Page 229 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

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some type of change, but it can also include processes that maintain sta-
bility (McLeod & Reeves, 1980). This review focuses on mass mediated
political communication, considering factors that shape the content of
mediated messages and the impact that these messages have on the audi-
ence, politicians and policymakers, and the journalists themselves.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH

Political communication research has traditionally played a central role in
research on the effects of mass media. Klapper’s (1960) conclusion that the
effects of mass media are “limited” was based largely on studies of politi-
cal election campaigns by researchers at Columbia University (Berelson,
Lazarsfeld, & McPhee, 1954; Lazarsfeld, Berelson, & Gaudet, 1948). The
“limited effects” perspective rests uneasily on several underlying
assumptions, including the power of selectivity processes (exposure,
attention, perception, and recall), reinforcement and crystallization, social
predispositions, interpersonal mediation, and the stability of social sys-
tems. Despite its landmark status in the history of the field, sharp criti-
cism has been leveled against the limited effects model (Blumler &
McLeod, 1974; Chaffee & Hochheimer, 1985; Gitlin, 1978). At a minimum,
the limited effects model presented an overly stable picture of the “func-
tional” role of politics and the media.

The Rebirth of Political Communication Inquiry

For 20 years following the last Columbia study of the 1948 election, vot-
ing studies paid little attention to media influences in political cam-
paigns and highlighted the effects of party affiliation. Lacking alterna-
tives, the limited effects model held sway until the 1970s. The growth
and changing nature of political communication inquiry starting in the
1970s was accompanied by marked shifts in the political and media envi-
ronments. Four important historical influences fostered substantial
recent growth in political communication research (McLeod, Kosicki, &
Rucinski, 1988). First, important sociopolitical changes made voting a far
less predictable behavior. Second, the development of new media, partic-
ularly television, produced concern over their potentially detrimental
effects on the political system. Third, the field benefitted from the influx
of European scholarship from a variety of theoretical perspectives.
Finally, the “cognitive revolution” in social science also widened the
focus of political communication research.