"Crusading Journalism: Changing Public Attitudes and Policy-Making Agendas"

== Abstract ==
“Crusading
Journalism:
Changing Public Attitudes and Policy-Making Agendas” is the third study in a
series of tests determine the impact mass media (particularly news outlets) had
on the general audience and on public officials. This third study focuses
particularly on the medium of television and more specifically, investigative
reporting. The results indicate that television, more than print and many other
traditional medias, has the ability to greatly impact the perceptions a viewer
holds on a topic being covered. This impact was measured through pre-viewing
and post-viewing questionnaires given to subjects after watching a series
produced by a local television station named, “Beating Justice.” This series
exposed a number of offenses committed by the local police department that
included physical abuse, racial profiling, and a lack of reprimand for the
offenders. After viewing the series, viewers had a greater concern for the
topic and often had the urge to become an active participant in the debate.
This influence is indicative of the power of television to not only provide
facts, but to also provide the viewer with the experience of “Being there.”
This article is written by Donna R. Leff, David L. Protess and Stephen C.
Brooks
== Key Concepts ==
The crucial measurement for the study analyzed in “Crusading Journalism”
is the agenda-setting
effects of television news broadcast. With a particular emphasis on
investigative reporting, the authors explain why the power of the camera
heightens the audience reaction to it. Instead of print, in which a story can
be isolated and separate rom the reader’s world, television delivers that world
to millions of viewers in the comfort of their living room. However, it is not
just the immediacy of televisions (Live broadcasts, satellite transmission
around the world) that attracts viewers. The footage itself allows them to be
more immersed in the physical space of the world on the television and to
witness the characters involved more intimately- we can see them, hear their
voice, and understand their body language. The ability of the camera to
mechanically reproduce human experience allows the viewer to not only
understand a situation, but also simulate a first-hand account of the story
being covered. This active engagement fuels the viewer’s personal negotiation
with the situations and character presented, and increases the personal
investment viewers give towards each story. This investment, Leff, Protess, and
Brooks hypothesize, is the reason television is such an influential medium. In
fact, this investment is crucial if reforms are to ever come to into fruition
as the result of investigative reporting. In the case of the series that
exposed police brutality in Chicago, the authors hypothesized that post-test
interviews would indicate that members now would consider police brutality a
more important issue than before. Their formal hypothesis states, “In post-test
interviews, treatment group memebers would consider police brutality a more important
issue, would increase their knowledge of police brutality to incorporate facts
recealed in the series, and change their attitudes, feelings, and actions about
the problem,” (Leff; Protess; Brooks, 306). 
The findings of this study supported
the hypothesis in each group that was observed. Both the general public and
government officials in charge of policy showed an apparent increase in their
concern for the topic. While policymakers appeared to exhibit less of a marked
shift than the general public reported, both groups displayed a higher level of
concern for the topic. These findings were compared against a constant factor
of non-viewers, whose shift in opinion/concern were insignificant and
ultimately negligible changes. 
With consideration of these statistical
results and again address the original argument or the article, it becomes
evident that television can alter viewer opinion and ultimately viewer action.
This efficacy of television is the result of the affordance this particular
medium allows for. The authors explain, “’Beating Justice,” with its interview
with brutalized victims and disguised voices, shadow-faced former police
officers ,certainly was powerful drama,” (Leff; Protess; Brooks, 311). The
evidence presented in the series was overwhelmingly refutable. As noted in “Can
Film Show the Invisible?” many videographers often operate the camera as if it
were a subject in the event it is recording. It is a privileged spectator and
is intended to provide an unbiased and un-manipulated record of events. Suhr
and Willerslev continue to argue for the use of montage and many scholars
believe that footage can never truly be biased (Length of take, angle, color
correction, etc.) because of the multitude of decisions involved in filming. However,
television newscasts provide the verisimilitude necessary to create a world in
addition to interviews and statistics to help understand that world. This is
why the powerful medium of television has begun, influenced, and resolved
national debates and issues.
== Further Readings ==
Erbring,
Lutz, Edie N. Goldenberg, and Arthur H. Miller. "Front-Page News And
Real-World Cues: A New Look At Agenda-Setting By The Media." American
Journal Of Political Science 24.1 (1980): 16. Business Source Complete. Web. This article combats the notion that
mass media is simply a “mirror” or “reflection” of the agenda of the general
public. Instead of analyzing news as a means of determining which issues must
have the most salience, it becomes necessary to recognize the agenda-setting
goals present in any media. Covering certain stories while overlooking others
and the construction of these stories defeats the notions that mass media
simply responds to the environment around it. Rather, it contributes to that
environment and can guide how it operates. 
Lozovina, Boris,
Jelena Jurišić, and Damira Lozovina. "Agenda-Setting Function Of Mass
Media And The Concept Of Corporate Social Responsibility. (2013): 30-37.
SPORTDiscus. Web. 18 This
articles describes “Corporate social responsibility” (CSR) in relation to the
commercial interest of news media outlets and the social responsibility they
must maintain. Mass media is forced to balance between these two
often-conflicting interests. While the internal operations of mass media are
predominately capital-oriented, society expects them to contribute and serve
the community faithfully. 
McClure, Robert D.,
and Thomas E. Patterson. "Print Vs. Network News." Journal Of
Communication 26.(1976): 23-26. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. This article describes the differences
between print and television news outlets. McLure argues that while print has
an everyday effect on its viewers, television can give a subject large-scale
and immediate salience. As he explains, a newspaper is received at the viewer’s
own discretion and he is reading it specifically to learn the news. On the
contrary, news reports may appear on the television unintentionally or may
break through regular programming, giving it more sense of spontaneity and
immediacy.  
Molotch, Harvey, and
Marilyn Lester. "News As Purposive Behavior: On The Strategic Use Of
Routine Events, Accidents, And Scandals." American Sociological Review
39.1 (1974): 101-112. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. This article argues that the world does
not exist to be reported. Instead, news reports are constructs that carefully
tailor reality to fit an agenda. Creating the news is a process and each step
of that process attempts to reveal different kinds of information.
Wolfe, Michelle,
Bryan D. Jones, and Frank R. Baumgartner. "A Failure To Communicate:
Agenda Setting In Media And Policy Studies." Political Communication 30.2
(2013): 175-192. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. This article
advocates for further study into how media links to policy outcomes, policy
change, or agenda changes.
Rejecting traditional linear models, scholars have begun to recognize the
complex and multifaceted feedback that ultimately alters policymaking. This
article argues that media should be viewed as a networked framework that
processes information through their reciprocal effects on another.
== Keywords ==
Affordances
Audiences
Internet
Media
Media Ideology
Social Media
Space /Place
Writing
== Citations ==
Leff, Donna R., David L. Protess, and
Stephen C. Brooks. "Crusading Journalism: Changing Public Attitudes And
Policy-Making Agendas." Public Opinion Quarterly 50.3 (1986): 300.
Business Source Complete. Web.
Suhr, Christian, and Rane Willerslev.
"Can Film Show The Invisible?." Current Anthropology 53.3 (2012):
282-301. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.