This book highlights the diverse methods needed to study a complex media environment, and the nuance and richness of the understanding gained by doing so, by offering examples of political communication research considering multiple platforms simultaneously. Political communication research that considers multiple media platforms is difficult and expensive to perform, and therefore relatively rare. Yet studying media platforms in isolation ignores the realities of the varied and complicated contemporary media experience, where most individuals consume information from multiple media outlets. Media platforms, from traditional outlets such as newspapers and television to newer online platforms such as social media, have proliferated in recent years. This makes the media environment itself more complex, as classic understandings of how the media function give way to a growing recognition of the hybrid media system, where divisions between content and producers are opaque, and where information is gleaned from increasingly diverse and numerous sources. Studying political communication across platforms allows better understanding of which types of experiences and effects are universal, and which are specific to particular platforms. This book was originally published as a special issue of Political Communication.

This book highlights the diverse methods needed to study a complex media environment, and the nuance and richness of the understanding gained by doing so, by offering examples of political communication research considering multiple platforms simultaneously. Political communication research that considers multiple media platforms is difficult and expensive to perform, and therefore relatively rare. Yet studying media platforms in isolation ignores the realities of the varied and complicated contemporary media experience, where most individuals consume information from multiple media outlets. Media platforms, from traditional outlets such as newspapers and television to newer online platforms such as social media, have proliferated in recent years. This makes the media environment itself more complex, as classic understandings of how the media function give way to a growing recognition of the hybrid media system, where divisions between content and producers are opaque, and where information is gleaned from increasingly diverse and numerous sources. Studying political communication across platforms allows better understanding of which types of experiences and effects are universal, and which are specific to particular platforms. This book was originally published as a special issue of Political Communication.

The third edition of Media, Politics and Democracy examines the fraught debate over media influence, who wields it and what effect social and traditional media has on what we think, how we behave, and how we vote. Charting the media conglomerates of old, the alarming rise of the Tech Giants in recent decades, concerns over 'fake news', and the use of social media by political candidates, this book places contemporary anxieties into historical context and compares the response to such issues across different states and societies. Using examples from around the world, Street tackles the changing nature of political communications and brings under scrutiny the question of how a democratic society can function alongside a democratic media. Suitable for students studying politics and the media, political communications and other related fields. New to this Edition: - Completely revised and updated version of Mass Media, Politics and Democracy. - Includes a new chapter on the power of the Tech Giants. - Contains detailed accounts of the significance of figures such as Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. - Student questions and issues for debate interspersed throughout the book.

Globalization and technological advances have had a dramatic impact on the relationship between media and politics. How can we understand the connection between the two in the present day? Alexa Robertson argues that we cannot understand the power of the one without taking the other into account. This exciting and accessible book provides fresh insight into our contemporary media landscape, adopting a truly comparative global approach. In Media and Politics in a Globalizing World, Robertson encourages the reader to explore the relationship from different perspectives – those of the politician, the journalist, the activist and the ordinary citizen – and how the relationship between media and politics varies across cultures. Illustrated with contemporary examples throughout, the book weighs up arguments for seeing new developments in terms of change or continuity, as empowering or debilitating, and as promoting or undermining democracy. Suitable for undergraduates and postgraduates studying politics, media and sociology, it also will be of interest to the general reader wishing to understand the complex role of the media in political life the world over. For additional support and information visit this book's companion website at http://mediapolitics.net/

This comprehensive, trusted core text on media's impact on attitudes, behavior, elections, politics, and policymaking is known for its readable introduction to the literature and theory of the field. Mass Media and American Politics, Tenth Edition is thoroughly updated to reflect major structural changes that have shaken the world of political news, including the impact of the changing media landscape. It includes timely examples of the significance of these changes pulled from the 2016 election cycle. Written by Doris A. Graber—a scholar who has played an enormous role in establishing and shaping the field of mass media and American politics—and Johanna Dunaway, this book sets the standard.

