Amnon Cavari

The Short-Term Effect of Going Public

This paper examines the direct, short-term effect of presidential communications on policy preferences. Using panel studies and post-speech surveys, I demonstrate that following a speech, public opinion changes in the direction of the president. This effect is strongest among people who watch the president. While the number of people who tune to the president may be small, indeed getting smaller over time, it is composed of people who participate in the political process, are more likely to affect it, and therefore are of interest to opinion leaders. The findings reveal that presidents are effective leaders of public opinion.

Covering foreign news – intensity and topics: the case of the American coverage of Israel 1981–2013

ABSTRACT What is covered (and what is not covered) by the media can shape the way the public perceives an issue. This is especially important with regards to foreign events where most people have little knowledge and are therefore dependent on the media for information. Most existing work on coverage of foreign issues focuses on events and therefore fails to assess coverage over time. The current study offers a more systematic analysis of news coverage in the US by examining the coverage of one country – Israel – over three decades (1981–2013): Analysing the intensity of the coverage and the topics discussed. The findings indicate that events have a significant impact on foreign news coverage. We suggest that this pattern of coverage may have an important effect on how Americans view Israel and the Arab–Israeli conflict and their attitudes about it.