Effect of Electronic Media

Berkeley journal of Social Sciences
Vol. 1, No. 4, April 2011.

Effects of Exposure to Electronic Media Political Content on Voters’ Voting Behavior
Noman Yaser∗
Muhammad Nawaz Mahsud∗∗
Ishtiaq Ahmad Chaudhry∗∗∗

Abstract: This study is an effort to estimate the Pakistani public’s consumption pattern of electronic media –
Television & radio—political content during elections 2008 and its effects on the voters’ voting behavior. Using face to face interview technique data has been collected from 400 respondents (200 male and 200 female registered voters) from both urban and sub-urban of Lahore city (100 males and 100 females each from each area). The findings reveal that voters not only spent more time on consuming television political contents but also the overall and respondents of low age in years, the males, urban residents and those with high education are significantly very often exposed to television discussion programs on politics for getting guidance and polishing their voting behavior as compared to radio political content during elections 2008. The viewers response in terms of intra television political content reveals that the overall as well males, the people of urban location, and those having high education very often while females and respondents with low education somewhat significantly use television for acquiring political information as compared to their cross categories respectively. Background
History of elections in Pakistan is very troubling and disappointing. The sixty years history of Pakistan has witnessed six general elections. The results of one election resulted in the disintegration of Pakistan. Three of the elected assemblies failed to complete their stipulated tenure as the governments were toppled on different charges by the hidden forces whom democracy did not suit (Abbas, 2008). The government formulated as a result of 2002 elections although completed its tenure, it however could not meet the

References: Abbas, A. (2008, Feb12). Political democracy is not enough. Karach: Daily Dawn. Ahmad, R. Z. (2002). Pakistan: The Real Picture. Karachi: Ferozsons (pvt.) Ltd. Berelson, B. R., Lazarsfeld, P. & McPhee, W.N. (1954). Voting. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress. Biocca, F.A. (1988). ‘Opposing conceptions of the audience: The active and passive hemisphere of mass communication theory’ Blumler, J. G., & McLeod . J. M. (1974). Communication and voter turnout in Britian. In Legatt T. Blumler, J. G., Roland, C., & Gabriel, T. (1978). La T´el´evision Fait-Elle Election? Paris: Presses de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques. Bryant, J., & Thompson, S. (2002). Fundamentals of media effects. New York: McGraw Hill. Butler, D. (1981). ‘Electoral Systems’. In D. Butler et al. (Eds.), Democracy at the Polls. Washington DC: American Enterprise Institute. Cook, T.E. (1999. Governing with the News: The News Media as a Political Institution. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Della, V. S., & E. Kaplan. (2007).“The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122. Fazal, A. M. (2008, Feb.16). The transition from civil to military rule. Karachi: Daily Dawn. Fazio, R. H., & Williams, C. J. (1986). Attitude accessibility as a moderator of the attitude perception and attitude behavior relations: An investigation of the 1984 presidential election Funkhouser, G.R. (1973). “The Issues of the Sixties: An Exploratory Study in the Dynamics of Public Opinion.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 37, 62-75. Granberg, D., & Brown, T. A. (1989). On affect and cognition in politics. Social psychology quaterly, 52, 171-182. Gunther, R., & Mughan, A. (2000). ‘The political impact of the media. In R.Gunther., & A.Mughan (Eds.), Democracy and the Media: A Comparative Perspective Guyot, J., (1998). Rethinking regional television: intercultural challenge in the face of media profusion Harrop, M., & Miller, W. M. (1987). Elections and Voters: A Comparative Introduction. London: MacMillan Education Ltd. Hendriks,V. P. G. J., Hagemann, C. P. M., & Snippenburg, L. B.V. (2004). Political knowledge and media use in the Netherlands Iyengar, S., & Simon, A. F. (2000). New perspectives and evidence on political communication and campaign effects Khan, M. A. (1996). Pakistan’s Political and Administrative Structure. Lahore. Keeter, S. (1987). “The Illusion of Intimacy: Television and the Role of Candidate Personal Qualities in Voter Choice.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 51(3), 344-358. Krosnick, J. A. (1988). The role of attitude importance in social evaluation: a study of policy preference, presidential candidate evaluations, and voting behavior Leighley, J. E. (2004). Mass Media and Politics: A Social Science Perspective. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. McCombs, M., Shaw, D.L., & Weaver, D. (1997). Communication and Democracy: Exploring the Intellectual Frontiers of Agenda-setting Theory McCombs, M.E.,& D.L. Shaw. (1972). “The Agenda-Setting Function of the Media.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 36, 176-87. McLeod, J. M., Becker, L. B., & Byrnes, J. E. (1974). Another look at the agenda setting function of the press McLeod, J. M., Kosicki, G. M., & McLeod, D. M. (1994). The expanding boundaries of political communication effects McQuail, D., & Siune, K. (Eds.). (1998). Media policy: convergence, concentration and commerce. Miller, W.E., & Shanks, J. (2003). The New American Voter. London: Harvard University Press. Moy, P., & Scheufele, D.A. (2000). Media Effects on Political and Social Trust. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 77(4), 744-759. Narula, U. (2006). Dynamics of Mass Communication: Theory and Practice. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. Noelle-Neumann, E. (1984). Spiral of Silence: our social skin. Chicago: University of Chicago. Petty, R.E., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1986). Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change Ranney, A. (1983). Channels of power. New York: Basic books. Rice, R. E., & Atkin, C. K. (Eds.) (1989). Public communication campaigns (2nd ed.). Beverly Hills: CA: Sage. Taylor, D. (1992). Parties, Elections and Democracy in Pakistan. Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Page 96–115. Tipton, L. P., Haney, R. D. & Basehart, J. R. (1975). Media agenda-setting in city and state election campaigns Waseem, M. (2006). Democratisation in Pakistan: A Study of the 2002 Elections. Karachi: Oxford University Press.