eBook

War Stories

Matthew A. Baum, Tim J. Groeling

2009,2010

Overview

How does the American public formulate its opinions about U.S. foreign policy and military engagement abroad?War Storiesargues that the media systematically distort the information the public vitally needs to determine whether to support such initiatives, for reasons having more to do with journalists' professional interests than the merits of the policies, and that this has significant consequences for national security. Matthew Baum and Tim Groeling develop a \"strategic bias\" theory that explains the foreign-policy communication process as a three-way interaction among the press, political elites, and the public, each of which has distinct interests, biases, and incentives. Do media representations affect public support for the president and faithfully reflect events in times of diplomatic crisis and war? How do new media--especially Internet news and more partisan outlets--shape public opinion, and how will they alter future conflicts? In answering such questions, Baum and Groeling take an in-depth look at media coverage, elite rhetoric, and public opinion during the Iraq war and other U.S. conflicts abroad. They trace how traditional and new media select stories, how elites frame and sometimes even distort events, and how these dynamics shape public opinion over the course of a conflict. Most of us learn virtually everything we know about foreign policy from media reporting of elite opinions. InWar Stories, Baum and Groeling reveal precisely what this means for the future of American foreign policy.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Subject: 24-hour news cycle / Abu Ghraib prison / Accuracy in Media / Anecdotal evidence / Bipartisanship / Blog / Breitbart News / Centrism / CNN effect / Conservative talk radio / Counter-insurgency / Credibility / Criticism / Daily Kos / Elites / Fairness Doctrine / Foreign news / Foreign news -- United States / Foreign policy / Foreign Policy Initiative / Foreign relations / Free Republic / George W. Bush / Headline / High politics / Hugh Hewitt / International crisis / Iraq Study Group Report / Iraq War troop surge of 2007 / Iraq War, 2003 / Iraq War, 2003- -- Journalists / Iraq War, 2003-2011 / Isolationism / John McCain / Journalists / Mainstream media / Media / Media bias / Media Research Center / Media Studies / Midterm election / MoveOn.org / MSNBC / Name recognition / National security / New Hampshire primary / News / News agency / News magazine / Opposition to the Iraq War / Ordered logit / Percentage point / Pew Research Center / Political capital / Political communication / Political Process / POLITICAL SCIENCE / POLITICAL SCIENCE / General / Politician / Post hoc analysis / Prediction / Presidential Statement / Press / Press and politics / Press and politics -- United States / Press coverage / Probability / Project for Excellence in Journalism / Public opinion / Public opinion -- United States / Rebuttal / Respondent / Result / Rhetoric / Ron Suskind / Saddam Hussein / Sobel / SOCIAL SCIENCE / SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies / Sociology / Sunday morning talk show / Taha Yassin Ramadan / Tax / The New York Times / Tucker Carlson / U.S.A / United States / United States -- Foreign relations -- Public opinion / Walter Cronkite / War / War -- Press coverage -- United States / War Democrat / What Happened
• ISBN: 1400832187, 9781400832187, 9780691138596, 0691138591, 9780691138589, 0691138583