When we are told so regularly that we live in a ‘post truth’ age and are surrounded by ‘fake news’, it can be tempting to think of politics as primarily mediated. Discussion and analysis of public affairs is preoccupied with the power and reach of platforms or the passion and rage of social media exchanges. As important as these issues may be, a focus on the communicative risks downgrading the political. Media, Democracy and Social Change puts politics back into political communications. It shows how within a digital media ecology, the wider context of neoliberal capitalism remains essential for understanding what political communications is, and can hope to be. Tackling broad themes of structural inequality, technological change, political realignment and social transformation, the book explores political communications as it relates to debates around the state, infrastructures, elites, populism, political parties, activism, the legacies of colonialism, and more. It is both an expert introduction to the field of political communications, and a critical intervention to help re-imagine what a democratic politics might mean in a digital age. It will be essential reading for students, researchers and activists. Aeron Davis, Natalie Fenton, Des Freedman and Gholam Khiabany all work at the Department of Media and Communication at Goldsmiths, University of London, where they teach together on the MA in Political Communications.

"For anyone interested in the relationship between politics and mass media, this is a key book. Neil Washbourne combines a compendious knowledge of modern forms of communication with an astute and sophisticated analysis of contemporary politics. Mediating Politics is theoretically subtle and empirically detailed, offering a new perspective on a vital topic." Professor John Street, University of East Anglia, UK "In the vast field that political communication has become Neil Washbourne's book stands out... Admirable and helpful work for both students and scholars new to the topic."Professor Liesbet van Zoonen, Erasmus University, Rotterdam How is politics reported in the media? How does the relationship between the media and political organizations affect the political messages that are conveyed? How do members of the public access and make sense of political messages? This book critically analyses the complex relationship between media and politics, beginning with a discussion of what is meant by the mediating of politics. The author outlines the ways in which political messages are formulated, broadcast and received, as well as examining the ways in which the media and political organisations are linked to one another. The author also analyses the relationship between the media and: Globalisation De-regulation of the media Apathy of audiences Illustrated throughout with case studies from the US, UK and from across the world, the book also explores: Celebrity politicians How different national media systems encourage (or discourage) political engagement How young people engage with the media and politics How the Internet has affected the organization of politics and news media Mediating Politics is key reading for media, communication, cultural and political studies students.

The mass media are playing an increasingly central role in modern political life that expands beyond their traditional function as mediators between the world of politics and the citizens. This volume explores the extent and circumstances under which the media affects public policy; whether the political impact of the media is confined to the public representation of politics or whether their influence goes further to also affect the substance of political decisions. It provides an in-depth understanding of the conditions under which the media might, or might not, play a role in the policy process and what the nature of their influence is. Bringing together conceptual and methodological approaches from both political science and communications studies, this book presents an interdisciplinary perspective. It presents empirical evidence of the processes involved in the interaction between mass communication and policy and features case studies from Western Europe and the US and across different policy fields. The book will be of interest to students of public policy, political communication and comparative politics.

This 2007 book studies the impact of the media on politics in the United States during the last half-century.

This companion brings together a diverse set of concepts used to analyse dimensions of media disinformation and populism globally. The Routledge Companion to Media Disinformation and Populism explores how recent transformations in the architecture of public communication and particular attributes of the digital media ecology are conducive to the kind of polarised, anti-rational, post-fact, post-truth communication championed by populism. It is both interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, consisting of contributions from both leading and emerging scholars analysing aspects of misinformation, disinformation, and populism across countries, political systems, and media systems. A global, comparative approach to the study of misinformation and populism is important in identifying common elements and characteristics, and these individual chapters cover a wide range of topics and themes, including fake news, mediatisation, propaganda, alternative media, immigration, science, and law-making, to name a few. This companion is a key resource for academics, researchers, and policymakers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of political communication, journalism, law, sociology, cultural studies, international politics and international relations.