Transcript Political Socialization & The Role of the Media

Political Socialization &
The Role of the Media
• The media reinforces
values instilled by
other socialization
agents.
• The media opposes
those value systems.
Current Youth Participation
• Voter turnout for
Americans ages 18-24
averages 17 percent
less than that of other
Americans.
• The future of the
democratic process is
at stake.
McLeod’s Theory
• OLD ASSUMPTION:
Political Ideas (from
parents, school,
media) to passive
recipients (youth).
• NEW ASSUMPTION:
Children are active
agents of their own
political development.
Political Socialization Agents
* Civic Curriculum in School
* Parental Influence
*Mass Media
*Youth
MYTH #1
“Children acquire civic orientations through
modeling and direct attitude inculcation.”
Faults: Assumes children will always adopt
their parents’ political opinions and fails to
account for significant media influence.
MYTH #2
“Political influence flows downward only –
from societal institutions to children.”
Faults: Also assumes children will always
adopt their parents’ political opinions and
puts sole responsibility for political
socialization on family.
MYTH #3
“Adults may be agents in political
socialization but themselves are unlikely to
change.”
Faults: Assumes that exchanges between
children and other agents are one-sided and
do not result in changes in family dynamic.
MYTH #4
“Socialization to politics should be
conceptualized and measured as individual
behavior.”
Fault: Fails to recognize political socialization
as a series of socialization events
precipitated by a number of agents.
The Media Chain
• Youth exposure to
mass media leads to
political discussions.
• Political discussions
lead to increased
media consumption by
parents.
• Increased media
consumption leads to
political knowledge.
Meadowcroft’s Family
Communication Patterns
SOCIO-ORIENTED
Goal: Harmonious
Family
Tendencies: Children
refrain from
challenging adults and
do not develop own
political opinions.
CONCEPT-ORIENTED
Goal: Family
Participation
Tendencies: Children are
encouraged to
challenge ideas and
develop own political
opinions.
The Educator’s Role
• Civic curriculum leads
to interest in political
process.
• Interest leads to
increased news
consumption.
• Political knowledge
leads to participation
in democracy.
News Consumption by
Politically-Aware
Parents & Children
• Newspapers
• Television
• Internet (The Future)
Youth Bring Politics Home
Parents get a
“second chance at citizenship.”
McDevitt & Chaffee
Kaiser Family Foundation
Children’s Media Use Study
• One in four children 8
& older spends five
hours a day viewing
TV.
• These children spend
an average 40 hours
per week viewing TV.
• Sixty-five percent
have a TV in their
rooms.
The Prairie Village Project
“American Government for Children”
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“American Citizenship”
“The History of American Gov’t”
“Federal, State & Local Gov’t”
“The History of the Presidency”
“The Three Branches of Gov’t”
“What is Government?”
• What does citizenship mean?
• What rights do citizens have?
• What responsibilities do citizens
have?
The Future of
Political Information
• “Children’s Express”
– Britian
• “SchoolNet Global”
– International News
• “Kids Post”
– The Washington Post
Many other websites
provide news aimed at
children and youth.
The Research Gap
• Interest in children’s programming
• Policy & production issues
VS.
• Research on media effects
• Media effects & developmental processes
Potential Benefits
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•
•
•
Effective Media
Informed Youth
Informed Adults
Increased Participation
• A Stronger
Democracy
Thank You for Your Attention
Political socialization is
not the most exciting
segment of media
study… but all of our
futures – and that of
our political system –
may well depend on it.