Table of Contents

1 Introduction Travis N. Ridout

2 The American Media System Today: Is the Public Fragmenting? Natalie Jomini Stroud and Ashley Muddiman

3 Political Dynamics of Framing S.R. Gubitz, Samara Klar, Joshua Robison and James N. Druckman

4 Distrust of the News Media as a Symptom and a Further Cause of Partisan Polarization Jonathan M. Ladd and Alexander R. Podkul

5 All Politics is Local?: Assessing the Role of Local Television News in a Polarized Era Erika Franklin Fowler

6 News Media and War: Warmongers or Peacemakers? Piers Robinson

7 Campaigns Go Social: Are Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter Changing Elections? Young Mie Kim, Richard James Heinrich, Soo Yun Kim, and Robyn Baragwanath

8 The Move to Mobile: What’s the Impact on Citizen News Attention? Johanna Dunaway, Kathleen Searles, Mingxiao Sui, and Newly Paul

9 Negative Campaigns: Are They Good for American Democracy? Yanna Krupnikov and Elizabeth C. Connors

10 Targeting Campaign Messages: Good for Campaigns but Bad for America? Michael M. Franz

11 Do the Media Give Women Candidates a Fair Shake? Regina G. Lawrence

12 Congress and the Media: Who Has the Upper Hand? C. Danielle Vinson

13 Reassessing the Power of Speech in a Crowded Media World: Conditional Modern Presidential Leadership of Public Opinion Brandon Rottinghaus

14 Media and Public Policy: Does Media Coverage Depend on the Medium? Matt Guardino

15 Fake News: What Is the Influence of Fabricated Stories and Efforts to Undermine Media Credibility? Travis N. Ridout and Erika Franklin Fowler

16 Politics in the Digital Age: A Scary Prospect? Roderick P. Hart

About the Author

Travis N. Ridout is Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Professor of Government and Public Policy in the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at Washington State University. He specializes in the study of political communication, with a focus on campaigns and political advertising. His most recent book is Political Advertising in the United States (2016). He also serves as co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project.

Reviews

Praise for the Second EditionThe strengths of this book’s first edition were its ability to take contributions from top scholars in the field and make them accessible, and its focus on how changes in the media affect the ability of American democracy to function. The second edition builds on this solid foundation by adding topics that currently preoccupy my students, such as "fake news" and President Trump’s unique relationship with the media. There isn’t a better introduction to what political science has to say about the relationship between the media and politics out there.Keena Lipsitz, CUNY Queens College & The Graduate CenterNew Directions in Media and Politics takes a unique approach, tackling big questions effectively while stepping outside of artificial subfield boundaries in today’s quick-moving media environment. This method makes it easy for students to contribute to lively discussions and for instructors to teach with this birds-eye view of issues in the field.Henrik Schatzinger, Ripon College; Co-Director, Center for Politics and the People