Mass Media and Policy Making
Mass Media and Policymaking
Stuart Soroka (McGill University)
Andrea Lawlor (McGill University)
Stephen Farnsworth (University of Mary Washington)
Lori Young (University of Pennsylvania)
Forthcoming in Routledge Handbook of the Policy Process, edited by Wu Xun, M
Ramesh, Michael Howlett, Scott Fritzen & Eduardo Araral
Mass media can, and often do, play a critical role in policymaking. The typical view of media is that they matter in the early stages of the policy process — that media can help to set an agenda, which is then adopted and dealt with by politicians, policymakers, and other actors. The impact of media is rarely so constrained, however. Our argument here, in short, is that media matter, not just at the beginning but throughout the policy process.
Many of the standard accounts of policymaking have a much too narrow view of the timing of media effects. That said, the ways in which mass media can matter are relatively well understood. Existing work tells us that media can draw and sustain public attention to particular issues. They can change the discourse around a policy debate by framing or defining an issue using dialogue or rhetoric to persuade or dissuade the public. Media can establish the nature, sources, and consequences of policy issues in ways that fundamentally change not just the attention paid to those issues, but the different types of policy solutions sought.
Media can draw attention to the players involved in the policy process and can aid, abet or hinder their cause by highlighting their role in policymaking. Media can also act as a critical conduit between governments and publics, informing publics about government actions and policies, and helping to convey public attitudes to government officials.
Allowing for the possibility that any and all of these effects can be evident not just in the early stages but throughout the policy process makes clear the potentially powerful impact we believe that media can have on
Stuart Soroka (McGill University)
Andrea Lawlor (McGill University)
Stephen Farnsworth (University of Mary Washington)
Lori Young (University of Pennsylvania)
Forthcoming in Routledge Handbook of the Policy Process, edited by Wu Xun, M
Ramesh, Michael Howlett, Scott Fritzen & Eduardo Araral
Mass media can, and often do, play a critical role in policymaking. The typical view of media is that they matter in the early stages of the policy process — that media can help to set an agenda, which is then adopted and dealt with by politicians, policymakers, and other actors. The impact of media is rarely so constrained, however. Our argument here, in short, is that media matter, not just at the beginning but throughout the policy process.
Many of the standard accounts of policymaking have a much too narrow view of the timing of media effects. That said, the ways in which mass media can matter are relatively well understood. Existing work tells us that media can draw and sustain public attention to particular issues. They can change the discourse around a policy debate by framing or defining an issue using dialogue or rhetoric to persuade or dissuade the public. Media can establish the nature, sources, and consequences of policy issues in ways that fundamentally change not just the attention paid to those issues, but the different types of policy solutions sought.
Media can draw attention to the players involved in the policy process and can aid, abet or hinder their cause by highlighting their role in policymaking. Media can also act as a critical conduit between governments and publics, informing publics about government actions and policies, and helping to convey public attitudes to government officials.
