Auntie knows best? public broadcasters and current affairs knowledge

Public service broadcasters (PSBs) are a central part of national news media landscapes. In many countries, PSBs are the first choice of citizens when it comes to news providers. And in perhaps more countries still, PSBs are thought of as specialists in provision of hard news. We test this proposition here using survey data from a large crossnational survey involving indicators of current affairs knowledge and media consumption. Specifically, we examine whether exposure to public versus commercial news influences the knowledge citizens possess about current affairs, both domestically and internationally. We also test, using propensity score analysis, whether there is variation across PSBs in this regard. Results indicate that compared to commercial news, watching PSB has a net positive influence on knowledge of hard news, though not all PSBs are equally effective in contributing to knowledge acquisition. This knowledge gap between PSB and commercial news media consumption appears to be mitigated by factors such as de jure independence,proportion of public financing, and audience share

The Ethical Implications of an Elite Press

Newspaper publishers are well into the process of bifurcating what once was a single mass-market product. Particularly for larger papers, website versions are taking over the mass-market role, while remaining print products are moving toward targeting a much smaller and more elite readership. This article explores theoretical and ethical issues raised by such a two-tiered newspaper structure and suggests directions for empirical study. Broadly, concerns center on the widening knowledge gap between print and online newspaper readers and its implications for civic discourse and democratic vitality. More narrowly, issues encompass a potential bifurcation of normative standards, including diverging markers of credibility, accuracy, and privacy

Media Systems and the Political Information Environment: A Cross-National Comparison

To express attitudes and act according to their self-interest, citizens need relevant, up-to-date information about current affairs. But has the increased commercialization in the media market increased or decreased the flow of political information? Hallin and Mancini stress that the existing empirical evidence is fragmented and that this question therefore has been difficult to answer. In this article the authors present new data that allow them to systematically examine how the flow of political information on TV occurs across six Western countries during a thirty-year period. The authors find that the flow of political information through TV varies according to the degree of commercialization. The flow of news and current affairs is lowest in the most commercially oriented television system and among the commercial TV channels. There is however important cross-national variation even within similar media systems. The authors’ data do not suggest a convergence toward the liberal system when it comes to the political information environment on TV. Rather, what strikes them is how strongly resistant some European countries have been to subordinating the needs of democracy to profit making

Why context, relevance and repetition matter in news reporting: Interpreting the United Kingdom’s political information environment

This study develops a multi-method approach to analysing political information environments, exploring how media and political systems help shape people’s understanding of news. In doing so, we ask a question fundamental to democratic citizenship: how well do news media communicate political responsibility and policy differences across political systems? Our study examines the United Kingdom’s political information environment, where significant power is devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with different political parties in control. Drawing on a content analysis of 17,765 news items, a representative survey of 3272 respondents and 15 semi-structured interviews, we examine the dominant information sources about UK politics by longitudinally tracing coverage of devolved issues from 2007 to 2016, and gauging how well it was understood by television news viewers. Our results suggest that while BBC news is more sensitive to communicating the devolved relevance of news than more commercial outlets, there remains a democratic deficit in the supply of political information and audience understanding of where power and responsibility lies. If news coverage more regularly communicated the relevance and context of devolved issues, we argue it could open up democratic opportunities for citizens to consider a wider range of policy options debated in all four political institutions

Studying media events in the European social surveys across research designs, countries, time, issues, and outcomes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Palgrave via the DOI in this record.Scholars often study isolated media effects using one method at one time point in one country. We seek to generalise the research in this area by examining hundreds of press-worthy events across dozens of countries at various points in time with an array of techniques and outcome measures. In particular, we merge a database containing thousands of events with five waves of the European Social Survey to conduct analyses across countries and individuals as well as within countries and for specific respondents. The results suggest that there is an impressive degree of heterogeneity when it comes to how citizens react to political developments. Some events generate significant opinion changes when groups of individuals who are 'treated' are compared with 'control' cases. However, other events produce modest or even null findings with methods that employ different counterfactuals. Thus, findings of both strong and weak media effects that scholars have uncovered over the years could be a function of methodological choices as well as context-specific factors such as institutional arrangements, media systems, eras, or event characteristics. Data limitations also make some research designs possible while they preclude others. We conclude with advice for others who wish to study political events in this manner as well as discussion of media effects, broadly construed

