.
Event driven journalis:mv the bas:ic idea that technolocical innovatons: have increas:ed the
number of “s:pontaneous:” news: s:tories: that are neither planned nor driven byt the
authorites:.
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