New Media And American Politics (transforming American Politics)

NEW MEDIA AND AMERICAN POLITICSTICS This page intentionally left blank New Media and American Politics Richard Davis Diana Owen New York Oxford Oxford University Press 1998 Oxford University Press Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Bombay Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madras Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Davis, Richard, 1955New media and American politics / Richard Davis and Diana Owen. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-19-312060-4; 0-19-512061-2 (pbk) 1. Mass media—Political aspects—United States. 2. United States—Politics and government—1993- 3. Mass media—Technological innovations. I. Owen, Diana Marie. II. Title. P95.82.U6D38 1998 302.230973—dc21 97-52291 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United Stales of America on acid-lrec paper- To my children—Audrey, Jonathan, Romney, Bethany, and Devin—the next generation, for whom new media will not be new at all Richard Davis To Jeffrey Diana Owen This page intentionally left blank Preface Mass communication in the United States is in a state of flux. "New media," such as talk radio, television news magazines, electronic town meetings, tabloids, MTV, and the Internet, convey political information to the public in ways that depart, sometimes radically, with convention. While no consensus has been reached about the wide ranging implications of the new media's political presence, it is fair to say that the new media have substantially altered the way that American journalists operate, politics is conducted, and the public relates to media, politicians, institutions, and political processes. Debate over the new media's role, significance, and implications for democratic governance has been sparked in academic and journalistic circles. Some argue that new media have the potential to be a positive force in society. New media are the people's media, and as such, they can generate interest in politics among apathetic citizens, facilitate public discourse, and occasionally even stimulate political participation. They also act as a check on the mainstream press, which an increasing number of ordinary people perceive to be an elite domain too closely aligned with politicians and government to play a legitimate watchdog role. Yet, the new media's political role, indeed their very existence, is determined overwhelmingly by economic market forces to an extent viii Preface that exceeds even that of the profit-conscious media mainstream. New media offerings depend on near-instant profitability, in many cases, for survival. Talk radio programs, for example, are regularly canceled and replaced with little warning when ratings drop. The economic imperative that drives ne