Instructor: Shanto Iyengar
Office: 4238 Bunche Hall (5-5536)
Office Hours: T Th, 11-12 (and by appt.)
Text: Ansolabehere, Behr and Iyengar, The Media Game
Additional readings (marked by asterisks in the outline) will be available at Westwood Copies (located at the intersection of Weyburn and Gayley in t;he Village).
Requirements: two examinations and one paper. The paper (5-6 pages, double-spaced) will apply concepts and arguments learned in this course to analyze some aspect of the upcoming 1996 elections.
This course considers the degree to which Americans' political opinions and actions are influenced by the mass media, particularly television. Topics to be covered include theories of attitude formation and change, the nature of news, the ways in which the news shapes the public's perceptions of the political world, campaign communication and candidate strategy, how television affects the manner in which public officials govern, and the general role of the mass media in the democratic process.
Course Outline
Introduction: the flow of public affairs information and the historical evolution of media effects research MG, 1-37; *Reeves, "Politics as news, news as politics." Psychological perspectives on attitudes *Hovland, "Reconciling conflicting results . . . .;" MG, 129-38.
The Nature of news MG, 39-65; *Patterson, "Truth and falsehood *Sabato, "Inquisition, American style". [Guest lecture by Tom Plate of LA Times]
Multiple Effects of News Coverage on Public Opinion; NG, 129-156; *Iyengar and Simon, "TV News and the Gulf Crisis,"
Crime in America: a Case Study of Media Influence? *Iyengar, Is Anyone Responsible?, Ch. 4; *Gilliam et al., Crime in black and white: the violent, scary world of local news"
Midterm
The Nature of Political Campaigns; MG, 71-101; *Iyengar and Vidanage, "Campaigning through the media"; *Jamieson, "Power of ads to shape news"
Impact of Campaigns on Voting; MG, 157-188; *Ansolabehere et al., "Do negative campaigns demobilize. . ."; Valentino et al., "To be or not to be? Campaigning as a woman."
The Permanent Campaign; MG, 103-126, 189-205 Democracy in the Age of Media Politics; MG, 209-240; *Bagdikian, "The marketplace of ideas revisited"; *Dorman, "Press theory and journalistic practice".
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Comments and suggestions to
Webmaster Jaime Reyes.
November 23, 1995