On Media: Making Sense of Politics (On Politics) - Hardcover

Are Americans losing their political IQ? Some theorists bemoan citizen apathy, ignorance and incapacity to make sound political judgements. Renowned media scholar Doris Graber contends that such assessments are based on outmoded models of measuring citizen awareness and engagement. Using what she calls 'reality-based' research methods and a sensitivity to contemporary trends, Graber finds that average people understand many political issues and can think about them in complex ways. The book includes companion studies carried out in the Netherlands and Greece designed to test whether the American findings are culture specific or hold true across cultural settings. Written by an authoritative voice within communications studies, On Media offers a new approach to a much analysed topic and presents an image of public political knowledge that is at once encouraging, inspirational, and fascinating in its contour and detail.

Doris A. Graber is a professor of political science at the University of Illinois-Chicago. She is most recently the author of Media Power in Politics (2010).