Media and Democracy (All)

Question 1

What is Liberal Pluralism?

Answer 1

Concept that calls for limited government, protection of individual liberty and a free-market economy.

Question 2

What role does the media play in a liberal pluralist society?

Answer 2

Media as watchdogs/adverserial.

Media as impartial, objective and independent brokers of information.

Question 3

What evidence is there for a crisis in public communication?

Answer 3

Newspaper readership and party membership down, lack of citizen engagement in politics and general distrust of government.

Question 4

What are the underlying social structures causing a communication crisis?

Answer 4

Societies are more fragmented and diverse.
Politicians have a new frame of visibility.
Increased electoral instability.

Question 5

What are the problems with political reporting?

Answer 5

Emphasis of politics as a game.
Political communication shaped by competition.
Adversarialsim of reporting politics.

Question 6

What is meant by “single-issue” politics?

Answer 6

A party or organisation that campaigns on one issue. (e.g PETA = animals)

Question 7

What is meant by the term “slacktivism”?

Answer 7

Online activism that usually has little or no effect, with minimal effort required on the part of the user. They can feel a sense of gratification for doing their part.

Question 8

Give 3 conclusions about the crisis of public communication:

Answer 8

• some evidence of decline in political participation as conventionally defined.
• changes in the nature of political life.
• new emerging forms of political life may generate a more healthy public sphere.

Question 9

What is Hjarvard’s definition of mediatisation?

Answer 9

The intensified and changing importance of the media in culture and society. Culture and society become increasingly dependent on the media and their modus operandi.

Question 10

What is the mediatisation of politics?

Answer 10

The requirements of the media to take centre stage and shape the means by which political communication is played out by political actors, is covered by the media and is understood by the people.

Question 11

What is meant by the personalisation of politics?

Answer 11

The personal lives of politicians become central to campaigns. Politicians almost like celebrities, have no privacy and disclose their personal lives to the public.

Question 12

What is meant by the presidentialisation of politics?

Answer 12

Leadership is becoming more central and more powerful, but also more dependent on successful public appeal.

Question 13

What are the disadvantages of the personalisation of politics?

Answer 13

Personality more important than policies.
Trivialising politics and alienating citizens.
Rise of unaccountable political professionals to manage a politicians image (e.g Blair/Campbell).

Question 14

Give the 5 elements of a scandal:

Answer 14

1) transgression of values, norms and codes.
2) element of secrecy, but believed to exist by others.
3) some non-participants disapprove.
4) these express their disapproval in public.
5) may damage the reputation of the involved parties.

Question 15

Why are scandals central?

Answer 15

Against the backdrop of liberal democracy, politics is competitive and reputations matter greatly.

Question 16

Give 5 reasons why scandals are central to contemporary politics:

Answer 16

1) transformation of visibility
2) changing technologies
3) changing media cultures
4) changing political culture
5) growing legalisation of political life (e.g Leveson Inquiry).

Question 17

What are the 3 types of scandal?

Answer 17

1) Sex/Private Life
2) Financial
3) Power

Question 18

How can a sex scandal be characterised?

Answer 18

a) Hypocrisy
b) Conflicts of Interest
c) Second-order Transgressions

Question 19

How can a financial scandal be characterised?

Answer 19

Misuse of money, or other financial irregularities.

More likely to have legal ramifications than just moral ones.

Question 20

How can a power scandal be characterised?

Answer 20

Involve misuse or abuse of power.

The ‘purest’ type of scandal.

Question 21

What is Thompson’s alternative approach to scandal?

Answer 21

Scandals are struggles over symbolic power in which reputations and trust are at stake.

Question 22

Who came up with the idea of the ‘filter bubble’ and what does it mean?

Answer 22

Eli Pariser noticed that Google searches returned different results depending on the user, and theorised that people online only see what they want to see in enclosed circles, thus not ever seeing the full picture.

Question 23

What is meant by “post-truth”?

Answer 23

Post-truth means that facts are less influential in shaping public opinion compared to appeals to emotion and personal belief.

Question 24

What did Banducci and Stevens find out about post-truth and Brexit?

Answer 24

That only 11% of Remain supporters believed the ‘NHS 350 million’ claim.
Evidence of a polarised public sphere.

Question 25

What is a benefit of satire?

Answer 25

Opens up space for critique.

Motivation for broader engagement and participation, especially amongst young people.

Question 26

What is “hashtag activism”?

Answer 26

A term referring to the use of Twitter’s hashtags for internet activism. Raising awareness and sustaining attention are key features.

Question 27

What role did social media play in the Arab Spring?

Answer 27

Allowed for the world to see what was really going on, and helped mobilise and sustain protests.

Question 28

What role did social media play in the Umbrella Revolution?

Answer 28

The Firechat app allowed for protestors to organise effectively, and did not rely on wi-fi in order to work.