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W. Lance Bennett and Robert M. Entman (Eds.), MEDIATED POLITICS: COMMUNICATION IN THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001; pp. ix + 489, $74.95 hardcover, ISBN: 0521783569; $29.95 paper, ISBN: 0521789761.
The nexus of politics and communication has long been the site of rich scholarly inquiry. Bennett and Entman's latest contribution to political communication theory wrestles with the way changing communication technologies influence exchanges in the public and policy spheres. This infinitely readable book is a good resource for anyone concerned with the potentially changing role of mediated communication in the new millennium.
Bennett and Entman's book is based on the idea that new technologies in mediated communication have the potential to profoundly alter the human political experience. Contributors explore the consequences of the expansion of the Internet, news outlets, cable television networks, and other information technologies on democratic polities. The authors ask: Will this new communication environment erode the common information space necessary for democratic governance? Will free information choice end necessary citizen education? Will consumer audiences replace citizen publics? Not surprisingly, different answers emerge from the 25 contributing authors.
Many of the authors critique the journalistic values of this new hyper-competitive, all-news-all-the-time environment as eroding the quality of political discourse. Underwood's chapter is a thoughtful and well-supported look at the effects of news organizations treating readers as "customers" instead...