Scandal and Silence (eBook)

Media Responses to Presidential Misconduct

Robert M. Entman (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2013
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
978-0-7456-7580-0 (ISBN)

Infos

This timely and engaging book challenges the conventional wisdom on
media and scandal in the United States. The common view holds that
media crave and actively pursue scandals whenever they sense
corruption. Scandal and Silence argues for a different
perspective. Using case studies from the period 1988-2008, it shows
that:



* Media neglect most corruption, providing too little, not too
much scandal coverage;

* Scandals arise from rational, controlled processes, not
emotional frenzies - and when scandals happen, it's not the
media but governments and political parties that drive the process
and any excesses that might occur;

* Significant scandals are indeed difficult for news
organizations to initiate and harder for them to maintain and bring
to appropriate closure;

* For these reasons cover-ups and lying often work, and truth
remains essentially unrecorded, unremembered.

Sometimes, bad behavior stimulates an avalanche of media attention
with demonstrable political consequences, yet other times, equally
shoddy activity receives little notice. This book advances a
theoretical model to explain these differences, revealing an
underlying logic to what might seem arbitrary and capricious
journalism. Through case studies of the draft and military scandals
involving Dan Quayle, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and John Kerry;
alleged sexual misconduct of politicians including but not limited
to Clinton; and questionable financial dealings of Clinton and
George W Bush, the book builds a new understanding of media
scandals which will be essential reading for anyone concerned with
the relationship between media and democracy today.

Autor

Robert M. Entman is J.B. and M.C. Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University.

Inhalt

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Chapter 1: High Crimes or Misdemeanors?
Chapter 2: Analyzing Media and Presidential ScandalChapter 3: Private Lives in the Public Sphere. What Do Journalists Know, and When Do They Tell It?
Chapter 4: Secret Sins of 2008: The McCain, Edwards and Clinton Families' Values
Chapter 5: Dodging Scandals - and the Draft
Chapter 6: Rathergate: From a Scandal of Politics to a Scandal of Journalism
Chapter 7: Harkening to Other Matters: What News Looks like When a Scandal is Silenced
Appendix to Chapter 7: Harken Data Tables
Chapter 8: Silenced Scandals of Grave Misconduct
Chapter 9: Recalibrating Scandal and Silence
References
Notes

Rezensionen

"This book combines insightful theoretical analysis with interesting empirical research, and is a major contribution to the field."
Discourse and Communication

"This is the definitive work on political scandal in the modern American press. The reader will find engaging and richly detailed accounts of dozens of scandals, along with explanations of why in some cases they became so overblown, and, in others, did not develop at all despite available evidence. The book raises important questions about how journalists tell stories, and why those stories so often fail to embody the ideals we associate with a free press in a democracy."
Lance Bennett, University of Washington

"Robert Entman has long been one of the most insightful analysts of the news media. Scandal and Silence will add to his reputation. Anyone who thought they had a reasonable understanding of how the media handle scandal will have to think again. A brilliant book that is a must read for those in the classroom, the newsroom, and the political cloakroom."
Thomas E. Patterson, Harvard University

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 19.4.2013
• Reihe/Serie: Contemporary Political Communication
• Reihe/Serie: CPC - Contemporary Political Communication
• Reihe/Serie: CPC - Contemporary Political Communication
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Medienwissenschaft
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Systeme
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Elektrotechnik / Energietechnik
• Schlagworte: Communication & Media Studies • Kommunikation u. Medienforschung • Medienforschung • Politics, Media, Scandal
• ISBN-10: 0-7456-7580-8 / 0745675808
• ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-7580-0 / 9780745675800