The Press Effect: Politicians, Journalists, and the Stories That Shape the Political World

by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman

Book Overview

Was the 2000 presidential campaign merely a contest between Pinocchio and Dumbo? And did Dumbo miraculously turn into Abraham Lincoln after the events of September 11? In fact, Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman argue in The Press Effect, these stereotypes, while containing some elements of the truth, represent the failure of the press and the citizenry to engage the most important part of our political process in a critical fashion. Jamieson...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195173295
• ISBN13: 9780195173291
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Specifics we forgot

This is nicely written, not wordy or loaded with polysci jargon. She reviews national events, mostly political, and how the media covered or created them. It is rather painful but enlightening to see how some of the "what everybody knows" about a particular candidate started off as speculation by someone, then got quoted as fact by the rest of the pack. Another reminder of how gullible people are so the media can lead us around by the nose and how important it is to be extremely skeptical about the way the media characterize candidates. Also I'm reminded how important it is to have sources from outside the US media market such as BBC.

one of the most important books of our time

One of the most bothersome things about journalism today is how frequently lies and distortions promulgated on all sides of the political spectrum, particularly the right side, become accepted as truth. To a large extent, as this book points out, this is the fault of journalists, whose primary job is, or should be, to discover and report the truth about important issues of the day. Democracy cannot function well if the public is constantly mislead. And simply presenting opposing views does not help the public determine the truth. Truth telling needs to be rewarded and deception needs to be punished. This is not happening now. Real journalism is not about repeating the "spin" but finding the truth.As the book says: "Reporters should help the public make sense of competing political arguments by defining terms, filling in needed information, assessing the accuracy of the evidence being offered, and relating the claims and counterclaims to the probable impact of the proposed policies on citizens and the country."This can be hard work. It is much easier to focus on the "horse race" and personalities and that is why over 70% of elections stories in 2000 did not mention any issue at all. This book should be required reading for all journalists and concerned citizens.

Solid, well researched, and balanced

Jamieson and Waldman offer a highly critical overview of media coverage, focusing on the 2000 Presidential election, but also touching on historical issues such as the Nixon Presidency and the Gulf of Tonkin incident. They are equally critical of the coverage given to Bush and Gore, in an impressive display of non-partisanship that is lacking in our media today. They encourage reporters to research the statements by candidates and to not simply accept the frame given to them by interested parties but to investigate and to put a truly fair and balanced frame around it. One issue that they note but could have gone into more detail on is that the media almost universally present issues as a for/against disagreement, whereas in reality there are often (I might argue almost always) more than two points of view on a given issue and the press ignores all but the two that are most easily reduced to sound bites.

A must read for all journalists

The press is in crisis--it no longer serves its most important role, which is to cut through political spin to get at the facts. Jamieson and Waldman make a convincing case that the press is so intent on creating compelling storylines that it has lost its critical edge.For all journalists out there--please read it!