How the News Media Fail American Voters

It Is Often Noted That The Public Is Frustrated With The News Media. But What Do American Voters Really Think About How The Media Present Political Information? While Studies Have Examined How The News Shapes Opinions As Well As What People Respond To And Remember, This Is The First Book To Provide An In-depth Analysis Of How Voters Use And Evaluate The News Media In Political Elections And The Impact These Trends Have On Their Use Of The News. Kenneth Dautrich And Thomas H. Hartley Performed A Four-wave National Panel Survey Of Voters During The 1996 Presidential Campaign And Found That Although Voters Are Profoundly Dissatisfied With The Media's Ability To Help Them With Electoral Decisions, They Are Unlikely To Switch Their Source Of Information--thus Giving The Media No Incentive To Change. How The News Media Fail American Voters Is An Important Contribution To The Debate About The Responsibilities Of The News Media Raging Among Pundits And Policymakers. Book Jacket.--book Jacket. Campaigns Are Unthinkable, Save In Terms Of The News Media -- Media Use In The 1996 Campaign -- Explaining Media Use -- Scratching The Surface: Overall Ratings Of Election Coverage -- Tilting Left: Perceptions Of Political Bias In Election Coverage -- Evaluation Of New Content And New Sources -- The Consequence Of Poor Media Performance -- Conclusion. Kenneth Dautrich And Thomas H. Hartley. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [181]-191) And Index.