Description: Around the world, there are increasing concerns about the accuracy of media coverage. It is vital in representative democracies that citizens have access to reliable information about what is happening in government policy, so that they can form meaningful preferences and hold politicians accountable. Yet much research and conventional wisdom questions whether the necessary information is available, consumed, and understood. This study is the first large-scale empirical investigation into the frequency and reliability of media coverage in five policy domains, and it provides tools that can be exported to other areas, in the US and elsewhere. Examining decades of government spending, media coverage, and public opinion in the US, this book assesses the accuracy of media coverage, and measures its direct impact on citizens' preferences for policy. This innovative study has far-reaching implications for those studying and teaching politics as well as for reporters and citizens.
Brief description: Christopher Wlezien is Hogg Professor of Government, Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin.
Review Quotes: 'Information and Democracy is a major breakthrough in the study of how large democracies process the two-way flow of information between citizens and government. Through a fresh and thorough empirical analysis of the policy content of U.S. news media, Soroka and Wlezien show that media really act to facilitate the transmission of the basic information necessary for citizens to adjust their opinions about governmental policies. This book is necessary reading for scholars of public opinion, political communications, and public.' Bryan D. Jones, J.J. 'Jake' Pickle Regents' Chair in Congressional Studies, University of Texas