Morality Tales: Political Scandals and Journalism in Britain and Spain in the 1990's (Canel, Sanders
	Quantity in Basket:none Code: 1-57273-565-1 Price:$24.95 Title: Morality Tales Sub-title: Political Scandals and Journalism in Britain and Spain in the 1990's Author(s): Maria Jose Canel, Karen Sanders Publish Date: January 2006 Pages: 256 Format: Cloth
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This book takes political scandal as the entry point for the study of comparative political communication. It explores themes such as how and why journalists construct their scandal stories, what kind of narratives were told, the impact of political scandal, and what, if anything, this tells us about the putative power of the press. The authors find evidence to support the view that the British and Spanish political scandals of the 1990s constituted part of and were constituted by the political cultural context in which they occurred. The book explores the role of the press as arbitrators of themes from the cultural repertoire, fixers of symbolic contents, and framers of narratives about political scandals. Using a variety of methodologies, the authors produce an innovative, richly textured account of narrations of political scandal that also provides insights into political culture. Contents: INTRODUCTION. Research Aims. Theoretical Rationale. The Political Culture Perspective. Methods. Selection of Scandals and Newspapers. Plan of the Book. POLITICAL SCANDALS. Political Disorder in the 1990s. British and Spanish Political Landscapes. Media Landscapes. Public Vice. Understanding Scandal. MEDIA SCANDALS. What is a Media Scandal? The Visibility of Political Leaders. New Mediated Visibility and Political Personalities. New Visibility, Power and Media Scandals. Media Scandal Narratives. Components of Media Scandal Narratives. Framing in Media Narratives. Towards a Definition of Framing for a Cultural Analysis. THE STORYTELLERS: JOURNALISTS AND THEIR SOURCES. The Storytellers. Journalists and Sources. Custodians of Public Virtue. SPIN DOCTORS AND PRESS OFFICERS. Visibility and Concealment in Chief Executive’s News Operations. Prime Ministers Communication Offices and Styles. Moncloa: The Felipe Factor. Managing in the Stygian Stables of Sleaze. THE LIMITATIONS OF SPIN. Framing and Frames. Importance. Basic Characteristics of Scandal Coverage. Framing through Character. Framing through Agency. MORAL DRAMA. Categorizations. Cultural Codes and Identity Associations. Framing through News Icons. PRESS POWER. Do Political Scandals Matter? Scandal and Trust. The Power of the Press. Morality Tales. SCANDALS AND POLITICAL CULTURE. Political Culture and Trust. Political Cultures of Scandal. Ecologies of Political Scandal. Political Scandals as Moral Stories. Appendixes. References. Author Index. Subject Index.