Philo C. Wasburn – Författare

Today hundreds of millions of people throughout the world depend on international radio broadcasting for their understanding of national and international political affairs. Broadcasting Propaganda represents the first application of theory and research in sociology and communication to analyze the contents of this medium of international political communication. Wasburn illustrates how two theoretical perspectives, social construction of reality theory and media-system-dependency theory, can be applied to understand the ways in which nations use symbolic means to position themselves in the international arena of political competition.The study begins with two chapters that outline the history of international radio broadcasting, identifying the medium's involvement in maintaining colonial empires, supporting wars, promoting revolutionary and counterrevolutionary action, and legitimating the policies of sponsoring states. The third chapter introduces social construction of reality theory and media-system-dependency theory, indicating their relevance to understanding the newscasts and other programming of international broadcasting organizations. The two following chapters present empirical case studies of international broadcasting: one analyzes Voice of America and Radio Moscow broadcasts to the Third World toward the end of the Cold War; the other explores South Africa's use of radio to broadcast counter-propaganda. In the sixth and final chapter, Wasburn winds up his discussion by charting the the possible course of broadcasting in light of the world political situation since 1989 and suggests an agenda for future research

Wasburn compares U.S. commercial news reports on a wide variety of events with those produced by the news media of several other nations. The events include the Falklands War, the Iran-Iraq War, the Tiananmen Square Uprising, several political assassinations, major trade disputes between the U.S. and Japan, the Intifada, U.S. presidential nominating conventions and a presidential inauguration.Different patterns of coverage—amount of attention given an event, language used to describe an event, selection of particular occurrences to characterize an event, and descriptions of U.S. and international public opinion of the event—are shown to reflect different political, economic, and strategic interests of nations, historical contexts in which news was constructed, national differences in values that influence the production of news, and differences in historically specific relations between news media and the governments of their countries. Attention is given to contrasts between the national image of the United States constructed by U.S. commercial news media and the images of the United States produced by various foreign news media. This book will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and researchers involved with political communication, journalism, political science, and political sociology.

Media Bias? addresses the question: To what extent can mainstream news media be characterized as "conservative" or "liberal"? The study involves a systematic comparative analysis of the coverage given to major domestic social issues from 1975 to 2000 by two mainstream newsmagazines, Newsweek and Time, and two explicitly partisan publications, the conservative National Review and the liberal Progressive.Working from the idea that some biased accounts of social issues can perform several positive functions for the maintenance and vitality of political democracy, Adkins Covert and Wasburn offer a new methodology for analyzing bias empirically, one that is capable of producing valid and reliable findings. They begin by defining the meaning of "bias" and discuss possible methods of measuring media bias empirically and systematically. By comparing each publication's coverage on poverty, crime, the environment, and gender-issues in which the line between the conservative and liberal positions are clearly delineated-the authors consider both the positive and negative consequences of media bias and how the bias plays out within a media-conscious democratic society.

This annual is designed to publish research that increases understanding and knowledge of political sociology. The articles are directed towards explaining the numerous interrelations that exist within and between social and political phenomena.

Student teaching is considered to be the single most powerful learning experience in teacher preparation. Although much has been made of its importance, surprisingly little research has been conducted specifically on student teaching, which some claim has remained unchanged for a century. Because student teaching is nearly universal in a field with wide-ranging practices even within a single institution of higher education, the possibility of modification in student teaching to lead reform in teacher preparation is quite strong. The authors present a history of student teaching, theory, practice, and policy; review the research literature, past and present; and present practical guidelines for reform that align with evidence.

Student teaching is considered to be the single most powerful learning experience in teacher preparation. Although much has been made of its importance, surprisingly little research has been conducted specifically on student teaching, which some claim has remained unchanged for a century. Because student teaching is nearly universal in a field with wide-ranging practices even within a single institution of higher education, the possibility of modification in student teaching to lead reform in teacher preparation is quite strong. The authors present a history of student teaching, theory, practice, and policy; review the research literature, past and present; and present practical guidelines for reform that align with evidence.

This book assembles what political scientists, sociologists, and communication analysts have learned in almost six decades of research on political socialization (the lifelong process by which we acquire political beliefs). It also explores how people develop political values, attitudes, identities, and behavioral dispositions.