THE MEDIA AND AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

PURPOSE AND PHILOSOPHY:

Here are some tentative propositions or hypotheses or arguments to consider. They constitute the major questions and themes in the course.

• A viable democracy requires an enlightened public. People need to be informed about a wide variety of issues.



• Fortunately, it appears that we live in an "information age" in which ideas and data are as important to us as iron and bronze were to our ancestors. Equally important, freedom of expression is a firmly established tradition in American. To a degree unknown in most other countries, including those in the "free world," citizens here can say, see, read, and listen to just about anything they want.



• But despite the promise of the information age a significant portion of Americans are truly in the dark about public affairs. They possess a relatively rudimentary knowledge of political processes, and misinformation dominate their understanding of public policy. Moreover, participation in politics and elections is perhaps at its lowest point in a 150 years.



• Although we believe that we have independent, objective knowledge of the world, in fact the mass media--newspapers, television, books, magazines, films, and the rest--determine in large measure our understanding of reality. Probably more than 99 percent of everything Americans think they know about government and current events comes to them secondhand, either from the media themselves or from individuals who obtain their information from the media. In this sense, we depend on the media far more than we think. In fact, the argument that Americans are the freest people in the world has to be modified by the fact of this dependency. We are free only in so far as we have access to reliable sources of information and we know how to use them.



• The growth and increasing sophistication of the media do not necessarily represent progress. Progress, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. But one can argue that mass communications have improved people's lives far less than is commonly supposed. In particular, the emerging sophistication of the media have not been accompanied by commensurate increases in the public's awareness of government and politics; in fact, one can argue modern communications contribute to public confusion and apathy and hence to a decline in citizenship.



• The media construct reality: they, not personal observation or knowledge, frequently dictate what we believe to be real and true. Seen from this perspective, the media do not simply photograph current events, thereby leaving us free to study them as they actually occurred. If one insists on using a photographical metaphor to describe contemporary journalism, then one should add that innumerable filters cover the camera's lens. These devices allow only a tiny fraction of the picture to reach the film. Indeed they blot out most of the picture and distort, blur, magnify or miniaturize, and color the remainder. Television newscasts provide a striking example. Naive viewers will be amazed by the enormous discrepancy between what appears on their screens and what actually transpires in politics.



• The filtering process does not occur randomly. Rather it results from conscious and unconscious decisions of information suppliers as well as from our own psychological predispositions.



• The concentrated ownership and management of major news sources raises serious problems for democracy and freedom. After all, if the people hear only a few ideas from a few speakers, how meaningful is freedom of speech?



• Since the media construct reality, they have both transitory and permanent effects on our political beliefs. The immediate effects are the most ballyhooed. Many citizens worry that clever advertisers can manipulate our tastes in candidates and ideologies as easily as our preferences for certain brands of beer and deodorants. Yet it is the long-range consequences that are most profound and possibly threatening because the media shape our perceptions of reality and hence our vision of what is politically possible and desirable, who is to be feared and trusted, what problems require immediate attention and what can be put on the back burner, and a host of other beliefs and values.



• Equally important, the media's explicit purposes--to entertain as well as inform--often become intertwined. As a result, entertainment often brings with it hidden messages and lessons. It is likely, for instance, that television sitcoms convey civics lessons even as they make us laugh. To appreciate the role of the mass media in shaping political culture, then, we need to look for and analyze their latent and unintended consequences. Moreover, the presentation of "news" frequently reflects producers desires to build audiences or increase readership by framing their stories in "entertaining" ways.



• The reality construction process is not unidirectional for people's understandings, expectations, attitudes, wants, and beliefs influence to some degree decisions about the content and presentation of the reconstructed world. If, to take one case, Americans have come to distrust politicians, this distrust is likely to find its way back into movies and television programs, thereby further reinforcing the attitude.



