The modern mass media are believed to be a powerful and malign influence on politics and government in the western world; they are said to wield an enormous influence over political attitudes and behaviour, undermine trust in political leaders, and erode popular support for the instructions of government and even democracy itself. Such claims are often made by politicians, social scientists, and journalists. The evidence, however, does not support such sweeping generalisations, showing that they are often based on poor and selective social science and a good deal of 'telemythology'. From the Vietnam War to the Lewinsky affair, and from the supposed influence of TV violence on children to the educa-tional influence of the media on children and adults, systematic research suggests that the modern mass media are more usually a weak force in society and one with a mixed be-nign and malign effect on democracy.
Kenneth Newton is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Southampton and senior research fellow in the research unit on "Democracy: Structures, Performance Challenges" at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB). He has worked at the Universities of Birmingham, Madison-Wisconsin, Oxford, Dundee, Philadelphia and Essex, and was Executive Director of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) 1991-2001. Recent books include, with Ian Budge, The Politics of the New Europe; with Budge, McKay, and Crew, The New British Politics; and with van Deth, Maraffy, and Whiteley, Social Capital and European Democracy.
Information on participating / attending:
Please reply by November 30, 2006 to Karolina May-Chu: may-chu@wz-berlin.de
Date:
12/05/2006 18:00 - 12/05/2006 20:00
Event venue:
Reichpietschufer 50
10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Email address:
Relevance:
transregional, national
Subject areas:
History / archaeology, Law, Media and communication sciences, Politics, Social studies
Types of events:
Entry:
11/10/2006
Sender/author:
Dr. Paul Stoop
Department:
Abteilung Kommunikation
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event18766
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