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