• Although a lot of the media's impact on our awareness and comprehension of the world of politics is subtle, unintended, and hidden from view, we obviously should not lose sight of the fact that candidates, parties, bureaucrats, and others try to control the media for their own ends. Election commercials are the clearest example. But every government agency, elected official, and political celebrity tries to play the game. Part of the complexity of understanding the media and politics is finding out how successful they are. It is also important to know to what extent, if any, the political uses of the media have enhanced or detracted from American democracy.

How and many and to what extent do these claims hold water? We'll spend most of the course finding out.

METHOD:

The course objective is to clarify and confirm or disconfirm these assertions. Naturally we will rely on readings and group discussion for this purpose. But a major part of the course involves using primary sources--films, videotapes, newspapers, magazines, and the like. Everyone, moreover, is expected to spend considerable time outside of class independently observing and verifying of these arguments. The nature of these assignments and projects is explained below and in other handouts.

A word about what this course will not cover. It is not a class in practical politics and will not attempt to prepare anyone as a political or media consultant. Moreover, it is certainly not a class on methods of communication. Nor can we spend much time on the legal aspects of the topic, as fascinating as these may be.

In short, ours is a theoretical enterprise that will attempt to look at the media's role in politics and government from a number of different and (I hope) provocative perspectives.

REQUIREMENTS:

The course requirements are:

• A written final examination in which you will be asked to address the question: how well do the media in the United States satisfy the requirements of democracy? (25 percent)




• Two "analytic" essays or papers. You'll follow a three steps when writing these: first meet with me to select and clarify the topic; second, prepare a draft that both I and the writing fellow will and read and comment on; and third submit the final draft for evaluation. (30 percent each)

First draft due October 22.

Final version due October 29.

Analytic paper II. How well do state and local newspapers cover elections? Each person should pick a significant senatorial or gubernatorial race and quantitatively and qualitatively measure and evaluate its coverage in the print media. Again, I'll supply more details as the semester progresses.

First draft due December 1.

Final paper due December 10.

• Class participation and web site. Each person is expected to attend and participate in class discussions. Moreover, I want to build a so-called web page for the course and for use by others in the university. Each person will be asked to contribute a set of, say, 10 to 15 "URLs" for it. (15 percent)

CURRENT EVENTS:

Any serious student of political science needs to keep informed of what is happening in Washington, New York, Moscow, London, Tokyo, and the rest of the world. It is doubly important in a course on the media to keep up with current events because doing so provides "raw" material or data for judging how well the media inform the people. Therefore, an important requirement is familiarity with national and international affairs. Such knowledge is especially relevant in this class because we spend so much time comparing how events and personalities are reported in various newspapers, magazines, and news broadcasts.

Consequently every participant is expected to read the New York Times on a daily basis. Cut-rate subscriptions are available at the Newark Newsstand on Main Street. This store, I might add, contains hundreds of newspapers and opinion magazines. Browsing through the Newsstand's collection of publications will help you understand many of the course's key concepts.

In addition, you should watch programs such as "The McNeil/Leherer News Hour" (Channel 12, 6:00 pm.), "This Week With David Brinkley" (ABC, Sunday 11:00 am), and listen to National Public Radio (NPR). You are also expected to watch one of the evening network news programs and read a local daily newspaper.

ELECTRONIC MAIL:

Each person in the class is required to use electronic mail or E-mail. Using computer terminals, which are located in many academic buildings as well as dormitories, you can send and receive messages to me or anyone else in the class. (Indeed, you can receive information from all parts of the world.) This means of communication is very fast, reliable, flexible, and (for many purposes) far superior to the telephone. It does not of course replace face-to-face contact. But if you have a short question or want to leave a message, please use E-mail.

READINGS:

The readings are or will be available in the University Bookstore and at the Newark Newsstand on Main Street, a shop with which you should be come familiar.

The required readings are:

* W. Lance Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion, 1996.

