A paper by Claude Moisy, spring 1995 fellow, asks whether the Internet is likely to improve the flow of international news, make the public more aware of world problems and, consequently, contribute to their solution. To address these questions, Moisy looks at the “information revolution” as it unfolded in the 1990s, examining the production and […]
The Foreign News Flow in the Information Age Read More »
A paper by Barrie Dunsmore, fall 1995 fellow, explores the questions that arise from the possibility of live television coverage from the battlefield. What are its likely military consequences? Does it actually threaten operational security? Could it affect or change the outcome of a battle or even the war? What are its political consequences? What
The Next War: Live? Read More »
A paper by Carol B. Conaway, fall 1994 fellow, examines the media coverage of the 1991 Crown Heights riot, which was sparked when two Caribbean-American children were struck by an automobile in the motorcade of a Jewish sect leader. Conaway asks: How did the press frame the antagonists and the conflict that occurred in Crown
Framing Identity: The Press in Crown Heights Read More »
A paper by Bernard Margueritte, fall 1993 fellow, surveys the state of the press in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain. With weak training and standards, intense competition, and an invasion of Western investors, managers and press models, Eastern European media outlets faced numerous challenges. Attempts at serious journalism competed against sensationalist
Post-Communist Eastern Europe: The Difficult Birth of a Free Press Read More »
A paper by Michael Milburn, spring 1993 fellow, and Justin Brown, analyzes the impact of media outlets’ “Adwatch” features in the 1992 election. Partly in response to the highly emotional negative ad campaign against Michael Dukakis in 1988 masterminded by Roger Ailes, many television stations and newspapers developed “Adwatch” features designed to educate viewers/readers about
A paper by Adeyinka Adeyemi, fall 1993 fellow, analyzes Nigeria’s media landscape and finds that despite outward signs of a modern and vibrant press/government relationship, the country’s press is still not truly free. Adeyemi traces the oscillation between subtle and unsubtle forms of coercion and cooptation used by a series of military governments since the
A paper by Alison Carper, spring 1994 fellow, responds to the increasing use of reader surveys and focus groups in journalism. She argues that this approach brings with it the risks of majoritarianism. Carper asks whether a press that takes its agendas from reader surveys and focus groups is a press that is truly fulfilling
A paper by Jorge Quiroga, fall 1993 fellow, examines press coverage of the Hispanic community in the United States. Quiroga argues that the press serves as a gatekeeper, denying members of the Hispanic community full membership in the American political and social community. He describes how media coverage of Hispanic issues is frequently inadequate, with
Hispanic Voices: Is the Press Listening? Read More »
A paper by Dean Alger, spring 1993 fellow, examines the evolution of Bush and Clinton’s public personas during the 1992 presidential campaign. Alger traces the increasing importance of a candidate’s character and personality to the rise of campaign consultants, the increase of citizen involvement in the primaries, and the rise of television. This paper uses
A paper by Richard Parker, spring 1993 fellow, explores the potential opportunities and challenges for a new era of “global television.” After seeing TV coverage of Tiananmen Square and the Gulf War broadcast live around the world, it’s hard to doubt that some sort of transformation is going on, writes Parker. But in the future,
The Future of Global Television News Read More »
A paper by Sanjoy Hazarika, fall 1993 fellow, analyzes the press coverage of India’s Bhopal disaster in 1984. Hazarika was one of the first reporters to cover the industrial accident, a gas leak from a pesticide plant that killed more than 4,000 and hospitalized 200,000 more. As New Delhi correspondent for The New York Times,
From Bhopal to Superfund: The News Media and the Environment Read More »
A paper by C. Edwin Baker, fall 1992 fellow, analyzes the claim that concentration in media ownership has mostly objectionable effects on the media produced. Baker finds numerous flaws in the methodology of the research published on this topic, and writes that the research creates only a “tepid” case for the reduction of chain ownership.
Ownership of Newspapers: The View from Positivist Social Science Read More »
A paper by Erna Smith, fall 1992 fellow, examines framing in the TV news coverage of the 1992 Los Angeles riot. Smith analyzes the content of television broadcasts before, during and after the riot on ten television stations, and draws three main conclusions. First, the study suggests that television news coverage of the 1992 Los
Transmitting Race: The Los Angeles Riot in Television News Read More »
A paper by Montague Kern, spring 1992 fellow, and Marion Just, professor at Wellesley College, investigates the role of news and advertising in influencing public discourse about campaign issues, and in turn, candidates. The extent to which public discourse during a campaign centers on issues favoring one candidate over another is considered a good predictor
A paper by Sissela Bok, spring 1993 fellow, applies the perspective of philosopher and social critic to analyze public policy debates in the press about violent television. Bok exposes the weaknesses of eight common arguments: 1. America has always been a violent nation and always will be. 2. Why focus the policy debate on TV
TV Violence, Children and the Press: Eight Rationales Inhibiting Public Policy Debates Read More »
A paper by Nik Gowing, spring 1994 fellow, challenges the idea that real-time television coverage of armed conflicts impact foreign policy decisions. Conventional wisdom is that real-time television coverage creates a demand that “something must be done” and drives the making of foreign policy. This paper argues that frequently the relationship is not as profound
A paper by Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, fall 1992 fellow, analyzes media coverage of the presidential and vice presidential candidates’ wives during the 1992 election. Campbell examines some of the major influences on coverage of Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Tipper Gore, and Marilyn Tucker Quayle: 1. the history of presidential wives; 2. modern beliefs about their
Shadowboxing with Stereotypes: The Press, The Public, and the Candidates’ Wives Read More »
A paper by Gadi Wolfsfeld, fall 1992 fellow, develops and applies a theoretical model to analyze the role of the news media in political conflicts, particularly unequal conflicts in the Middle East. Under what conditions are the news media most likely to play an independent role in political conflicts? The answer to this question, argues
A paper by Bernard Roshco, spring 1992 fellow, analyzes the failures of the Bush administration’s policies toward Iraq prior to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and the failings of the press in reporting on them. Roshco explores numerous questions. Why did President Bush and Secretary of State James Baker misread Hussein’s motivations so badly?
When Policy Fails: How the Buck Was Passed When Kuwait Was Invaded Read More »
A paper by Betty Houchin Winfield, spring 1991 fellow, examines free speech and press freedom in the U.S. during wartime. If wartime governments are more autocratic, writes Winfield, then it is assumed that presidents will take a more authoritative stance concerning free expression. This paper looks at two presidencies that inflicted “extreme infringements” on civil
Two Commanders-in-Chief: Free Expression’s Most Severe Test Read More »
The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is a Harvard Kennedy School research center dedicated to exploring and illuminating the intersection of press, politics and public policy in theory and practice. The Center strives to bridge the gap between journalists and scholars, and between them and the public.
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