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The Media and The Public "Them" and "Us" in Media Discourse

ISBN: 9781405160414 | 1405160411

Edition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Pub. Date: 3/15/2010

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Summary Table of Contents Author Biography

There now exists a complex web of relations between "the public" and "the media", where the former perform a variety of roles gifted by the latter. This book intends to map the intricate and varied ways in which "the public" are, described in news stories; identified as news sources; used in opinion polls; allowed public ventilation through readers' letters; and selected to speak in public forums such as talk-shows and radio phone-ins. By exploring these strands of the public-media relation, we hope to provide a more comprehensive understanding... MORE of the role of the public in mediated discourse.We will focus on the politicized discourses of news and current affairs genres in print, broadcast and electronic formats as well as some of the more populist political genres such as "shock-jock radio". Of particular interest in this book is an exploration of the processes of identification and selection which take place within media and by which means only certain publics, certain issues, certain perspectives are actively sought out and allowed articulation.If we have moved beyond a simplistic consideration of "the man on the Clapham Omnibus" or "disgusted from Tunbridge Wells" as barometers of a generalized public opinion in our more (allegedly) sophisticated twenty-first century thinking, are contemporary renditions of 'the public', as articulated in news media, any more democratic, any more representative of the 'ordinary' citizen? While "the public" are accorded considerable power at specific points in the politico-demographic calendar, such as elections, how meaningful are their/our opinions in shaping policy and really making a difference?The increased levels of interactivity which allow us to watch game-shows 24/7 and vote off Big Brother contestants via our PC has recently been signaled as evidence of our (potential) interest in electronic voting because of its ease. But there are competing agendas in terms of how the media frame the public: as hapless idiots in thrall to low-grade, dumbed down entertainment; as seniors who are extremely web-savvy and use email to harangue their local politicians; as citizens marching on the White House to protest against war-mongering; as individuals in need of government intervention to halt their slide to obesity; as ordinary women and men standing for public office.ScopeVox Populi will be principally engaged with mapping the ways in which the public/media relationship has developed over time through a comprehensive discussion of the primary literature around key aspects of that relationship such as opinion polls and audience participation broadcasting. It will also explore more contemporary manifestations of the public's involvement in the mediated political process, such as online voting, blogs, readers' letters, phone-ins and online consultations. In order to produce a lively and timely read, we will draw on findings from our own (unpublished) primary research to more securely ground the theoretical debates with which we engage throughout the book. Taking a case study approach, the book will use both primary and secondary research to ground the more theoretical discussions contained in each chapter. The broad scope of the book will be global, especially given the reach of online news channels and newspapers, although our primary studies will mostly be drawn from our work on the UK and US news scenes

The Media and the Public explores the ways a range of media, from the press to television to the Internet, have constructed and represented the public. Provides a new synthesis of recent research exploring the relationship between media and their publics Identifies ways in which different publics are subverting the gatekeeping of mainstream media in order to find a voice and communicate with others Situates contemporary media-public discourse and relationships in an historical context in order to show the origin of contemporary public/political engagement Creates a theoretical expansion on the role of the media in accessing or denying the articulation of public voices, and the ways in which publics are harnessing new media formats to produce richer and more complex forms of political engagement

Overview.1. Introducing the public.This chapter will discuss the various ways in which 'the public' have been theorized, including historical notions of 'publics' and 'citizens' as well as more contemporary conceptualizations, such as the Habermasian ideal of the public sphere..2. Who put the 'public' in public opinion?.Chapter 2 will look at the development of opinion polls and their use in media discussions of events such as elections, considering both mainstream opinion polling and recent efforts at producing more sophisticated data and thus... MORE contributing more meaningfully to 'deliberative democracy'..3. Public broadcasting and the public's voice.In this chapter, we discuss the history of public interventions on radio and TV and ways in which broadcasting organisations attempted at first to exclude and then manage the voices of the public. We then examine how the mass media came to terms with the public in the post-war years and the origins of such genres as audience participation, phone-ins and public access slots..4. Public voices and broadcast media: speaking allowed.In chapter four, we look at the relationships between the public and broadcast media. We will use a case study approach to focus on specific audience participation shows, both general (for example, Jerry Springer, Tricia) and political (Question Time), including radio phone-ins and audience-based political shows..5. The public in the news: from object to subject.Following on from the earlier discussion of audience participation shows, chapter 5 will focus specifically on the ways in which 'the public' are allowed a voice by print media through, for example, vox pops and readers' letters. In the analysis, we will pay particular attention to the personal characteristics of the 'public' such as their quoted status (mother vs. accountant), their sex, ethnicity, socio-economic background and age..6. Publics and politics online: the limits of e-democracy.Given the developments in online political discourse, chapter 6 will explore the ways in which publics engage in the democratic process online through their involvement in consultations and discussion forums, including those provided by news organizations such as the BBC and the Guardian. We will also look at the ways in which political parties use the internet to market themselves to the public, through an analysis of party websites..7. Back to the future.In the final chapter, we draw together the threads of the argument made in the preceding chapters and consider the future of the public's involvement in the democratic process in a media-saturated and ICT-savvy twenty-first century environment.

Stephen Coleman is Professor of Political Communication and Co-Director of the Centre for Digital Citizenship, Institute for Communications Studies, University of Leeds. He is the author of The Internet and Democratic Citizenship: Theory, Practice, and Policy (with Jay G. Blumler, 2009) and Public Trust in the News: A Constructivist Study of the Social Life of News (with David Morrison and Scott Anthony, 2009).

Karen Ross is Professor of Media and Public Communication at the University of Liverpool. She has written and edited many books, including Gendered Media: Women, Men and Identity Politics (2009), Popular Communication: Essays on Publics, Practices and Processes (2008), Rethinking Media Education: Critical Pedagogy and Identity Politics (2007), and Women and Media: Critical Issues (Wiley-Blackwell, 2006).

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