5. Media and Democracy: Media Malaise

Question 1

Potential impacts on crisis of democracy

Answer 1

lower voter turnout

lower voluntary tax reporting

lower probability of serving on a jury

less respect for the law

decreased willingness to work for the government

Question 2

theoretical schools on media exposure - behaviour

Answer 2

media exposure - political interest - attitudes - behaviour

Question 3

attitudes

Answer 3

trust in politics or the satisfaction with the democracy. In behaviour we see voting and memberships

Question 4

theoretical school: Putnam’s ‘television is bad’

Answer 4

Causal mechanism 1: most television programs linked to civic disengagement. Television news is becoming sleazier (media becomes junkyard dog) = mean world syndrome

Causal mechanism 2: television-watching is a time-consuming habit

Question 5

causal mechanism 1: most television programs linked to civic disengagement. Television news is becoming sleazier (media becomes junkyard dog) = mean world syndrome

Answer 5

The media system changes: less public broadcasting and more commercial television. This leads to a rise in scandals and strategic elements of politics and also infotainment (soft news) and not normal hard news.

–> Watching news leads to a decline in satisfaction with the way democracy works (direct effect).

Question 6

Causal mechanism 2: television-watching is a time-consuming habit

Answer 6

When people watch television they cannot, for example, join organizations. Organizations are the schools of democracy, which boosts the satisfaction with democracy (indirect effect).

Question 7

theoretical school: mobilizatoin

Answer 7

Causal mechanisms
- People are higher educated and are more likely to consume more hard news
- Mass media = merely neutral tools that provide a range of content and people can pick and choose what they want to see.

Higher educated people choose to watch more hard news and hard news is good for democracy because it educates people on their choices, which increases trust. Also, the costs of information collection are greatly reduced.

Question 8

Conclusion media malaise

Answer 8

it is easy to claim that there is a crisis of democracy and that media are to blame, but it is far more difficult to examine empirically. By now there is a decent amount of empirical evidence