PREVIOUS ARTICLE ALL CONTENTS Next ARTICLE

Surprising News: How the Media Affect—and Do Not Affect—Politics, Kenneth Newton

Reviewed by Joshua P. Darr

BUY

 

There are more news options today, across more devices and audio, visual, and written forms, than at any time in history. Recent research in political communication seeks to determine whether there are any effects of these changes to the media environment. In Surprising News, Kenneth Newton does not conduct original research but has a different goal: synthesize recent findings to summarize what we have learned about the effects (or lack thereof) of media on politics, and question whether media is worth the attention it is given by scholars.

Newton posits that factors in “the standard model” (p. 2) of political behavior—partisanship, political interest, and demographics (sex, income, age, race, education, etc.)—are more powerful determinants of political behavior than media exposure or media content. Each chapter takes up a potential moderator of media effects: psychological resistance to new information, partisanship, everyday experience, political discussion, and media trust, among others. Since media is not more powerful than these standard factors, in his telling, its effects are less significant than we might expect—the “surprise” alluded to in his title (p. 6).

The conclusion that media effects are contextual and limited by more fundamental characteristics of individuals resembles criticisms of

To continue reading, see options above.

About PSQ's Editor

ROBERT Y. SHAPIRO

Full Access

Join the Academy of Political Science and automatically receive Political Science Quarterly.

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Academy Forum | Latino Voters, Demographic Determinism, and the Myth of an Inevitable Democratic Party Majority
October 9, 2024
4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. ET
WEBINAR

MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT VIEW ALL EVENTS

Editor’s spotlight

Virtual Issue

Introduction: Black Power and the Civil Rights Agendas of Charles V. Hamilton
Marylena Mantas and Robert Y. Shapiro

MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC

Search the Archives

Publishing since 1886, PSQ is the most widely read and accessible scholarly journal with distinguished contributors such as: Lisa Anderson, Robert A. Dahl, Samuel P. Huntington, Robert Jervis, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Theda Skocpol, Woodrow Wilson

view additional issues

Most read

Articles | Book reviews

Understanding the Bush Doctrine
Robert Jervis

The Study of Administration
Woodrow Wilson

Notes on Roosevelt's "Quarantine" Speech
Dorothy Borg

view all

New APS Book

Political Conflict in American Politics   POLITICAL CONFLICT IN AMERICAN POLITICS

About US

Academy of Political Science

The Academy of Political Science, promotes objective, scholarly analyses of political, social, and economic issues. Through its conferences and publications APS provides analysis and insight into both domestic and foreign policy issues.

Political Science Quarterly

With neither an ideological nor a partisan bias, PSQ looks at facts and analyzes data objectively to help readers understand what is really going on in national and world affairs.

Stay Connected

newsstand locator
About APS