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ALL lectures for Media Society and Politics/ Media Maatschappij en Politiek
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Making Sense of Media & Politics: Five Principles in Political Communication Gadi Wolfsfeld
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Samenvatting literatuur vak Media, Maatschappij en Politiek (Gadi Wolfsfeld - Making sense of media and politics: Five principles in political communication.)
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LITERATUUR MEDIA, MAATSCHAPPIJ EN POLITIEKSection one: Political Actors Compete Over the News Media
Chapter one: Political Power and Power over the Media
“Political power can usually be translated into power over the news media.”
The powerful are most likely to have an impact on the country and the world.
The relationship between journalists and political leaders can be considered a competitive symbiosis; each
depends on the other in order to achieve their goals. Each wants to get the most from the other while
‘paying’ as little as possible.
The news media mostly focus on what the elites are saying and doing. If nobody is talking about it, even if
it’s an important issue, the news media will simply ignore it.
Power comes in many forms
Power is not limited to politicians, there are also other individuals with resources that allow them to have a
major impact on society.
Not just more coverage but usually more positive
Powerful elites get more coverage and also more positively.
Front door
o VIP’s; the people with political power.
o Covered because of who they are and what they are doing/saying.
o Treated with respect.
Those with power and resources have the advantage of being able to hire ‘spin doctors’ who are experts at
promoting stories to the news media.
However, these people also fail and the media is more than happy to talk about scandals. But journalists
have to think carefully before they go to war against their most important sources.
Back door
o Weaker political actors who only become newsworthy if they do something especially weird
or deviant. If you’re not important, you better be interesting.
o The challenger wants to talk about their demands while the news media are interested in
the action.
o More negative news.
Side door
o Civil disobedience.
o The level of success depends on 3 factors:
The level of violence that the authorities use against the group
The extent to which people can identify with your cause
The level of violence you use
Political actors who most need access to the news are the ones that find it the most difficult to obtain.
What about the new media?
Most political movements are ‘back door’ challenges.
1
, 4 goals political movements attempt to achieve where the new Internet media could be useful:
1. Should help movements in their efforts to mobilize supporters to their cause.
2. Have their messages and news stories appear in the traditional media which will allow them to
reach a much wider audience.
3. Have an influence on public opinion so the wider audience becomes more sympathetic with the
movement.
4. Have an impact on politics.
The technology becomes less and less helpful as one gets closer to the top. It’s handy for the beginning but
at the end you need people who are willing to devote time and money to the cause. Besides, there’s a lot
of competition; everyone uses social media but the traditional media only have limited time and space.
Traditional media remains the best tool for generating political waves about an issue.
Chapter two: Political Control and Media Independence
“When the authorities lose control over the political environment, they also lose control over the news.”
Journalists go from being lap dogs to attack dogs.
Political environment: everything people are doing, thinking and saying about an issue at a particular place
and time.
1. Authorities’ level of control over events
2. Authorities’ control over the flow of relevant information
3. Authorities’ ability to maintain a high level of elite consensus surrounding their policies
Political leader: you lead by constantly attempting to move policies that are important to you in a
particular direction. The more leaders succeed in all of these efforts concerning a particular issue the better
they will be at determining how the press will cover their positions and their actions.
Look at 3 major indicators of success to understand the notion of a leader’s political control:
1. The extent to which they are able to take control over important events.
2. The ability of authorities to take control over the flow of information.
a. These years it is much easier to get information, bad for leaders.
3. How much leaders are able to mobilize a broad consensus in support of their policies.
a. These are the major sources for journalists.
b. When those in the opposition are unwilling to come out publicly against the president, the
journalists have no critics to quote.
c. If ‘everyone important’ agrees on a certain policy, the chances are that most reporters feel
the same way.
d. When the vast majority of the public supports the president, there is no economic sense for
journalists to run in the opposite direction.
Media and war
When trying to understand the role the news media play in war it is always helpful to begin by looking at
different wars and different stages of war. Sometimes authorities have a great deal of control over the
political environment, sometimes they don’t.
Once an issue is considered controversial, current events programs feel an obligation to bring both sides of
the argument.
The politics-media-politics cycle
2
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