ABSTRACT

Newspaper reporters covered the action and became part of the story told to evening news viewers on television; even that fact was subsequently reported in the newspaper account reprinted above. But what about us? We see the pictures—and we get the message: Our political process is populated with devious handlers who try to orchestrate our opinions and regulate our affections. As we know, there are venues other than television and newspaper stories for learning about politics. Given the variety of media, it would appear that somewhere we should be able to find sources of material to foster intelligent participation and make government less repulsive. Broadcast networks, cable operations, newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets are well served by the constant supply of sound bites, experts, and pictures that illustrate the dramatic and at times gripping stories of politics in the current age. Neither are there strong incentives for journalists to change the system.