Michael W. Wagner is assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There, he is also the Louis A. Maier Faculty Development Fellow and holds an affiliated position in the Department of Political Science. He has won awards for his teaching and scholarship in the area of political communication in American politics.
Mediated Democracy: Politics, the News, and Citizenship in the 21st Century takes a contemporary, communications-oriented perspective on the central questions pertaining to the health of democracies and relationships between citizens, journalists, and political elites. The approach marries clear syntheses of cutting-edge research with practical advice explaining why the insights of scholarship affects students’ lives. With active, engaging writing, the text will thoroughly explain why things are the way they are, how they got that way, and how students can use the insights of political communication research to do something about it as citizens.