Eric Hammell

4/16/99

Media Theory and Criticism

Presentation

I. Main Research Focus

(Main outline overhead) My POE article was entitled "The Influence of Political Talk Radio on Confidence in Democratic Institutions."

    1. The study compared "people’s use of political talk radio to that of other mass communication sources" and how that use related to "their confidence in democratic institutions."
    2. Radio was the main focus of the article; the other media forms were used merely for comparison.

II. Main Research Questions

a) The research wanted to find out whether reduced public confidence in democratic institutions was the result of people’s direct experience with these institutions or generated by negative depictions in the media. The researchers felt that most people have little direct contact with or knowledge of democratic institutions and so are highly influenced by media reports. They talked about "mainstreaming," where differences between people because of "social, cultural, and demographic influences" are overridden by the fact that they all share common communications sources. In this way, those that share the same communications sources begin to view the world in the same way, the way that those sources depict it.

b) The researchers wanted to find out whether political talk radio portrayed institutions differently than the other mass communication forms. The researchers felt that most political talk radio is "conservative" and "negative toward most institutions." They felt the tone of political talk radio is cynical. The researchers first hypothesis was that "political talk radio’s negative depictions of the Presidency, the court system, the news media, and the public schools" would be proven by the study to cause negative opinions and lowered confidence in these institutions among listeners. Second, the researchers hypothesized that political talk radio’s "positive depictions of Congress" would equate to a high degree of confidence among listeners.

III. Method

    1. First, the researchers did a content analysis of the "quantity and tone of references, to democratic institutions provided by" each of the "mass communication sources" These references were analyzed (coded) for "trustworthiness, global attitude, and confidence." The selected mass communication sources were: 3 network television news sources (ABC, CBS, NBC), 12 local television news sources (3 network affiliated), 2 national newspapers (New York Times and USA today), 2 local newspapers (Wisconsin State Journal and Capital Times), 3 national news magazines (Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report), 3 television news magazines (60 Minutes, 20/20, and Dateline), 3 television entertainment talk shows (Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman, The Tonight Show), and 2 talk radio shows (Rush Limbaugh and Ken Hamblin). The reliability of the coder accuracy was between 65 and 99%.
    2. Second a random telephone survey of one adult from each of 357 households gathered sociodemographic data (which served as control variables); analyzed interest, knowledge, and awareness of institutions (expertise); examined media use patterns; and assessed the public’s confidence in demographic institutions (which "served as the dependent variables in the study" and were identical to the measures used in the content analysis).

IV. Results

(Results overhead- tables) Here are the results of both the content analysis of news sources and the telephone survey. "Political talk radio was more negative than all other mass communication sources in its depictions of the President, court system, news media, and public schools, and more positive in depictions of Congress." (show on overhead, Table 1)

    1. "Despite these depictions, telephone survey results indicated that use of political talk radio did not affect perceptions of the Presidency and Congress. (show on overhead, table 2) Being older and more educated led to higher levels of confidence in the presidency. For Congress, no media effects were discernable, however Republican affiliation and expertise were associated positively.
    2. "Listening to political talk radio also had a negative effect on confidence in news media," however "this effect did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance."

V. Knowledge Contributed To Field

This study shows that:

    1. "Greater knowledge may serve as the antidote to declining confidence levels," as "institutional expertise exerted considerable influence on perceptions."
    2. The study also served to "provide further support for the findings of other studies that political talk radio is associated with more negative perceptions of democratic institutions" and also clarifies "the inconsistency in" those findings.
    3. The study also employed several mass communication sources for comparison, past research only identifies one or two in isolation from others.

VI. The Study From A Cultural Studies Perspective

    1. A CS scholar would seek to use this information to raise critical consciousness and awareness. A CS scholar would want people to see the findings about political talk radio and evaluate it as a source of knowledge in the future. A CS scholar would seek to empower them to question their media sources. CS would seek to make the radio listener an "enlightened witness."
    2. A CS scholar would go beyond the quantitative data and be more concerned with the qualitative effects. The idea of "mainstreaming," mentioned earlier, would be of concern to a CS scholar. Does the voice of radio news override that of different social groups? If so, CS would seek to point this out as a site of struggle, and facilitate resistance.
    3. A CS scholar would be interested in the whole picture. This would mean going beyond deconstructing the text of political talk radio. This might include looking more closely at the sociodemographics of both the sample group and the people responsible for the production of the individual news programs. It might also include analyzing the commercials in the middle of the news program. The question for a CS scholar would be "what other factors are there in the larger picture of declining confidence?"
    4. A CS scholar would study what isn’t there. The scholar would ask: Are there points of view not represented by political talk radio? Who is not permitted to speak? What is left out of the coverage of democratic institutions?
    5. CS scholars, considering radio a cultural teacher, would seek to identify what exactly is being taught. What ideologies are being reproduced? The CS scholar would examine more than explicit words and sentences actually appearing in the text and look at the entire sign system and the meaning it produces.