* Murray Edelman, Constructing the Political Spectacle

* Thomas E. Patterson, Out of Order

* Robert M. Entman, Democracy Without Citizens

* W. Lance Bennett and David Paletz, Taken By Storm

* A daily (Monday to Friday) subscription to the New York Times. Incidentally, as previously indicated, the Newsstand stocks a vast number of politically relevant magazines and newspapers that are very helpful for understanding some of the issues we will be discussing during the course of the semester.

Recommended readings: The bookstore has order a few copies of optional reading. I will discuss these works shortly. For now do not purchase them.

OFFICE:

My office is in 434 Smith Hall where I will be on Thursdays from approximately 2:00 to 4:00 pm and on Tuesdays approximately 5:00 to 6:00 pm. I look forward to meeting each person individually. Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time if you have questions or wish to discuss any topic in more detail.

I will arrange additional hours for the members of this class.

NOTE: AN EXCELLENT WAY TO CONTACT ME, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE SHORT OR STRAIGHT-FORWARD QUESTIONS IS BY E-MAIL. My mail address is

htr@udel.edu.

TOPICS:

Note: Each topic will take roughly a week. You will always be told where you should be in the readings.

Topic I: The Role of the Media in Democracy

• Bennett, Chapter 1; Entman Chapter 1; Bennett and Paletz, Chapters 8 through 10.

Topic II: The Idea of Reality Construction

• Bennett, Chapter 2; Edelman, Chapter 1.

Topic III: The "Effects" of the Mass Media: The Social-Psychology of Opinion Holding and Change.

• Entman, Chapter 4.

Topic IV: Construction of Political Enemies

• Edelman, Chapters 2 through 4.

Topic V: Election and Campaign Coverage

• Patterson, Chapters 1 through 6.

Topic VI: How the Media Present the News - Domestic Affairs

• Bennett, Chapters 2 and 4.

Topic VII: How the Media Present the News - International Relations

• Entman, Chapter 2; Bennett and Paletz, Chapters 1, 2, and 4.

Topic VIII: Political Uses of the Media

• Bennett, Chapter 3.

Topic IX: The News as the Government's Point of View

• Bennett and Paletz, Chapters 5 through 7 and 11 and 12.

Topic X: Are the Media Biased?

• Entman, Chapter 3; Bennett, Chapter 5.

Topic XI: Citizens, Media, and Democracy

• Entman, Chapter 7; Edelman, Chapters 5, 6, 7; Bennett, Chapters 6 and 7; Bennett and Paletz, Chapter 13.

SOME GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING WRITTEN MATERIAL:

Keep in mind that you will have (indeed are required to have) the assistance of a writing fellow who will help you prepare your papers. Please take advantage of this opportunity.

Whenever you hand in a written assignment please follow these minimal guidelines. Note: this is not an exhaustive list. You are expected to follow all standards of written English.

• Make sure that your assignments are submitted by the relevant deadline. Leaving me a note saying simply that a paper will be late is not a sufficient excuse. In the interests of fairness to all late papers will be penalized.

• Papers should be typed double spaced on one side of a page. If you use a word processor, turn right justification OFF. Make sure that your name is on every page.



• Proofread! (A word processor's spelling checker does not eliminate the need for careful proofreading.) Make sure that you have a dictionary and USE IT!



• Find and use an acceptable system for citing sources, including newspaper and magazine articles. Inaccurate, misleading, or missing citations will not be accepted. Indeed, they can in some circumstances be interpreted as evidence of plagiarism. Make sure that you fully understand the University's policy on academic dishonesty. (See below.) If you insist on using a journal citation format make sure that you do it properly. Example: (Jones 1989, p. 71) where Jones' work appears in a bibliography: Jones, Robert A. "The Media". The New Journal of Junk, vol. 23 (June): 65-88. Newspaper articles can normally be cited by noting just the paper, date, and page. (Example: New York Times, January 3, 1993, p. 12.) Only if you use an op-ed article do you need to cite the author and title. (Example: William Saffire, "More Boring Gripes", New York Times, March 3, 1990, p. 23.).



