MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 04278cam a22003134a 4500
001 2011030159
003 DLC
005 20111115083824.0
008 110729s2011 nyua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2011030159
020 $a9780199797929 (hardback : acid-free paper)
020 $a9780199797936 (paperback : acid-free paper)
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $an-us---
050 00 $aP92.U5$b.J33 2011
082 00 $a070.4/42097309051$223
100 1 $aJacobs, Ronald N.
245 14 $aThe space of opinion :$bmedia intellectuals and the public sphere /$cRonald N. Jacobs, Eleanor Townsley.
260 $aNew York :$bOxford University Press, USA,$cc2011.
300 $aviii, 295 p. :$bill. ;$c25 cm.
520 $a"While the newspaper op-ed page, the Sunday morning political talk shows on television, and the evening cable-news television lineup have an obvious and growing influence in American politics and political communication, social scientists and media scholars tend to be broadly critical of the rise of organized punditry during the 20th century without ever providing a close empirical analysis. What is the nature of the contemporary space of opinion? How has it developed historically? What kinds of people speak in this space? What styles of writing and speech do they use? What types of authority and expertise do they draw on? And what impact do their commentaries have on public debate? To describe and analyze this complex space of news media, Ronald Jacobs and Eleanor Townsley rely on enormous samples of opinion collected from newspapers and television shows during the first years of the last two Presidential administrations. They also employ biographical data on authors of opinion to connect specific argument styles to specific types of authors, and examine the distribution of authors and argument types across different formats. The result is a close mapping that reveals a massive expansion and differentiation of the opinion space. It tells a complex story of shifting intersections between journalism, politics, the academy, and the new sector of think tanks. It also reveals a proliferation of genres and forms of opinion; not only have the people who speak within the space of opinion become more diverse over time, but the formats of opinion-claims to authority, styles of speech, and modes of addressing publics-have also become more varied. Though Jacobs and Townsley find many changes, they also find continuities. Despite public anxieties, the project of objective journalism is alive and well, thriving in the older, more traditional formats, and if anything, the proliferation of newer formats has resulted in an intensified commitment (by some) to core journalistic values as clear points of difference that offer competing logics of distinction and professional justification. But the current moment does represent a real challenge as more and different shows compete to narrate politics in the most compelling, authoritative, and influential manner. By providing the first systematic study of media opinion and news commentary, The Space of Opinion will fill an important gap on research about media, politics, and the civil society and will attract readers in a number of disciplines, including sociology, communication, media studies, and political science"--$cProvided by publisher.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [277]-287) and index.
505 8 $aMachine generated contents note: -- Chapter 1. Media Commentary and the Space of Opinion -- Chapter 2. A History of Opinion in the U.S. Media -- Chapter 3. Media and Opinion Formation: Toward a New Theory of Deliberative Politics -- Chapter 4. Who Speaks in the Space of Opinion? -- Chapter 5. Formats and Norms in the U.S. Space of Opinion -- Chapter 6. Rhetorics in the Space of Contemporary U.S. Opinion -- Chapter 7. The Enron Scandal -- Chapter 8. The War on Terror -- Chapter 9. The Future of Opinion.
650 0 $aMass media$zUnited States$xHistory$y21st century.
650 0 $aJournalists$zUnited States$xAttitudes$xHistory$y21st century.
650 0 $aPublic opinion$zUnited States$xHistory$y21st century.
651 0 $aUnited States$xPolitics and government$y21st century.
700 1 $aTownsley, Eleanor R.,$d1967-