ABOUT THIS BOOK
For over thirty years, News: The Politics of Illusion has not simply reflected the political communication field—it has played a major role in shaping it. Today, the familiar news organizations of the legacy press are operating in a fragmenting and expanding mediaverse that resembles a big bang of proliferating online competitors that are challenging the very definition of news itself. Audience-powered sites such as the Huffington Post and Vox blend conventional political reporting with opinion blogs, celebrity gossip, and other ephemera aimed at getting clicks and shares. At the same time, the rise of serious investigative organizations such as ProPublica presents yet a different challenge to legacy journalism. Lance Bennett’s thoroughly revised tenth edition offers the most up-to-date guide to understanding how and why the media and news landscapes are being transformed. It explains the mix of old and new, and points to possible outcomes. Where areas of change are clearly established, key concepts from earlier editions have been revised. There are new case studies, updates on old favorites, and insightful analyses of how the new media system and novel kinds of information and engagement are affecting our politics. As always, News presents fresh evidence and arguments that invite new ways of thinking about the political information system and its place in democracy.
REVIEWS
Praise for the previous edition
“A smart, provocative introduction to media and American politics. Bennett argues that the American political information system—with news at its center—is broken, with serious consequences for democracy. Bennett lays out his case and invites readers to make up their own minds.”
— Paul Freedman, University of Virginia
“This book is excellent. It is well-organized, incisively written, and suffused with vivid examples from social science and the news itself to illustrate Bennett’s arguments about the nature–and shortcomings–of the news.”
— Danny Hayes, George Washington University
Praise for the previous edition
“News is an enduring work in the media studies subfield.”
— Journal of Political Science Education
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. News in a Changing Information System
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0001
[legacy press;US news system;media and democracy;political comedy;press politics]
The news system in the US is being transformed as traditional news organizations are challenged by a variety of more personalized digital information sources. The legacy media continue to produce most serious political news, but growing numbers of citizens find information through social networks and websites that mix political information with sensational content aimed at creating buzz and driving visitor traffic. This chapter explores the transformation of the American news system, contrasting the roles of legacy news organizations, blogs, social media, and the rise of a new investigative journalism.
2. News Stories: Four Information Biases That Matter
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0002
[news bias;journalistic bias;news narrative;personalization;dramatization;fragmentation;game framing]
Most people think of bias in the news in terms of ideology. Such bias is largely in the eye of the beholder, as people define bias as departures from their own positions. This chapter discusses deeper forms of bias in the news system, looking at how news sources spin reporters and how resulting patterns of bias change from issue to issue, and over time, as power balances shift in government. In addition to the over reliance on powerful sources, additional bias comes in the form of journalistic narratives that emphasize personalities and drama over broader analysis. The result is that political news stories are often framed as games between politicians, creating a fragmented picture of politics, and making it hard for citizens to follow issues in the news. This chapter introduces the four biases of personalization, dramatization, fragmentation and game framing.
3. Citizens and the News: Public Opinion and Information Processing
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0003
[public opinion;framing;agenda setting;news polls]
In classic models of news and democracy, the news enables citizens to make informed judgments about political situations. However, as the system has evolved, much of the news is shaped by political spin aimed at shaping partisan support or opposition around policies, politicians and elections. This chapter explores the ways in which the news becomes part of political strategies for shaping public opinion. Beyond transmitting spin, news organizations also conduct opinion polls that actively feed public opinion back into ongoing news stories. Those polls introduce various biases of their own, from questions wording that echoes partisan spin, to artificially lowering the levels of disinterested or confused respondents. The chapter examines how people process such information from the news.
4. How Politicians Make the News
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0004
[spin;strategic communication;public relations;damage control;press relations;social media in politics]
Politicians and government officials are the dominant sources of news. Their practices for spinning journalists have grown increasingly sophisticated, involving teams of communication professionals. This chapter explores how newsmakers and their communication staffs spin the press, and why journalists so often report that spin. With the rise of various kinds of personal digital media, political actors also have direct means of reaching large audiences. The capability to go over the heads of the press to reach publics introduces new options for politicians, and challenges for journalists. Journalists now follow politicians’ social media feeds for breaking news, and follow each other to gain perspective. This chapter reviews traditional news making strategies and looks at how fragmentation of mass media audiences and the proliferation of digital media channels are changing the political communication process.
5. How Journalists Report the News
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0005
[journalism routines;news organizations;reporting practices;investigative reporting;gatekeeping]
Leading news organizations have long displayed similar patterns of reporting and packaging the news. After reviewing the standard routines long employed by journalists, this chapter examines the many ways in which these reporting practices are being disrupted. The proliferation of new channels and the introduction of more partisan news formats have disrupted the uniformity of the daily news supply. In addition, a number of online investigative journalism organizations have challenged legacy news organizations to be more critical of government officials and report less spin. As a result of these and other changes, the mainstream press is losing its traditional gatekeeping function, and citizens face new challenges in gathering and interpreting political information.
6. Inside the Profession: The Objectivity Crisis /
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0006
[journalistic objectivity;news balance;false balance in the news;journalism norms]
Objectivity and balance have long been the core norms of mainstream journalism. These anchors of professional reporting are now challenged on many fronts. Many citizens and politicians criticize the press for having various kinds of political bias. Growing ranks of investigative reporters and bloggers claim that objective journalism often ends up mainly reporting official spin. In addition, forced efforts to balance news reports often end up with a false balance based on partisan points of view that are false or misleading. The chapter looks at the crisis of objectivity in mainstream journalism, and discusses other perspectives that are emerging.
7. The Political Economy of News /
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0007
[media economy;media business;media monopoly;media reform]
The business model of the legacy press is broken, and competing online media outlets are on the rise. Years of media mergers and profit squeezing, along with advertising competition from digital sites, have left a legacy of job cuts and financial crises in news organizations. The big media conglomerates of the broadcast and cable era are being challenged by a host of digital media giants. This chapter explores how the economic foundations of media companies are changing and how these changes affect the quality of public information. Many observers point to a crisis in the political information order, as quality information becomes scarce and citizens lose confidence in the news. The chapter concludes with a review of recommendations for media reforms to better serve the needs of democracy.
8. The Future of News in a Time of Change /
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226345055.003.0008
[news and democracy;citizens and news;free press;free press myth;media reform]
Despite the political turbulence of recent years, and the declining confidence of citizens in the news, the legacy press has generally resisted major changes in reporting or selling the news. Longstanding myths about the roles of politicians, journalists and citizens in the political process continue to mask a system in disarray. After examining these myths about the role of the press in US democracy, this chapter explores areas of reform and proposes a set of critical questions to assess the future of news in the political process.