• Here's a tip: before you begin to write outline your thoughts. Then write a sentence outline. Only when you are sure that your ideas flow smoothly, that arguments support your propositions, that you have established a logical, readable sequence of paragraphs--only then should you write the first draft.



• Strive for an "economy of style": try to say in 10 words what it usually takes you 20 words to express. A rule of thumb: your revision should contain 25 to 50 percent fewer words than the first without loss of meaning. (A good source is Strunk and White, The Elements of Style. Another is Richard A. Lanham, Revising Prose 2nd. edition.)



• Also use words correctly. "Affect," for instance, is a verb; "effect" is a noun. Don't confuse the two. Avoid slang like the plague (oops!).



• In addition, can you vary your sentence structure and vocabulary? Try using "decidedly," "clearly," " absolutely," and so forth instead of "definitely," which is not incorrect, merely stale and boring. (It and similar words should be left in high school where they belong.) Also, I think ideas you express yourself more forcefully if you write in the "active" voice. For example, instead of "...the legislation was passed by Congress in..." write "Congress passed the legislation in ...."

Naturally, all of this attention to organization and style takes time. On the other hand, I simply can't give your ideas the credit they deserve unless they are understandable. The burden is on you to make your thoughts clear; I do not have the time or skill to decipher poor writing.

COURSE GUIDELINES:

In the interests of making the course as successful as possible for everyone concerned, I insist that these guidelines and rules be followed:

ATTENDANCE: PLEASE READ THIS PARAGRAPH CAREFULLY

Attendance is always required. There are no make-up tests or reissuing of handouts except for specifically documented medical or other reasons. If you are sick, seek medical care and do not return to class until you feel well enough. Similarly, if you have a family emergency or face some other personal crisis, attend to it. When you are better or the problem is resolved, see me about making up missed work. Note, however, that you will need a written excuse from your dean explaining exactly why you could not be in class on the specific days and times you were absent. Please have this material with you BEFORE asking to make up work. Unsigned and non-specific notes are not acceptable. If you are forced for reasons beyond your control to miss an assignment important enough to request a "make up," you have to contact your dean for the appropriate documentation. This statement reflects University policy approved by the Faculty Senate. Make sure you have proper written documentation. Verbal or e-mail explanations are not satisfactory.

Please also note that we simply cannot always keep extra copies of class handouts so if you miss a class for some non-excused reason, you will have to rely on your own resources to obtain copies.

I cannot stress strongly enough the importance of class attendance. Do everyone a favor, especially yourself. Do Not Cut Class.

HONESTY: The presence of your name on a test or assignment is, in effect, a statement that the work is yours and yours alone. It is a serious breech of academic honesty to represent someone else's thoughts or efforts as your own. Make sure that you work completely alone. If you need help, see me or the teaching assistant, but do not ask your friends for assistance, even to check your work.

Furthermore, if you borrow or use an idea from a book or article or other source, the author or creator of the information must be formally and completely acknowledged. Direct quotes must be clearly and fully identified. Even if you paraphrase a passage make sure that the author receives full credit. If you are in doubt about how to cite something, ask for help.

Make sure that you have read and understand the relevant portions of Student Guide to Policies that explain academic honesty and plagiarism.

The general point is that a university community ultimately depends on truth and honesty. It is your responsibility to live up to that principle. Failure to adhere to it is, in my opinion, a major wrongdoing and will not be tolerated.

BEHAVIOR: In the interest of fairness and respect to all, please do not engage in any activity that disturbs the classroom learning process. This includes among other things:

* Coming to class late or leaving early. These kinds of comings and goings are very disruptive. So please cooperate.

* Bringing pets or children to class.

* Eating.

* Reading newspapers or magazines.

* Talking out of turn, especially when someone is asking a question.