Question 2: News Coverage and Iraq war

Question 1

Typical News Pattern

Answer 1

Opinion polarization in the public typically occurs when Republican and Democratic Party leaders diverge

Question 2

Lead up to Iraq War

Answer 2

• Democrats were not vocal in challenging the Bush Administration push for an invasion
• Yet public opinion polarized along party lines

Question 3

Argument from Influences from Abroad (Hayes and Guaradino)

Answer 3

• U.S. news outlets devoted significant coverage to opposition to the Iraq war from foreign voices
  
  • Despite the absence of dissent from domestic elites, opposition messages were available to American news consumers
• Exposure to opposition messages drove some Americans (mainly Democrats and independents) to oppose the war

**These findings challenge two pieces of conventional wisdom: (1) the U.S. media ignore foreign voices and (2) the U.S. public wont listen to them

Question 4

How war and foreign policy normally are covered

Answer 4

1. Intermittent and intense: little sustained attention to foreign affairs news, and when there is coverage, theres a lot of it
2. Heavily reliant on government officials
   
   • Indexing: refers to the calibration of coverage to the views of government officials; elite views drive coverage when those views are in conflict
3. Marginalize perspectives outside the government; little coverage of domestic perspectives outside of the government and little coverage of foreign officials or the international community

Question 5

Why was the Iraq War Different?

Answer 5

1. The absence of vocal domestic opposition conflicts with the media’s desire for balance led them to cover opposition from oversees
2. Prolonged debate over the invasion took place at the United Nations
3. The debate over the Iraq War reflected the Bush Administration’s framing but with significant attention to the international community

Question 6

Why Democrats got so little attention:

Answer 6

• Democrats who were vocal in their opposition weren’t perceived as powerful, once the war resolution passed in October, Congress was irrelevant. And those who were vocal – most were not in party leadership