Page 257 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research
P. 257

246                                        McLEOD, KOSICKI, McLEOD

        findings is that the current pattern of low participation among the young
        is apt to translate into even lower rates of overall participation as they
        move through the life cycle.
           Concern with declining youth participation has precipitated a reexam-
        ination of the political socialization research that was popular in the 1960s
        (Flanagan & Sherrod, 1998; Niemi, 1999). Political socialization work vir-
        tually disappeared after the 1970s, in large part because it was based on a
        flawed developmental transmission model. The developing adolescent
        was seen as a passive recipient in the learning process. Reflecting the sta-
        bility bias of the historical period, what was to be learned was a fixed set
        of “norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors accepted and practiced by the
        ongoing system” (Sigel, 1965, p. 1). Diversity and conflict within the soci-
        ety were not considered. Today it seems appropriate to treat societies and
        communities not as unified wholes, but as arenas where many forces with
        differing interests are contending.
           The new civic socialization research conceives of youth as potential
        participants actively engaged in the world around them, often trying out
        roles in anticipation of adulthood. Civic knowledge, interpersonal trust,
        and efficacious attitudes remain as criteria for socialization effects, but so
        are news media use, issue discussion, thoughtful processing of informa-
        tion, listening and turn-taking in discussions, and working out compro-
        mises (McLeod, 2000).

        Programs for Improving Democractic Processes

        Concern for the health of democratic practices has led to an unprece-
        dented number of reform efforts during the past decade. Many of the
        reform programs addressed problems in the conduct of election cam-
        paigns. Reforms not limited to campaigns focus on the news media
        whereas others target youth as a crucial category for long-term change.

           Adwatch. These efforts, which are now a staple of network and local
        news coverage of campaigns, represent a new level of activity by journal-
        ists. Jamieson (1992) promulgated a series of “visual grammar” principles
        to guide journalists toward effective efforts to combat the power of nega-
        tive ads after noticing that previous efforts seemed to magnify the power
        of the ads they were designed to attack. This occurs largely through the
        need to quote the offending ad in order to then systematically attack it.
        Adwatch efforts have come under criticism (Ansolabehere & Iyengar,
        1995; Pfau & Louden, 1994) as ineffective, largely because of journalistic
        timidity; that is, journalists too often quote an ad in a news program, thus
        giving it an audience it would never have on its own, and attack its prin-
        ciples in ineffective ways (Jamieson & Cappella, 1997). Various sugges-
   252   253   254   255   256   257   258   259   260   261   262