The Relationship between Media and Polities - Essay Example

News Media Use and Political Communication Article Review (College News Media Use and Political Communication The study by R. Lance Holbert (2005) is an effect to analyze the cumulative and complementary effects of media use. The study focuses on the political communication based media effect, intra-media mediation and its indirect effects. To verify the hypotheses, data from the 2000 national Annenberg election panel survey is used. The study is intended to assessing how a series of relationship between newspaper and television affect the people’s knowledge of presidential campaign endorsements. The study aims to prove the importance of studying mediation in the study of the relationship between media and polities. A wide variety of literature ranging from Holbert & Stephenson 2003, Lazarsfeld, Berelsen & Gaudet 1948, McLeod, Kosicki, and McLeod 2002 are mentioned to show how intra-media mediation is overlooked in the traditional study of political communication and media. The writer finds the importance of his study in the fact that other studies in the same field have not taken intra-media mediation into consideration. The previous studies largely overlooked the fact that the relationships among various forms of media may enable media to function as mediators of each other. In fact, the study is an extension of the O-S-O-R model of media as the basis for the media-related political communication. However, this new work presents an O-S-S-R framework which allows one set of stimuli to influence another set of stimuli, thus taking the intra-media mediation into consideration. The benefit of this framework is that it can be expanded to include the multiple stages of variables located in between the two sets of stimuli and after the latter stimuli. The study is based on the assumption that the best predictor of a given type of media use at a later time is its use at a previous time. So, the research has its hypotheses to show the cumulative nature of media use. The first two hypotheses can be summarized as follows: Television/newspaper use at former time positively influences television/newspaper use at later time. Now taking into consideration the fact that the use of one form of media can lead to the use of other forms of media too, the third and fourth hypotheses take birth: television use at a former time positively influences newspaper use at a later time, and newspaper use at a former time positively influences television use at a later time. Another point of consideration is the fact that at the heart of presidential election campaign, increased knowledge will be available through media about endorsement. So, the fifth and sixth hypotheses are: television news at a later time influences candidate endorsement knowledge, and newspaper use at a later time positively influences candidate endorsement knowledge. Now, to show the intra-media relationships, a combination of hypothesis are used: television news at a later time serves as a mediator in the relationship between television use at a former time and candidate endorsement knowledge, and newspaper use at a later time serves as a mediator in the relationship between newspaper use at a former time and candidate endorsement knowledge. In addition, television news at a later time serves as a mediator in the relationship between newspaper use at a former time and candidate endorsement knowledge, and newspaper use at a later time serves as a mediator in the relationship between television use at a former time and candidate endorsement knowledge. As a part of the study, the information was collected in two phases. The first phase (the former time) was from July 21 to August 13, 2000 and the second phase (the later time) was from October 18 to October 31, 2000. The first phase was before the Gore-Bush debate of October 17 and the second phase was after Gore-Bush debate, or at the heart of the election campaign. The questions asked were related to the audience’s knowledge about the endorsement of candidate in the election. So, the question was which groups endorsed which presidential candidates in the election. In addition, in both the phases, respondents were asked as to how much time they spent watching television and reading newspaper on the news about the campaign for presidential election. The results of the study were supportive to the hypotheses. From the study, it was found that in the latter phase, people were spending more time watching television and reading newspaper on presidential campaign than they spent in the former phase. In addition, the study proved that the use of a specific media at the first phase has a strong influence on its use at the second phase. Moreover, it was found that newspaper use at a former time can significantly influence television news use at a later time, and vice versa. In addition, it was found that the use of television and newspaper at the heart of election (2nd phase) has more positive influence on the candidate endorsement knowledge. Now, regarding the mediation based indirect effects, it is said that television use at a former phase has indirect influence on the use of television at a later time. In addition, news paper use at a former time leads to newspaper use at a later time, and thus, to more knowledge about candidate endorsement. Similarly, television news at a former time has indirect influence on the use of newspaper at a later time. In addition, news paper use at a former time leads to television use at a later time, and thus, to more knowledge about candidate endorsement. Thus, it becomes evident that the use of one form of media not only leads to the use of the same media later on, but also leads to the use of other forms of media. Thus, it becomes evident that intra-media mediation has a very strong influence on the spread of any information. The study points towards the fact that instead of the perceived notion that one form of media is in competition with other forms of media, in fact, the different forms of media are complementary to each other. In addition, one form of media can influence the enhanced use of another form of media. However, underestimating the value of one form of media can have serious impacts overall. However, the study cannot claim perfection as there are many other forms of media which are not taken into consideration like radio, internet, news magazines, and so on. In addition, McLeod, Scheufele, and Moy (1999, Cited in Holbert, 2005) argue that television use has more influence on newspaper than vice versa. In addition, the study points out that the use of a single media has overall effect on the total knowledge of candidate endorsement. Firstly, it leads to its own use at a later time, and secondly, it influences the use of other forms of media later on. Both at former and latter phases, both media have positive influence on the total knowledge on candidate endorsement. The fact that the study is a small step in providing support to the claim that media has got an influence in politics seems correct. Thus, by analyzing the influence of various forms of media on people’s knowledge of 2000 national Annenberg election campaign, the study focused on the political communication based media effect, intra media mediation , and the indirect effects generated from the relationships that exist among various forms of media. However, the study brings in extra complexity but, according to the writer, this will enable researchers to think in more structural terms about the relationships that exist among all variables. In total, in the study of political communication, not even a single structural relationship can be dismissed as it is evident that all media forms are complementary to each other and have a cumulative effect. Moreover, the study of intra-media mediation is an example of thinking in a broader sense which will enable a more comprehensive understanding of media effects in political settings. In simple terms, the study succeeds in proving that use of media leads to more media use. In addition, the use of one form of media enhances the use of other forms of media too. Thus, as all the forms of media are complementary to each other, avoiding one form of media will have an impact on all forms of media. References Holbert, L. (2005). “Intramedia mediation: The cumulative and complementary effects of news media use”. Political Communication. 22: 447-461. Taylor & Francis Group. Read More