10 Media and politics

Types of Information Collection:
- Direct: Personal experience through political participation and perception of reality.
- Indirect: Communication through social circles and media.
Media's Role: Media as a powerful tool for transmitted and constituted reality.
Contemporary Example: Romanian Presidential Election Results.
- Key figures: Călin Georgescu and Elena Lasconi.
- Media coverage highlighted various candidates and perspectives.

Information Source and Public Forum:
- Media stimulates public debate and political competition through diverse news.
- Watchdog Role: Monitoring political power abuse and corruption.
- Examples of Investigative Journalism:
- Watergate: A case demonstrating media's oversight power.
Limits: Ethical dilemmas such as the Spiegel affair; balancing confidentiality and right to privacy.

Challenges:
- Confusion between public interest and curiosity.
- Instances of privacy violations, e.g., paparazzi, leaked documents.
Typical Violations: Defamation, slander, and libel.
- Rarely adequately redressed:
  - Difficulty in obtaining relief commensurate with damages.

Media Use Paradigms:
- User-Driven Interactions: Satisfying political interests and reinforcing choices.
- Media Effects Paradigm: Influencing political choices; passive consumers who may be unaware of biases.

Selection Bias:
- Media selects, compresses, and highlights content, leading to potential distortion.
- Factors in Selection: Political significance, popularity, internalization.
Theories:
- Priming Theory (Lippmann, 1922): Media’s role in perception without user awareness.
- Framing Theory (Goffman, 1974): Media narratives shape interpretation of events.

Nature of Bias:
- News interpretation often reflects values of the media outlet or particular agendas.
- Acceptance of bias among consumers; however, plurality in media can mitigate bias.

Influencing Elements:
- Family background, education, interests, and access to media.
- Attitude towards critical thinking impacts media consumption.
Spiral of Silence (Noëlle-Neumann, 1974): Tendency to remain silent if opinion diverges from dominant views.

Consolidation: Increasing merges/acquisitions led to reduced diversity in media ownership.
Key Figures: Media moguls exerting greater influence in politics.
Regional Trends: Eastern Europe displays varying levels of political influence on media.

Tabloidisation: Shift to soft news and entertainment over hard news; emphasis on scandals, emotions.
Professionalism in Media: Use of catchy phrases and imaginative framing to attract attention.
- Engagement with public sentiment via personalisation and informal content.

Objectives of Politicians:
- Information dissemination, narrative construction, and voter influence.
- Various media genres include press releases, ads, debates, and social media interactions.

Role of Spin Doctors: Experts in communication who enhance client image and manage media narratives.
- Focused on constructing favorable media portrayals and managing unfavorable news.

Definition: Originated from the Latin term for propagate; historically related to beliefs.
- Characteristics: Use of manipulated information to convey biased views and invoke mobilization.
- Example: The tactics of Goebbels's Ministry during the Nazi regime.

Types of Censorship:
- Legal: Control and regulation of sources.
- Technical: Over internet and broadcast media.
- Political: Governing the content of political discussions.
- Self-censorship: Based on moral dilemmas and fear of repercussions.

Digital Revolution: Rise of smartphones and internet access transforming information communication.
- Efficiency of social media for political campaigning and mobilization.
- Concerns regarding control over information, privacy, and the infiltration of AI in media.

Media's Role: Not a formal branch of power but an essential tool that shapes public opinion.
- Impacts agenda setting and influences narratives in politics without accountability.
- Importance: Ability to dictate public discourse and legislative focus.

Debate Links:
- Nixon-Kennedy, Johnson-Corbyn, Orbán Medgyessy, Gyurcsány-Orbán.
Interview Links: High-profile interviews showcasing media engagement in politics.