Public Policy and Media Organizations

Do media and governmental perceptions of public opinion help to shape both media discourse and legislation concerning social policy? The research presented in this book evaluates how the media produces news on social policy based on perceptions of its target audience group(s) and whether such perceptions also impinge on government social policy decision-making. At the very heart of this debate is the question of whether governments should be bold in the political decision-making process irrespective of perceptions of public opinion and media representations of social policy issues. In order to understand how social policy is formed, this research critically assesses the meaning of social policy in philosophical, sociological and policy-making terms. In order to do this, social policy is analysed in relation to well-being, human happiness and society. These perspectives are contrasted with political realities through an assessment of political interventions, interpretations of how well-being and/or welfare are attained, and discussion of how the media frames social policy issues. A detailed case-study of media and journalistic representation of crime will show whether the media both reflects and influences popular perceptions of the incidence and nature of criminality. Taken as a whole, this book will show whether there is a direct relationship between the media's perceptions of the normative viewpoint of the public and its framing of contemporary social policy issues.