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Elsevier

The Psychology of Media and Politics

  • 1st Edition - April 14, 2005
  • Latest edition
  • Authors: George Comstock, Erica Scharrer
  • Language: English

Research indicates that people discount their own opinions and experiences in favor of those of "experts" as espoused in the media. The framing of news coverage thus has a pr… Read more

Description

Research indicates that people discount their own opinions and experiences in favor of those of "experts" as espoused in the media. The framing of news coverage thus has a profound impact on public opinion, and political decision making as a response to public outcry. However, the choice of how to frame the news is typically made to solicit viewership and high ratings rather than to convey accurate and meaningful information. The Psychology of Media and Politics discusses why people discount their own opinions, how the media shapes the news, when this drives political decision making, and what the effect is on the future of society.

Issues addressed include:

  • How powerful are the media in shaping political beliefs/judgment?
  • How has this power changed in recent years?
  • How does media influence voting behavior?
  • To what extent do media opinions affect political decision making?

Key features

  • Demonstrates the ways in which the media both constrain and facilitate democratic participation
  • Provides insight into why individuals have varying levels of attention to and interest in politics
  • Discusses such issues as political advertising, polls, debates, and journalists' pursuit of scandal
  • Describes why only some Americans turn out to vote in prominent elections
  • Offers a model of personal- versus social-level influences that extends beyond politics into other important topic areas
  • Brings together research and theories from the fields of Communication, Psychology, and Political Science
  • Reviews hundreds of key sources, both historical and contemporary

Readership

Advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members studying media and politics; students and researchers in political communication, political science, and political psychology fields; students and researchers in communication and psychology.

Table of contents

The Psychology of Media and Politics
George Comstock and Erica Scharrer

Preface
Acknowledgements

Part I
Early Knowledge

Chapter I – Conventional Wisdom
Chapter II – Necessary Corrections

Part II
Press and Public

Chapter III – The New Media
Chapter IV – The Goods
Chapter V – Heterogeneous Faces

Part III
The Collective Self

Chapter VI – Using the Media
Chapter VII – Beyond Politics

References
Epilogue
Author Index
Subject Index

Review quotes

"...a compendium of often interesting theories, studies, and typologies."—Stuart Fischoff for PsycCRITIQUES - Volume 51, Issue 46

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: May 31, 2005
  • Language: English

About the authors

GC

George Comstock

George Comstock earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University. He currently is the S.I. Newhouse Professor at the School of Public Communication, Syracuse University in the Television-Radio-Film Department. He is the author of Television and the American Child and was the senior author of the original Television and Human Behavior.Professor Comstock is a social psychologist and expert on the social effects of mass media. He is former science advisor and senior research coordinator of U.S. Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior. Professor Comstock teaches classes insocial effects of television and communication research methods.
Affiliations and expertise
Syracuse University, New York, U.S.A.

ES

Erica Scharrer

Erica Scharrer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at University of Massachusetts and studies media content, opinions about media, and media influence.
Affiliations and expertise
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, U.S.A.

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