Processing Politics: Learning from Television in the Internet Age

Integrating a broad range of current research on how people learn (from political science, social psychology, communication, physiology, and artificial intelligence), Doris Graber shows that televised presentations—at their best—actually excel at transmitting information and facilitating learning. She critiques current political offerings in terms of their compatibility with our learning capacities and interests, and she considers the obstacles, both economic and political, that affect the content we receive on the air, on cable, or on the Internet.

The Black Image in the White Mind: Media and Race in America

Living in a segregated society, white Americans learn about African Americans not through personal relationships but through the images the media show them. The Black Image in the White Mind offers a comprehensive look at the intricate racial patterns in the mass media and how they shape the ambivalent attitudes of Whites toward Blacks.

Politicians Don’t Pander: Political Manipulation and the Loss of Democratic Responsiveness

This book asks us to reexamine whether our government really responds to the broad public or to the narrower interests and values of certain groups.

Rich Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times

Robert McChesney maintains that the major beneficiaries of the so-called Information Age are no more than a handful of enormous corporations, and that this concentrated corporate control is disastrous for any notion of participatory democracy.

Channeling Violence: The Economic Market for Violent Television Programming

Hamilton approaches television violence in the same way that other economists approach the problem of pollution: that is, as an example of market failure. He argues that television violence, like pollution, generates negative externalities, defined as costs borne by others than those involved in the production activity. Broadcasters seeking to attract viewers may not fully bear the costs to society of their violent programming, if those costs include such factors as increased levels of aggression and crime in society. Hamilton goes on to say that the comparison to pollution remains relevant when considering how to deal with the problem. Approaches devised to control violent programming, such as restricting it to certain times and rating programs according to the violence they contain, have parallels in zoning and education policies designed to protect the environment.

The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, 1880-1955

Drawing on McCormick’s personal papers and years of research, Richard Norton Smith has written the definitive life of the towering figure known as The Colonel.

Going Negative: How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate

Drawing on both laboratory experiments and the real world of America’s presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional races, the authors show that negative advertising drives down voter turnout – in some cases dramatically – and that political consultants intentionally use ads for this very purpose.

Public Television for Sale: Media, the Market and the Public Sphere

Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech

Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair’s Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics