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546 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 8 (1996)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0546 and id is 1 raw text is: PREFACE From the banners and broadsides at our nation's first elections to the sound bites and spot ads of the broadcast age, media have played a role in politics. But where in the nineteenth century many experienced politics in the form of stump speeches and parades with brass bands, today's politics is more likely to be experienced in the privacy of our living rooms. This issue of The Annals examines the forces that will shape the media that bring us information about politics, as well as the form and content of such media as broadcast and print news and talk radio. The volume opens with an article by Neuman, who explores how technical developments in communication, including the so-called National Information Infrastructure, may change how citizens learn about politics. But where Neuman is optimis- tic about these changes, Katz sounds a cautionary note. The rapid multipli- cation of media channels may harm democracy, he warns, by depriving citizens of a common political culture-a shared public space. Still, there are clear benefits from exposure to politics in news. Weaver, Chaffee, and Frank specify what we learn from print and broadcast journal- ism. But an increase in the amount of information we command is not the only effect of media. Attitudes can be shaped as well. Iyengar finds that the way in which the news is structured helps determine whom we hold responsible for the economy, among other things. Furthermore, as Graber argues, we learn things from television's pictures that words alone could not convey. The focus on horse races in political coverage, however, may have unfortu- nate consequences. Cappella and Jamieson find that reporters' concentration on candidates'strategies and tactics invites public cynicism, not simply about politics and governance but also about the press. Another pattern that may contribute to public cynicism is monitored by Patterson, who finds an increase in press negativity. Striking a compatible note, Hart suggests that televised politics may provide a false confidence about what we actually do know. What, then, are the alternatives? A recurrent theme of talk radio is the failure of the mainstream media to provide voters with the substance they require. Herbst shows how, in other times and places, alternative forms of political expression have been created to supplement and critique those of the dominant media. Finally, Fishkin and Hume map alternatives in the form of the deliberative poll and civic journalism. KATHLEEN HALL JAMIESON 8

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