 Information provided by the news media

plays a key role in the construction of

people’s perceptions about reality (McCombs
& Shaw, 1972)
◦ Why do we care about our perceptions about reality?
 To understand this influence, we must
understand at least two processes:
◦ The social processes through which news content is
created.
◦ The psychological processes through which this
content is digested.
 Two useful theoretical frameworks help us to
understand how news media influence our
perceived social reality
◦ Agenda-setting theory
◦ Schema theory
 Events: discrete occurrences
e.g. Taiwan’s president proposes to join UN.
 Issues: ongoing news coverage of a series of events
that fit together in a broad category
e.g. China / US Relations
 Gatekeepers: people that decide which events /
issues to report
◦ Newsworthiness: determined by the traditions, practices
and values of media professionals
 Events: discrete occurrences
e.g. Taiwan’s president proposes to join UN.
 Issues: ongoing news coverage of a series of events
that fit together in a broad category
e.g. China / US Relations
 Gatekeepers: people that decide which events /
issues to report
◦ Newsworthiness: determined by the traditions, practices
and values of media professionals
 Content Analysis (1968 presidential campaign
coverage)
◦ local and national newspapers and TV
◦ identified prominent news stories
◦ based on position and length
 Survey
◦ asked local Chapel Hill voters:
◦ “What are the key campaign issues?”
 Results:
◦ Strong Correlation between
Media Agenda and Public Agenda
Media Public Policy
Agenda Agenda Agenda
 Correlation does not mean causation

 Later studies measured opinions over time

 Some evidence shows that media sets the

agenda for the public

(e.g., Iyengar & Kinder experiments)

 but . . .
Media Public Policy
Agenda Agenda Agenda
 Framing
◦ context
◦ mood
◦ selectivity
◦ the media doesn’t report the news, they report news
stories
 Priming
◦ a news story on a given issue sparks (or primes) an
individual’s memory of related issues
◦ opinions are a result of both
 the news story cues
 the primed memories
◦ e.g. Middle East & unstable political situation
Media Public Policy
Agenda Agenda Agenda

Other Factors
(e.g. Ind. Diff.)
 Framing
◦ context
◦ mood
◦ selectivity
◦ the media doesn’t report the news, they report news
stories
 Recall from an earlier lecture:
◦ We have a mental map of the world.
◦ There are two separate approaches to mental
representation.
 Schematic representation (schema)
 Associationistic representation
 Ideas and concepts are organized in a logical and
hierarchical (schematic) fashion.
◦ Schemata are “cognitive structures of organized prior
knowledge, abstracted from experience with specific
instances; schemata guide the processing of new
information and the retrieving of stored information”
(Fiske & Linville, 1980, p. 543).
 There are four types of schemata, including:
◦ (a) person schemata (i.e., interpretations of individuals’
psychology),
◦ (b) self-schemata (i.e., information about one’s psychology),
◦ (c) role schemata (i.e., perceptions about inter-group relations
and broad social categories).
 e.g., what is a “chief executive”?
 e.g., What does a “chief executive” do?
 e.g., what is Taiwan? A country? A province?

◦ (d) event schemata (i.e., information about sequences of events

in social situations)
 e.g., what should a government do when attacked by terrorists?
 e.g., how is the chief executive of HKSAR elected?
 political socialization – a developmental
process by which young people acquire
cognitions, attitudes and behaviors relating
to their political environment.
 adolescence is a time of particular
importance for this process because it is a
time of great change, including many
developmental advances
 Most people form a stable political view
during adolescences and usually NEVER
change.
 During adolescence
◦ critical thought is characterized by an increased
capacity and speed of processing as compared to
younger children
◦ There is an increase in knowledge and an ability to
integrate these knowledge.
◦ In addition, there is a greater ability in
adolescence, as compared to young children, for
self-regulation and monitoring as more strict
standards are applied by the adolescent.
 There are four types of schemata, including:
◦ (a) person schemata (i.e., interpretations of individuals’
psychology),
◦ (b) self-schemata (i.e., information about one’s psychology),
◦ (c) role schemata (i.e., perceptions about inter-group relations
and broad social categories).
 e.g., what is a “chief executive”?
 e.g., What does a “chief executive” do?
 e.g., what is Taiwan? A country? A province?

◦ (d) event schemata (i.e., information about sequences of events

in social situations)
 e.g., what should a government do when attacked by terrorists?
 e.g., how is the chief executive of HKSAR elected?
 Sources of political knowledge
◦ Parents
◦ School
◦ Peers
◦ MEDIA
 Media exposure has been identified as an
important influence with regard to political
socialization.
 the media, and television in particular, play a
significant role in the creation and
reinforcement of political attitudes.
 Empirical evidence suggests that exposure to
television are related to
◦ political orientation
◦ attitudes about political parties
◦ The electoral process,
◦ issues of military conflict
◦ gun control policies
◦ Capital punishment
◦ Abortion
etc.
 political socialization – a developmental
process by which young people acquire
cognitions, attitudes and behaviors relating
to their political environment.
 adolescence is a time of particular
importance for this process because it is a
time of great change, including many
developmental advances
 Most people form a stable political view
during adolescences and usually NEVER
change.
However,
◦ such scripts will be different based on the content to
which the adolescents are exposed.
◦ Heavy news exposure is likely to result in different
schemata
 War
 Political party
 Economy
 Political involvement
 Some questions to thinking about
◦ Who’s watching?
◦ Who’s watching what?
◦ Who participates actively in politics? Elders? Youth?
The rich? The poor?
◦ Do political attitude translate to political action?
 Sources of political knowledge
◦ Parents
◦ School
◦ Peers
◦ MEDIA
 Agenda-setting
◦ Old media
 agenda set by the industry based on professional training,
political needs, and audience feedback
 Slow/delayed feedback
 Limited content
 Delayed content
◦ New media
 Agenda may be set by the user, or other users. (e.g., Blogs,
citizen journalism)
 Instant /real-time feedback
 User generated (unlimited content)
 Real-time update
 Schema formation
◦ New media  Selective exposure  strengthen existing
schemata
 Does new media really increase more political
participation?
◦ Apparently not!
◦ Individual differences becomes more important
 Political views become more extreme
 It is more difficult to present objective/unbiased
information
 Allows apathetic individuals to completely avoid
politics
 Empirical evidence suggests that exposure to
television are related to
◦ political orientation
◦ attitudes about political parties
◦ The electoral process,
◦ issues of military conflict
◦ gun control policies
◦ Capital punishment
◦ Abortion
etc.