Public confidence and trust in government is low these days. Farnsworth pinpoints this disappointment to shifting expectations of what, exactly, government should do. Politicians were once expected to maintain economic growth, but in our post-scarcity era most citizens expect them to provide services - such as welfare or environmental -that are often contentious. Enlarging the scope of local political empowerment will increase public support by making politics more approachable and responsive.

Political Support in a Frustrated America

Politics & Social Sciences

Farnsworth, Stephen J.

Politics & Government

Praeger

The Nightly News Nightmare: Network Television's Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2000

Every four years, the network news machines crank themselves up to cover the presidential election campaigns. What we get is often a mix of sound bites, horserace standings, and scandals. In Campaign 2000, we also got network meltdown on election night and then, the Florida fiasco. This book looks at campaign coverage over the past four presidential elections and tracks its tailspin in terms of accuracy, balance, and overall quality and quantity. Acclaimed media scholars Farnsworth and Lichter use extensive data from the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs to document the decline of network news. Analyzing the content of over 5,800 network campaign stories and 9,500 campaign items from other sources ranging from public television to newspapers to campaign speeches, the authors compare what the candidates said with what the networks say they said and judge the disparity a nightmare. The unprecedented breadth and depth of the evidence allow Farnsworth and Lichter to shatter old myths and shift the terms of the debate about the relationship between news and newsmakers. Proposing sweeping reforms affecting the news organizations, the political process, and the candidates themselves, the authors take media analysis to an unprecedented level. As they indisputably demonstrate, the old order is gone, but what replaces it may make it tough to sleep at night for those who care about the news.

Humor & Entertainment

Lichter, Robert S.

Television

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Every four years, the network news machines crank themselves up to cover the presidential election campaigns. What we get is often a mix of sound bites, horserace standings, and scandals. In Campaign 2000, we also got network meltdown on election night and then, the Florida fiasco. This book looks at campaign coverage over the past four presidential elections and tracks its tailspin in terms of accuracy, balance, and overall quality and quantity. Acclaimed media scholars Farnsworth and Lichter use extensive data from the non-profit, non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs to document the decline of network news. Analyzing the content of over 5,800 network campaign stories and 9,500 campaign items from other sources ranging from public television to newspapers to campaign speeches, the authors compare what the candidates said with what the networks say they said and judge the disparity a nightmare. The unprecedented breadth and depth of the evidence allow Farnsworth and Lichter to shatter old myths and shift the terms of the debate about the relationship between news and newsmakers. Proposing sweeping reforms affecting the news organizations, the political process, and the candidates themselves, the authors take media analysis to an unprecedented level. As they indisputably demonstrate, the old order is gone, but what replaces it may make it tough to sleep at night for those who care about the news.

The Mediated Presidency: Television News and Presidential Governance

Including late-breaking data from the Iraq occupation and the disastrous CBS News reports on Bush's Vietnam-era National Guard Service, acclaimed media scholars Stephen J. Farnsworth and S. Robert Lichter examine news coverage of military policy, economic policy, and scandals from the last four U.S. presidencies, including the current controversial administration. Using a quarter-century of content analysis data, the authors demonstrate how the White House dominates Capitol Hill on every dimension of news coverage, undermining Congress's attempt to compete as an equal branch before the public. At the same time, they show how the networks are steadily losing ground to new media outlets and suggest future paths our media mania may take.

History

The Nightly News Nightmare: Television's Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2004

Beginning with the 1988 presidential election and now updated through 2004, The Nightly News Nightmare shows how network news coverage of what is arguably the nation's most important political event has declined. Through extensive analysis of news content from the 'Big Three' and Fox, acclaimed media scholars Farnsworth and Lichter compare what the candidates said with what the networks say they said and judge the disparity a nightmare. The authors go on to suggest that perhaps the candidates themselves do a better job of portraying the campaigns than those who used to be the trusted network guardians of the news. While making clear that overall coverage of the Bush-Kerry race marked an improvement compared to previous elections, Farnsworth and Lichter also point out that in other ways, things were worse.

The Global President: International Media and the US Government

In The Global President: International Communication and the US Government, scholars Stephen J. Farnsworth, S. Robert Lichter and Roland Schatz provide an expansive international examination of news coverage of US political communication, and the roles the US government and the Presidency play in an increasingly communicative and interconnected political world. This comprehensive yet concise text will engage and inform students in many intersecting disciplines, as it includes analyses of not just the Presidency, but US foreign policy and contemporary political media itself. The media developed to keep pace with the headwinds of political change are being asked more and more to adapt to and enhance the ways in which policy-makers, voters, and students make sense of the process of governance. The realities of an ever-changing political landscape are magnified nowhere more greatly than in the realm of foreign policy, and the stakes surrounding the need for quality communicational skills are no higher than at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue because - when the voices of the US government speak - the world is listening. This book provides students a perfect entry point into the complex and amorphous relationship between media and government, where that relationship has been, and where it looks to be heading in the future.

Lichter, S. Robert

Schatz, Roland

Social Sciences

Late-night In Washington

Latif, Farah

New York, NY: Routledge

Late-Night in Washington

"This book traces the trajectory of late-night political humor, which has long been a staple of entertainment television and is now a prominent part of social media political discourse, especially when it comes to the presidency. From Richard Nixon on Laugh-In to Donald Trumps avatar on Saturday Night Live, this book takes the next step and considers how late-night comedy treats Joe Biden, the new American president who strives to restore a civil public tone but offers far less comedy fodder than his predecessor. Employing content analysis, public opinion surveys, and a variety of other quantitative and qualitative research, the authors look beyond the day-to-day memes and mimes of late-night comics and show how political humor may evolve. For students and scholars of politics and the media, this book will appeal to the general public and political pundits as well"--

Reference

Routledge

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Farnsworth, Stephen J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Farnsworth, Stephen J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Farnsworth, Stephen J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Political Support in a Frustrated America

The Nightly News Nightmare: Network Television's Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2000

The Nightly News Nightmare: Network Television's Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2000

The Mediated Presidency: Television News and Presidential Governance

The Nightly News Nightmare: Television's Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2004

The Global President: International Media and the US Government

The Global President: International Media and the US Government

Late-night In Washington

Late-Night in Washington

Late-Night in Washington