Allowing for the possibility that any and all of these effects can be evident not just in the early stages but throughout the policy process makes clear the potentially powerful impact we believe that media can have on
Bibliography: Bartels, L. M. 1996, September. Politicians and the Press: Who Leads, Who Follows? In APSA Baumgartner, Frank R., and Bryan D. Jones. 1993. Agendas and Instability in American Politics Baumgartner, Frank R., Bryan D. Jones, and Beth L. Leech. 1997. "Media Attention and Congressional Agendas." In Do the Media Govern?: Politicians, Voters, and Berelson, Bernard R. , Paul F. Lazarsfeld, and WIlliam N. McPhee. 1954. Voting: A Study of Opinion Formation in a Presidential Campaign Berger, B. 2001. "Private Issues and Public Policy: Locating the Corporate Agenda in Agenda-Setting Theory." Journal of Public Relations Research 13 (2): 91–126. Birkland, Thomas A. 1998. "Focusing Events, Mobilization, and Agenda Setting." Journal of Public Policy 18 (1): 53-74. Birkland, Thomas A. 2007. "Agenda Setting in Public Policy." In Handbook of Public Policy Analysis, ed Boykoff, Maxwell. 2005. “The disconnect of news reporting from scientific evidence.” Nieman Reports, Harvard University, Winter: 86. Boykoff, Maxwell. 2007a. “From convergence to contention: United States mass media representations of anthropogenic climate change science.” Transactions of the Institute Boykoff, Maxwell. 2007b. “Flogging a dead norm? Newspaper coverage of anthropogenic climate change in the United States and the United Kingdom from 2003-2006.” Area Boykoff, Maxwell T., and Jules M. Boykoff. 2007. “Climate change and journalistic norms: A case study of US mass media coverage.” Geoforum 38: 1190-1204. Cobb, R.W. and C.D Elder. 1972/1983. Participation in American Politics: The Dynamics of Agenda-Building Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Cohen, Bernard C. 1963. The Press and Foreign Policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Corbett, Julia B., and Jessica Durfee. 2008. “Testing public (un)certainty of science: Media representations of global warming.” Science Communication 26: 129-151. Dearing, James W., and Everett M. Rogers. 1996. Agenda-Setting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Downs, Anthony. 1972. "Up and Down with Ecology: The "Issue Attention Cycle"." The Public Interest 28:35-50. Edelman, M.J. 1977. Political Language. New York: Academic Press. Eilders, C. 2000. "Media as Political Actors? Issue Focusing and Selective Emphasis in the German Quality Press." German Politics, 9 (3): 181–206. Eilders, C. 2001. Conflict and Consonance in Media Opinion: Political Positions of Five German Quality Papers Entman, Robert M. 2004. Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Farnsworth, Stephen J., and S. Robert Lichter. 2006. The Mediated Presidency: Television News and Presidential Governance Farnsworth, Stephen J., and S. Robert Lichter. 2011. The Nightly News Nightmare: Media Coverage of U.S Fischer, Frank. 2003. Reframing Public Policy: Discursive Politics and Deliberative Practices Flickinger, Richard. 1983. “The Comparative Politics of Agenda-Seeting: The Emergence of Consumer Protection as a Public Policy Issue in Britain and the United States.” Gamson, W.A. 1989. "News as Framing: Comments on Graber." American Behavioral Scientist 33: 157-66. Gamson, W.A., and A. Modigliani. 1987. "The Changing Culture of Affirmative Action." In Research in Political Sociology, ed Gandy, O. H., Jr. 1982. Beyond Agenda Setting: Information Subsidies and Public Policy Herman, Edward S., and Noam Chomsky. 1988. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Hilgartner, Stephen, and Charles L. Bosk. 1988. "The Rise and Fall of Social Problems: A Public Arenas Model." American Journal of Sociology 94 (1): 53-78. Iyengar, Shanto. 1991. Is Anyone Responsible? How Television Frames Political Issues. Iyengar, Shanto. 1993. "Agenda-Setting and Beyond: Television News and the Strength of Political Issues." In Agenda Formation, ed Iyengar, Shanto, and Donald R. Kinder. 1987. News That Matters. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Jensen, Carsten. 2009. "Policy Punctuations in Mature Welfare States." Journal of Public Policy 29 (3): 287-303. Kingdon, John. 1984. Agenda-Setting, Alternatives and Public Policies. New York: Harper Collins. Lang, Kurt, and Gladys Engel Lang. 1966. "The Mass Media and Voting." In Reader in Public Opinion and Communication, ed Larson, Stephanie. 2001. “Poll coverage of the 2000 presidential campaign on network news.” Paper delivered at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Lasswell, Harold D. 1949. “Style in the Language of Politics.” Pp. 20-39 in The Language of Politics: Studies in Quantitative Semantics, Harold Lasswell, N Mayer, Robert N. 1991. “Gone Yesterday, Here Today: Consumer Issues in the AgendaSetting Process.” Journal of Social Issues 47(1): 21-39.