Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution (review)

Abstract

Book Reviews 123 Buchanan concludes by returning to the central role voters play in this process, questioning why voters do not use their power to caU candidates to account more often. The answer he offers is that the "civic dispositions" of the voters/citizens does not give them a sense that they are "stakeholders" in this process, and so they often faü to exercise the power at their disposal. The typical voter response is "exit, not voice." This "thin civic programming" leads to a minimalist, not a robust conception of the role of the citizen in a democracy, but "We are dealing here with socialization effects, not intrinsic limitations" (165). Thus, the author suggests an "alternative civic programming," one that relies on only a relatively smaU number of voters "initiaUy perhaps no more that the 5 to 10 percent that has been the typical margin of victory in recent presidential elections" (167), to reinvigorate citizen power. This valuable and chaUenging book forces us to reexamine the role of the citizen in a political democracy in a way that both blames and praises the citizen. Buchanan offers hope for improving the presidential selection process by offering hope for a more meaningful form of political democracy, one in which the voter takes control and "forces" candidates to abandon the Nixon Credo in favor of more meaningful and viable forms of democratic campaigning. Michael A. Genovese Loyola Marymount University Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution. By Timothy E. Cook. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998; pp. xi + 289. $17.95 paper. Timothy E. Cook, professor of political science at WUliams CoUege, has written an important book, making a compeUing case that the news media are a political institution and that journalists are political actors. Many scholars have argued that journalists are biased, but this book carefuUy examines the historically close relationship between the government and the mass media and the way news organizations have consistently played a key role in governing that often has not been supportive of democracy. The argument is supported theoreticaUy by an approach that emphasizes American political development—the comparative politics of institutions over time—and a focus on the "new institutionaUsm" that is receiving increased attention in political science. Cook exhibits impressive knowledge of the general literature on mass communication and the more narrowly focused literature on political communication. Too often studies that focus on political communication are not informed by theory and research of specialists in communications. In several respects this book represents a much-needed synthesis. In the introductory chapter, Cook states that he is more interested in developing than testing an empirical theory of the news media as an institution. Theoretical development is necessary according to Cook because the narrow field of political communication has been dominated with a concern with media effects and has 124 Rhetoric & Public Affairs neglected the implications of research findings. Sociologists and critical theorists, on the other hand, have been wiUing to view the media as an institution, but have not emphasized its role in governance. Furthermore, journalists traditionaUy have discouraged others from viewing them as poUtical actors and in fact do not see themselves in political terms. Cook is also interested in evaluating the news media as a political institution. SpecificaUy, he asks whether the news media have the capacity to assist in governance and accountabUity consistent with democracy. Chapters two and three are given to a consideration of the historical development of the relationship of the press and government. Cook's central argument is that the press has always been supported by government policies and practices or by political parties. Until half way through the nineteenth century newspapers were sponsored by political parties and printing contracts, as weU as access to government officials as an aspect of patronage. The politics of the early years of the RepubUc encouraged a partisan press, but in the latter half of the century the press became more commercialized with the growth of mass circulation newspapers and the focus of news became less ideological. Advertisers provided the financial support for newspapers, replacing parties. The process of news making changed as the Washington press corps grew. Cook is careful...