Customer Reviews

Spiral of Cynicism: The Press and the Public Good

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A compilation of a number of experimental studies on the impact of the framing effects of news. The authors point out that political news nowadays uses mostly the strategic frame - focus on strategies of actors - rather than issue frame - focus on substantive aspects of the issues. And the authors try to test if the use of strategic frame would lead to enhanced cynicism.

The findings of the experiments are actually not very clear-cut, at least not clear-cut than what the authors said in the book. But the book contains very good discussions about the likely impact of news on cynicism, definition of cynicism vs. skepticism, the nature of framing effects etc.

Not as accessible as other books in the journalism reform genre (in other words, a little stat-heavy), but it provides a good framework for discussion. Anyone who thinks cynicism and journalism MUST go hand in hand should read this for a refutation and perhaps a few ideas of how to take the journalist's natural *skepticism* (which is very different) and use it a healthy manner.