Media and Public Policy

Political scientists and media specialists accept that the mass media have made a profound and direct impact on virtually every aspect of the political process, yet remarkably few systematic studies examining the relationship between media and policy exist. Media and Public Policy bring together 16 scholars who aim to focus analytic attention on the connection betwen the media and public policymkaing. It includes a chapter on media impact on the political status quo by leading expert Doris S. Graber, and another on newsmaking and policymaking by Julio Borquez. It also features chapters on FCC decisions, understanding public policy through news broadcast, the role the media plays in economic development and agenda setting, and media and the right to privacy. Jerry and Michael Medler contribute a chapter about media images as environmental policy, and Montague Kern examines the rhetoric of public policy issues in mass media elections. The final section discusses mass media and US foreign policy processes, and how AIDS reporters in several countries use the media to affect policymaking.