Political-Communication in Action

Paletz, David L. (ed.). Political-Communication in Action. Hampton Press, New Jersey, 1996, 338 pp.

The volume under review has a fairly large collection of articles which explain the parameters and the modus operandi of political communication from various vantage points- theory, state, institutions/ events/ movements, and audience. While considerable overlaps among the vantage points remain, they provide a relatively integrated perspective of a very complex theme like political communication.

The first contribution comes from T.A. van Dijk who provides a general, perhaps too general, understanding of the social power of the news media, with exclusive reference to the Press. The article, with focus on specific patterns of dominance, such as gender and class, explains how news media are dominated structurally and strategically by way of a "shared consensus" among elites of the political, corporate and the media world. In identifying this section as "white, male, heterosexual and politically conservative" van Dijk refers to a specific kind of politics but he steers clear of the 'conspiracy theory' to explain the elite power. While this is a very positive aspect of the article, the analysis in trying to put too many issues in too little space, does injustice to the `discourse analysis' in which the author excels in many of his writings.

In his essay Olayiwola provides a model of political communication, based on a "crisis-tom" Nigeria, which has a two-tier structure- first, media ownership, and the second, mass media philosophy. The author seeks to show how the mass media in Nigeria stand in the way of free flow of information, with the mobilization of bias sided mostly by the `ownership factor', but also by political, economic and primodial ties like the tribal and ethnic assertions. The author advocates a reversal in the situation with a clue- proliferation of nonpartisan independent mass media- for creation of 'alternative' space in the midst of party and government-controlled mass media. But as he himself admits, this 'alternative' will have its own kind of pulls and pressures not only from the owners but also, as the readers would know, from the society at large. In a dissenting tone, Javier Protzel questions the popular perception of

mass media as consciousness-producing agency in democratic societies. Protzel provides an elaboration in the Peruvian context of the uncertain (unpredictable?) role of media, and shows how in the absence of stable political and economic process the intermediary role of media, between the civilian and the political societies, gets blurred. An interesting account in the essay is the rise of a neopopulist leader like Fujimori and his deft manipulation of the media to serve his own ends. The essay is a pointer to further theorization of the role of media in populist politics- an underdeveloped area in media research.

Having the idea of "global newsroom" as his frame of reference, B.W. Silcock analyses, in the specific context of the Maastricht Summit, the simultaneous convergence and divergence in the television coverage of the event in Britain, USA and to a lesser extent, Ireland. The points of convergence which are found in news formats and factual elements are accompanied by differential construction of meanings to suit the respective cultural orientation of the audience of different countries. Thus, Silcock finds an interesting interplay of "shared professional culture" and 'national culture', reinstating in many ways the findings of Nicholas Garnham and others who pioneered the study of the "global newsroom". Interestingly, the study finds occasions when 'domestication' of foreign news is not practiced by some news agencies, thus further complicating the affairs in the "global newsroom".

There are two separate papers on the media coverage of British Parliament. Barrie Gunter gives the hint that the British Parliamentarians might not be afraid of the telecast of the Parliamentary proceedings because such telecast has only "superficial impact". Thus, he contests the idea that the telecast of the proceedings increases the political awareness and knowledge of people. Ralph Negrine is on his familiar platform when he discusses the coverage of the Parliamentary Select Committees of the House of Commons. On the television coverage, Negrine seems to be confirming Gunter's argument by observing that "it titillates rather than informs." Negrine argues that the media coverage is beneficial to the committees but he in the same breath rules out the approach which overplays the 'media factor' in the making of power-equations. In a harsh but necessary criticism of the journalists Negrine shows how they fail to do their homework when they neglect available but untapped news sources like "unglamourous" government documents to reinforce a conventional storyline.

With special reference to the Dutch women's movement Liesbet van Zoonen delves into a broader arena, beyond the confines of media effects, to create a "constructivist" approach. Identifying themes and values, organizational procedures, and actors as the core levels of interaction between media and movements, she shows how amidst diverse responses to its 'subject', a public identity of the movement is constructed. Although she concentrates on the feminist movement, she is right in asserting that the study can be extended to other movements as well with each case having a specific political discourse, related to the main theme, as the dominant one, and several other supplementary discourses pertaining to the sub-themes.