The Wisdom of the Many in Global Governance: An Epistemic-Democratic Defence of Diversity and Inclusion

A growing body of literature highlights moral reasons for embracing global democracy. This literature justifies democracy on the grounds of its intrinsic value. But democracy also has instrumental value: the rule of the many is epistemically superior to the rule of one or the rule of the few. I draw on the tradition of epistemic democracy to develop an instrumentalist justification for democratizing global governance. I develop an epistemic-democratic framework for evaluating political institutions—one composed of three principles. The likelihood of making correct decisions within institutions of global governance increases when those institutions maximize (1) human development and capacity for participation; (2) their internal cognitive diversity; and (3) public opportunities for sharing objective and subjective knowledge. Applying this framework to global governance produces a better understanding of the nature and extent of its “democratic deficit,” as well as the actions required to address this deficit

PSM Contribution to democracy: News, editorial standards and informed citizenship

This chapter examines the questions that PSM face about their continued role and relevance against the backdrop of a fast-changing and increasingly commercialised media landscape. It examines the evidence about news produced by PSM and considers the implications for democracy in two ways. First, it draws on the latest academic scholarship to examine the evidence about whether PSM produce news that is distinctive from their market-driven rivals. Second, it considers how informative PSM coverage is compared to their commercial competitors. The chapter assesses the latest research to establish whether public or commercial media systems offer the most effective way of raising public knowledge about politics and public affairs

Journalismus und Politik

Die Interrelation von Journalismus und Politik ist, in einem anspruchsvollen Sinn, zentral für das Funktionieren von Demokratie. Das Kapitel gibt eine überschau der wichtigsten normativ-theoretischen Ansprüche an diese Interrelation sowie relevanter empirischer Befunde zu ihr. Es beschreibt zunächst drei zentrale normative Demokratiemodelle und präsentiert sodann Ergebnisse normativ angeleiteter und relevanter empirischer Forschung zu den Beziehungen von Journalismus und Politik. Wir betrachten dabei jeweils Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich und behandeln zunächst die Strukturen, dann die Inhalte und schließlich die Wirkungen des politischen Journalismus

Is Pakistan Terrorist? Front-page Perspective of Mainstream American Newspapers during Obama’s First-year

US President Barack H. Obama’s first year of presidency, January 2009 – January 2010, observes unprecedented surge in overt and covert counterterrorism operations of American military and intelligence and drone strikes in Pakistan which is a non-NATO ally and a frontline state in the “War on Terror” since 9/11. For the last two and half years, Mr. Obama’s counterterrorism policies are being criticized by American academia, politicians and media and giving a speech at National Defense University in May 2013, President Obama vows to rebuild Pak-US relations. This article takes a closer look that what went wrong between the two countries and how the mainstream US press covered the phenomenon and played its social and democratic role for informed citizenry during Obama’s first year. Since US press works on the behalf of American public and creates a liaison between government and the people on important foreign policy issues thus it is pertinent to explore that how American mainstream newspapers opine about Pakistan’s position in South Asia, Pakistani politics and army/ISI, nuclear assets and US aid diplomacy in relation to Obama’s counterterrorism war to win the “War on Terror.” Applying Thematic Analysis method with the framework of Social Responsibility Theory of Press, propaganda and propaganda principles of Anne Morelli, the study finds that the press instead of reporting on Pakistan is running an anti-Pakistan information operation parallel to the military, foreign policy and strategic agenda of the “Golden Triangle” (the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon) to force Pakistan to bow in front of American demands to fight the “War on Terror” at the cost of its men, material, internal and external security and political stability. The mainstream newspapers support the idea of the “Golden Triangle” to control Pakistani politics, army and nuclear assets and they are manipulating public perception and opinion accordingly instead of doing objective reporting. Thus the study discovers obnoxious criticism against Pakistan based on incorrect, superficial and subjective reporting that portrays Pakistan as a country that uses terrorism as its official policy hence it is a threat to regional and world peace and poses danger to US security, foreign policy and strategic interests in the South Asian region. Keywords: American newspapers and Pakistan, Press and foreign policy, 9/11, War on Terror, India-Pakistan-US relations, Kashmir, Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden and Taliban, ISI, Drone/UCAV, Nuclear proliferation, US aid, Propaganda, Social responsibility of press, Thematic analysis.