Political Socialization &The Role of the Media

• The media reinforces values instilled by other socialization agents.

• The media opposes those value systems.

Current Youth Participation

• Voter turnout for Americans ages 18-24 averages 17 percent less than that of other Americans.

• The future of the democratic process is at stake.

McLeod’s Theory

• OLD ASSUMPTION: Political Ideas (from

parents, school, media) to passive recipients (youth).

• NEW ASSUMPTION: Children are active

agents of their own political development.

Political Socialization Agents* Civic Curriculum in School

* Parental Influence*Mass Media

*Youth

MYTH #1

“Children acquire civic orientations through modeling and direct attitude inculcation.”

Faults: Assumes children will always adopt their parents’ political opinions and fails to account for significant media influence.

MYTH #2

“Political influence flows downward only – from societal institutions to children.”

Faults: Also assumes children will always adopt their parents’ political opinions and puts sole responsibility for political socialization on family.

MYTH #3

“Adults may be agents in political socialization but themselves are unlikely to change.”

Faults: Assumes that exchanges between children and other agents are one-sided and do not result in changes in family dynamic.

MYTH #4

“Socialization to politics should be conceptualized and measured as individual behavior.”

Fault: Fails to recognize political socialization as a series of socialization events precipitated by a number of agents.

The Media Chain

• Youth exposure to mass media leads to political discussions.

• Political discussions lead to increased media consumption by parents.

• Increased media consumption leads to political knowledge.

Meadowcroft’s Family Communication Patterns

SOCIO-ORIENTED

Goal: Harmonious Family

Tendencies: Children refrain from challenging adults and do not develop own political opinions.

CONCEPT-ORIENTED

Goal: Family Participation

Tendencies: Children are encouraged to challenge ideas and develop own political opinions.

The Educator’s Role

• Civic curriculum leads to interest in political process.

• Interest leads to increased news consumption.

• Political knowledge leads to participation in democracy.

News Consumption by Politically-Aware Parents & Children

• Newspapers

• Television

• Internet (The Future)

Youth Bring Politics Home

Parents get a

“second chance at citizenship.”

McDevitt & Chaffee

Kaiser Family Foundation Children’s Media Use Study

• One in four children 8 & older spends five hours a day viewing TV.

• These children spend an average 40 hours per week viewing TV.

• Sixty-five percent have a TV in their rooms.

The Prairie Village Project“American Government for Children”

• “American Citizenship”

• “The History of American Gov’t”

• “Federal, State & Local Gov’t”

• “The History of the Presidency”

• “The Three Branches of Gov’t”

• “What is Government?”

• What does citizenship mean?

• What rights do citizens have?

• What responsibilities do citizens have?

The Future of Political Information

• “Children’s Express” – Britian

• “SchoolNet Global” – International News

• “Kids Post” – The Washington Post

Many other websites provide news aimed at children and youth.

The Research Gap

• Interest in children’s programming• Policy & production issues

VS.• Research on media effects• Media effects & developmental processes

Potential Benefits

• Effective Media

• Informed Youth

• Informed Adults

• Increased Participation

• A Stronger Democracy

Thank You for Your Attention

Political socialization is not the most exciting segment of media study… but all of our futures – and that of our political system – may well depend on it.