Is Anyone Responsible?: How Television Frames Political Issues

by Shanto Iyengar

A disturbingly cautionary tale, Is Anyone Responsible? anchors with powerful evidence suspicions about the way in which television has impoverished political discourse in the United States and at the same time molds American political consciousness. It is essential reading for media critics, psychologists, political analysts, and all the citizens who want to be sure that their political opinions are their own.

"Not only does it provide convincing evidence for particular effects of media fragmentation, but it also explores some of the specific mechanisms by which television works its damage. . . . Here is powerful additional evidence for those of us who like to flay television for its contributions to the trivialization of public discourse and the erosion of democratic accountability."—William A. Gamson, Contemporary Sociology

"Iyengar's book has substantial merit. . . . [His] experimental methods offer a precision of measurement that media effects research seldom attains. I believe, moreover, that Iyengar's notion of framing effects is one of the truly important theoretical concepts to appear in recent years."—Thomas E. Patterson, American Political Science Review

206 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1991

Reviews

[Mayim de Vries · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why would you even have a TV in the house? [I'm genuinely baffled]

[Kishan Bhakta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is seminal in the study of media and its effects on public opinion, but it's a slog to read after the first few chapters :(

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Iyengar argues that how television frames news stories affects how viewers assign responsibility. I found the evidence to be less than convincing. First off, the sample sizes in the experiments are very small. Second, with the exception of the first experiment, he fails to use a control group. Thus, we have no way of knowing what the baseline responsibility judgments are for people. Finally, the main categories of news stories (thematic and episodic) are not entirely clear. One can easily see some thematic content being episodic as well (especially in the Iran Contra chapter). On the whole, an interesting idea, but the execution leaves my unconvinced.

[dogunderwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

THESISSSSSS.