Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide [Paperback]

Shanto Iyengar (Author), Jennifer McGrady (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393928195 | ISBN-13: 978-0393928198 | Publication Date: December 10, 2006 | Edition: Pap/DVD

Media Politics encourages students to examine how the media affect American politics and how politicians influence the media in order get elected, stay in power, and achieve policy goals.

Drawing on recent events and the most current research, including the work of Professor Iyengar, Media Politics is the most up-to-date introductory text available. The text is accompanied by a free DVD featuring video-clips of political ads, news stories, speeches, debates, and more (DVD contents).

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Shanto Iyengar teaches political science and communications at Stanford University. He has authored or edited several books, including News That Matters, Is Anyone Responsible? and Explorations in Political Psychology. Iyengar is also a guest columnist for washingtonpost.com.

Jennifer McGrady is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at Stanford University, and a research assistant in the Department's Political Communication Laboratory and Center for Deliberative Democracy. She has worked on a number of local and national political campaigns. Her research examines the effects of new communication technologies on the democratic process.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Pap/DVD edition (December 10, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393928195
• ISBN-13: 978-0393928198
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #310,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An introduction to the horserace, the watchdog function, and so much more..., December 12, 2009

By 

John E. O'neill "Bigmountainjohn" (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide (Paperback)

This past semester I enrolled in a media and politics class, and this text along with Graber's, "Mass Media And American Politics", proved to be very complimentary texts. Citizen's guide is a great text, moving very clearly and cohesively through the history of the media, the development of the FCC, the impact of legislation on broadcasting, the evolution of media utilization by campaigns, effect of the media on the framing of news and politics, and the dangerous direction an increasingly "commentary" news based form of coverage is headed in. The studies referenced in the text, along with the DVD supplement of media coverage from the past and present, and the structure of the text is a great addition to any political junkies bookshelf and believe it or not is not a bad read outside of the classroom.

3.0 out of 5 stars Less than current, March 18, 2011

By 

Richard R. Mccormick "Riley" (Kettering, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide (Paperback)

While I found the data contained in Lyengar's book to be well documented, the subject of media/politics is so fluid that this book, published in 2007 is not current.
The campaigns of 2008 and 2010 have put much of the data to test and the evolution in the past six years of social media has been so dynamic that it puts much of the conclusions of Lyengar's book in the category of "old news." Good in it's time perhaps, but less significant today.

1 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good book, April 1, 2008

By 

Nabil Nasreddine "greendayzr" (paterson, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Media Politics: A Citizen's Guide (Paperback)

I usually like to start my day by checking the news, and I usually start by taking a quick look at both [...] and [...] that's my attempt at trying to get both sides of the story, but I've gotten to the point that I don't want to read the morning news anymore, because they include so much tragic news of children being horribly abused, or women being killed or raped, and children being killed, that I don't start my day informed--I start my day depressed.
I want to read about politics, world news, and finance, what's happening in the Middle East, sports, entertainment news, weather, our government, science, health, and technology.