Cynicism

Effects of Comedy talk shows on cynicism

Leads to less distrust in politicians

Effects of Cable news on cynicism

Leads to more distrust in politician, more systemic cynicism

The people who are higher in systemic cynicism

Less educated, political knowledge, efficacy

Strategic news frames, defined

News coverage portraying politicians in which winning and losing (war) is the central concern and the emphasis is on the perception of candidates

Effects of Satirical news on cynicism

No association with any types of cynicism

The people who are more mistrustful of media are...

Older, higher political knowledge, education, republican, less newspaper use

Newspapers as buffers

People who read newspapers a lot have less cynicism when watching cable

Strategic frames: "The bad"

Small doses increase cynicism Effects are additive (can't be undone by issue frames)

Strategic frames: "The good"

Strategic and issue frames can co-exist within a single story

Issue frames, defined

Talk about the election, but more interested in what politicians say and how they're saying it

In which ways is the public cynical of the press?

The media has become sensationalistic, so there is less of an emphasis on substansive issues The biggest cynics are the most informed

Strategic frames, defined

Have become the dominant mode of journalistic coverage of politics, responsible for audience cynicism If we think politicians are mostly concerned with winning, they must not be that concerned about us

The people who are more distrustful of politicians have...

Higher income, political knowledge, efficacy

3 Spirals of Cynicism

1. Journalists say they are cynical because of politicians, politicians say they are cynical because of journalists 2. The public is cynical about press and politicians, the press sees the public's cynicism about politicians as reasons to employ cynical frames 3. The public pays attention to strategic coverage because that's all there is, attention seen as evidence that strategic coverage is what public wants

3 Negative Effects of Cynicism

1. Political disengagement 2. Lower voter turnout 3. Weakening of democracy

Skepticism v. Cynicism

Cynical people think everything is bad, while skeptical people investigate how bad things really are

Cynicism

Distrust, potentially leading to trust Believing politicians act on behalf of themselves rather than on our behalf