The Media and Political Process

Introduction
Politics: Image versus Substance
What is Politics?
Politics: Hype and Substance
The Media as a Power Resource
The Game of Political Impression Management
What is Media-ized Politics?
Western Political Development: An Evolving Symbiosis of Media and Politics
The Origins of Liberal Democracy
The Early Anglo Model
The Massification of Liberal Democracy
Managing Democracy: Taming Western Publics
The Media's Evolving Role in Liberal Governance
Liberal Democracy and the Public Sphere
Political Media Practice: An Outline
From Fourth Estate to Sensationalized Watchdogism
News as Entertaining Spectacle
Constructing the News Window 1: Journalistic Practices
Constructing the News Window 2: Choosing Sources
Constructing the News Window 3: Newsroom Struggles
Institutionalizing the Media-Politician Relationship
Journalists: Watchdogs or Symbiotic Partners?
Journalistic 'Power'
Spin-Doctoring: The Art of Political Public Relations
The Rise of PR Professionals as Political Players
Changes to the Political Process
The Innovators of PR-ized Politics
The Normalization of PR-ized Politics
What is Political PR?
The Tools of Political PR
Selling Politicians and Creating Celebrity
Constructing Celebrity
The Game: Playing to a Televisual Audience
Genres of Political Celebrity
Selling Political Policies and Beliefs
Worldviews
Making Worldviews
Popularizing Worldviews
The Function of Worldviews
Selling War/Selling Peace
The Era of Mass Consent for Mass Killing
Vietnam: A Televised Non-censored War
The PR-ization of Warfare
Nintendo Warfare
The Iraq War
Selling Peace
The Media and Terrorism
Terrorism as Communication
Terrorist Audiences
Fighting Terrorism
Terrorism and the Media
The Media and Foreign Relations
The CNN Effect
Foreign Policy Making: The Players
The Media and Foreign Relations
The Media-ized Dimension of Foreign

His books include: (SAGE, 2015), New Voices Over the Air: The Transformation of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (Hampton Press, 2010), and Louw has published widely in the fields of political communication, South African media and South African political discourse. His current research is focusing on the transformation of South Africa.

This is a timely new edition of Louw's accessible and comprehensive book. It will make essential reading for students and teachers of political mediaBrian McNairProfessor of Journalism & Communication, University of Strathclyde



This is a reflective, thorough and welcome overview of the field. It carefully considers the dynamic relationships between the media and political spheres and will therefore be highly valuable to students seeking to understand and analyse developmentsDominic WringReader in Political Communication, Loughborough University



For more than 300 years media and politics in the western world have been complex institutions and the subjects of numerous works. In this book Dr Louw has successfully drawn together the various strands that create politics and media, providing an enjoyable narrative that demonstrates his strong understanding of the roles they play in modern socioeconomic policy and processes. This second edition makes a vital contribution to the way we view media and politics at the beginning of what promises to be an exciting centuryRichard StantonSenior Lecturer, The University of Sydney