The American media system today: is the public fragmenting? / Natalie Jomini Stroud and Ashley Muddiman
Political dynamics of framing / S.R. Gubitz, Samara Klar, Joshua Robison and James N. Druckman
Distrust of the news media as a symptom and a further cause of partisan polarization / Jonathan M. Ladd and Alexander R. Podkul
All politics is local?: assessing the role of local television news in a polarized era / Erika Franklin Fowler
News media and war: warmongers or peacemakers? / Piers Robinson
Campaigns go social: are Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter changing elections? / Young Mie Kim, Richard James Heinrich, Soo Yun Kim, and Robyn Baragwanath
The move to mobile: what's the impact on citizen news attention? / Johanna Dunaway, Kathleen Searles, Mingxiao Sui, and Newly Paul
Negative campaigns: are they good for American democracy? / Yanna Krupnikov and Elizabeth C. Connors
Targeting campaign messages: good for campaigns but bad for America? / Michael M. Franz
Do the media give women candidates are fair shake? / Regina G. Lawrence
Congress and the media: who has the upper hand?
Reassessing the power of speech in a crowded media world: conditional modern presidential leadership of public opinion / Brandon Rottinghaus
Media and public policy: does media coverage depend on the medium? / Matt Guardino
Fake news: what is the influence of fabricate stories and efforts to undermine media credibility? / Travis N. Ridout and Erika Franklin Flower
Politics in the digital age: a scary prospect? / Roderick P. Hart

It would be difficult to find a more interesting topic than the relationship between the news media and politics, especially given that Americans are now living in the "Twitter presidency" of Donald Trump. Academic research in the area of media and politics is rapidly breaking new ground to keep pace with prolific media developments and societal changes. This innovative, up-to-date text moves beyond rudimentary concepts and definitions to consider exciting research as well as practical applications that address monumental changes in media systems in the US and the world. This carefully crafted volume explores key questions posed by academics and practitioners alike, exposing students to rigorous scholarship as well as everyday challenges confronted by politicians, journalists, and media consumers. Each chapter opens with a "big question" about the impact of the news media, provides an overview of the more general topic, and then answers that question by appealing to the best, most-up-to-date research in the field. The volume as a whole is held together by an exploration of the rapidly changing media environment and the influence these changes have on individual political behavior and governments as a whole. New Directions in Media and Politics makes an ideal anchor for courses as it digs deeper into the questions that standard textbooks only hint at--and presents scholarly evidence to support the arguments made. New to the Second Edition - Fully updated through the 2016 elections and the early Trump presidency with a special focus on the role of social media. - Adds 3 new chapters: The Move to Mobile; Media and Public Policy; and Fake News. - Adds Discussion Questions to the end of each chapter