1st Edition

How Media Inform Democracy A Comparative Approach

Edited By Toril Aalberg, James Curran Copyright 2012
244 Pages
by Routledge

258 Pages
by Routledge

244 Pages
by Routledge

In this timely book, leading researchers consider how media inform democracy in six countries – the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Taking as their starting point the idea that citizens need to be briefed adequately with a full and intelligent coverage of public affairs so that they can make responsible, informed choices rather than act out of... Read more

Contents  Lists of Tables and Figures  Acknowledgements  I: Introduction  1: How Media Inform Democracy: Central Debates, Toril Aalberg and James Curran  2: Research Design, Toril Aalberg, Zan Strabac and Tove Brekken  II: How Media Provides Political Information  3: Media Systems and the Political Information Environment. A Cross-National Comparisons, Toril Aalberg, Peter van Aelst and James Curran  4: The Political Information Environment during Election Campaigns, Peter van Aelst, Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud and Toril Aalberg  5: News Substance: The Relative Importance of Soft and De-contextualized News, Tove Brekken, Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud and Toril Aalberg  III: How Media Affects Public Knowledge And Perceptions  6: News Content, Media Use and Current Affairs Knowledge, James Curran, Sharon Coen, Toril Aalberg and Shanto Iyengar  7: Media, Political Trust and Political Knowledge: A Comparative Perspective, Kees Aarts, Audun Fladmoe and Jesper Strömbäck  8: Does Knowledge of Hard News go with Knowledge of Soft News? A Cross-National Analysis of the Structure of Public Affairs Knowledge, Kyu S. Hahn, Shanto Iyengar, Peter van Aelst and James Curran  9: Informed Citizens, Media Use and Public Knowledge of Parties Policy Positions, Anders Todal Jenssen, Toril Aalberg and Kees Aarts  10: The Financial Crises as a Global News Event: Cross-National Media Coverage and Public Knowledge of Economic Affairs, Jesper Strömbäck, Anders Todal Jenssen and Toril Aalberg  11: News Consumption and Public Opposition to Immigration across Countries, Zan Strabac, Kjersti Thorbjørnsrud and Anders Todal Jenssen  12: Conclusion, Toril Aalberg and James Curran  Bibliography  Index

Biography

Toril Aalberg is Associate Professor of Media Sociology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway.

James Curran is Director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre and Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK. He is the author or editor of 20 books about the media, some in conjunction with others. These include Media and Democracy (Routledge, 2011), Media and Society, 5th edition (2010, Bloomsbury), Power Without Responsibility, 7th edition (with Jean Seaton, 2010, Routledge) and Media and Power (2002, Routledge), translated into five languages.

'The book is rich with interesting findings...a vital addition to both scholars and society.' – MichaelKarlsson, Global Media Journal