Chapter 13 Study Guide
The News Anew? Political Coverage in a Transformed Media Age

1. In 2011, what did surveys say about Americans’ attitudes toward two foreign policy issues? P.193
The issues was 58% of the public wanted to reduce the number of U.S troops in Afghanistan and 54% of the people would support military action if Iran continues with its research for nuclear weapons.
2. Who influences what Americans know and think about politics? How? P. 193
The media, because the media serves as the public window into the political world and at times is the people main outlet to what is really going on.

3. What role does media play in democracy? P.193
The media serves as the public window into the political world.

4. What has happened to media in the 21st century? P.194
The citizens has been given better information than they had access to when the news business was monopolized by three broadcasting networks and a few national and local newspapers.

5. How does the media serve the public? P. 194
The media serve the public by becoming a window into the political world and information.

6. What has a common argument been since the founding of media? P.194
A responsible, educated media apparatus is a key to producing a responsible, educated electorate.

7. Which two criteria have been used to judge the quality of the information the press provides? Explain. P. 195
First the media are expected to provide information that helps citizens carry out their basic democratic responsibilities and second they are to Focusing on what is often referred to as “process” as opposed to policy gives and the extent to which media coverage is independent from the government.

8. What is a common finding in political communication literature? P. 195
The media is far too focused on gamesmanship and insufficiently concerned with the substance of policy debates. 9. What is media more inclined to emphasize? What implications does this have on? P.195
The media emphasize on politicians strategic considerations, the electoral implications, or the legislative process. As a result, the public is left with an inadequate dose of policy information to judge the actions of their elected officials and the politicians proposing to replace them.

10. How has the focus of media coverage changed? P.195
Media coverage has become more heavily focused on legislative maneuvering and the political implications of the debate rather than the substance of the law.

11. Where does the media’s new tendencies stem from? Explain what this does to media. P.196
Journalists are constantly looking for new developments. Which gives the media covenant new storylines to develop on a regular bias. 12. What makes journalists’ job easier? How? P.196
Writing about the game of politics because those stories are easier to write in a way that avoids controversial policy evaluations.

13. What is the second criterion used to assess news quality? Explain. P.196
The extent to which media coverage is independent from government. That is rather than serving a conduit for propaganda from elected officials, who may have an incentive to mislead the public, the press should provide citizens with a diverse range of perspectives about political issues.
14. What must a “true democracy” have? P.196
A genuinely independent press who present a wide range of viewpoints for us to consider.

15. What does it mean for news content to be “indexed”? p.196
It means coverages often reflects the content of debates within the government itself.

16. What is “beat reporting”? p.196
“Beat reporting” is when