War Stories: The Causes and Consequences of Public Views of War »

Matthew A. Baum is the Marvin Kalb Professor of Global Communications and professor of public policy and government at Harvard University. Tim J. Groeling is associate professor of communication studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"War Stories will have a major impact on how scholars think about media influences on foreign policymaking in the United States. Baum and Groeling have produced a credible, comprehensive, and consistent analysis of why journalists cover foreign policy in a skewed fashion and how this ultimately affects public opinion about conflicts such as the Iraq war."--James T. Hamilton, Duke University

"War Stories makes a significant contribution to our knowledge of how the strategic decisions of politicians, parties, and news organizations shape the information about conflicts that is conveyed to the public. Baum and Groeling contend that media rhetoric greatly influences public opinion in times of war regardless of the empirical reality such as casualties and events. This book addresses an important topic."--Diana Owen, Georgetown University

Lawrence D. Freedman - Foreign Affairs

In this landmark study, Baum and Groeling reveal how foreign policy messages are conveyed and undermined.

List of Figures ix

List of Tables xiii

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvii

Chapter 1 News, Opinion, and Foreign Policy 1

Chapter 2 Politics across the Water's Edge 17

Chapter 3 Elite Rhetoric, Media Coverage, and Rallying 'Round the Flag 46

Chapter 4 War Meets the Press: Strategic Media Bias and Elite Foreign Policy Evaluations 89

Chapter 5 Shot by the Messenger: An Experimental Examination of the Effects of Party Cues on Public Opinion Regarding National Security and War 114

Chapter 6 Tidings of Battle: Polarizing Media and Public Support for the Iraq War 149

Chapter 7 "Reality Asserted Itself": The Elasticity of Reality and the War in Iraq 186

Chapter 8 Barbarians inside the Gates: Partisan New Media and the Polarization of American Political Discourse 230

Chapter 9 Back to the Future: Foreign Policy in the Second Era of the Partisan Press 284

References 297

Index 315