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The Media
Pearson Education, Inc. © 2008
American Government: Continuity and Change9th Editionto accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, Texas, and Essentials Editions
O’Connor and Sabato
Linkage institution btwn ppl & gov’t
Major agent of information dispersal Hard news vs. soft news
Surveillance or accountability “Fourth Branch of Government”
Driven by PROFT MOTIVE – it is a BUSINESS “bottom line”, ratings, & audience share
The Evolution of News Media in the United States
News media: media providing the public with new information about subjects of public interest
1st political papers run by parties Party papers replaced by
Penny Press
Profits: expanded readership, advertising Financial independence from parties
Late 1800s: rise of yellow journalism, muckraking –> leads to calls for “objective”, professional journalism
Today: papers, magazines declining
Allowed avg American to hear a politician, & politicians could mass communicate directly
Today• Reaches more than TV;
can target specific audiences
• Revival in 80’s & 2000s– conservatives dominate
airwaves (Limbaugh, Hannity)
Television News First demonstrated in 1939 Expanded quickly Network vs. Cable news Comedy news programs
Regular viewers of The Daily Show (Jon Stewart) were found to know more about world events than non-viewers even when education, party identification, watching cable news, etc. are taken into account.
Became politically significant during Vietnam War
1950s: political commercials; 1960s: debates
Today, TV is the main source of news for most ppl –> growth of cable news
Voters increasingly reliant on commercials for info on candidates/issues Increased issue advocacy
Rise of cable –> market segmentation –> narrowcasting Decrease in networks,
news broadcasting
24 hour news = find stories to fill time Growth of satire news – “infotainment”
Daily Show, Colbert Report; SNL (not cable)
Cable has potential to bring the news to ppl as it happens
Increased bias due to ability to identify audience
News is often less filtered Increased profit demand (need
for audience) = decreased journalistic standards
Increase of commentators; empty reporting
Allows for amateur reporting Blogs (Huffington Post, Drudge
Report) YouTube (amateur-captured clips,
parody) Reduced the role of print media Easier access to foreign news Articles tend towards commentary,
more brief – less factual information
Print media least regulated – gov’t generally can’t exercise “prior restraint”
Confidentiality of sources protected (shield laws)
Broadcasting more regulated (FCC) Consolidation; serving public
interest Equal-time rule; right-of-reply rule
Media is independent on what they can report, and totally dependant on ad revenues Private ownership –> focus on largest
audience
Today, all national media are conglomerates Cross-ownership of media sources
Courts & FCC seem to reinforce trend toward consolidation
Criticism: lack of real competition; political orientation of media outlets
Most dominant in presidential campaigns More media outlets = less impact of any one
medium on outcome
Candidates communicate directly via internet
Media influences choice of candidate Focus on personality; highlight missteps
Candidates need visibility to build name recognition, positive image, and votes Use photo ops, press events
Investigative Journalism:Looking for Scandals
The “Feeding Frenzy”
Reporters focus on gaffe’s of candidate’s. In doing so, one story leads to the next which leads to the next. Entertainment TV also covers it. Examples:1) Rick Perry’s gaffe.2) Howard Dean’s yell.3) Herman Cain’s (1) gaffe (2) gaffeThe Daily Show November 15:http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/tue-november-15-2011-mark-kelly
In politics, media acts as Observer Watchdog Participant Agenda Setter Check on abuse of power
Gives little attention to implementation of policy
President is star of media Set the agenda; spin info; selectively leak info Relationship w/ White House Press Corps
How the Media Cover Politicians And Government Communication between elected officials and public figures
and media Press release: document offering an official comment or
position Press briefing: relatively restricted session between a press
secretary or aide and the press Press conference: an unrestricted session between an elected
official and the press On background: information provided to a journalist that will
not be attributed to a named source Deep background: information provided to a journalist that will
not be attributed to any source Off the record: information provided to a journalist that will not
be released to the public On the record: information provided to a journalism that can be
released and attributed by name to the source
Covering the Presidency President is the focus of the most media coverage
Can summon the press at will FDR was the first to use the press conference as a
means to shape public opinion and explain his actions.
Press Secretary: existed since Hoover’s administration President’s main disseminator of information to the
press President gets the most coverage, but much of it is
negative G.W. Bush record low number of press conferences
Strategy to control his image
The Nationally Televised Debate
In the general election for the President, the National Televised debate is watched by millions. Often candidates appeal to the public by making their message personal:
Joe the Plumber Moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pssvmgEWVqM
Covering Congress Size of Congress and its decentralized nature make it
difficult for the media to cover it Solve this problem by:
Giving leaders most attention Key committee chairs command center stage. Local newspapers and broadcast stations normally
devote some resources to covering their own representatives.
Coverage tends to be negative Focus on conflict May be part of the reason people view Congress so
negatively Investigative hearings may be televised
Covering the Supreme Court
Supreme Court remains a virtual media vacuum
Broadcast media ban in Court Use of audio recordings No cameras, but print and broadcast
reporters have access to the Court
Influence on public opinion significant, but not overwhelming Past: political leaders wielded more
influence Now, media more aggressive in gathering
info
Media now dictate what news is covered and how it’s treated Taken some control from parties & IGs
Media claim to speak “for the people” – politicians knowingly reliant on media
Limits of Media Influence on Public Opinion Socialization: media competes w/ family,
friends, peers, party ID Selectivity: selective exposure and
selective perception of news and sources
Fragmentation: increased # of sources, more tailored news
Methods of Media Influence Gate-keeping: deciding what’s important
Agenda-setting: est. priority for issues Create attitude & behavior expectations
Media an agent of political socialization Issue Framing: media’s “spin” of an
issueHow an issue is framed can have
policy consequences
Too much focus on personality rather than positions on issues & policy? Better educated voter = less
swayed by media Focus on horse race/game of elections
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2011/10/horse_race_politics_an_animation_of_the_2012_republican_campaign.html
Use of sound bites keeps candidates from having to really talk about issues
Increasingly negative ads – does it turn voters off?
• Media has more influence in determining outcome of primaries than general election–More likely to influence undecided
voter
• Does election night reporting/exit poll info alter voter turnout?–Time zone fallout–Premature results reporting
The Public’s Perception of the Media Public opinion of media is relatively critical. Perceive media to be:
Politically biased Roadblocks to solving problems Inaccurate in their reporting Unwilling to admit mistakes
Most still view the national news media as credible.
Terrorist attacks shifted public opinion positively for a period.
Value the watchdog role of the news media
Media Bias 1980s and 1990s argument that media were liberally biased because
of the sheer number of journalists who leaned to the left.
Another argument focuses on corporate interests and the influence on what is covered.
Media critics: focus on national news media’s lack of skepticism regarding the invasion of Iraq
Recent media bias is intentional and a response to increasing fragmentation and competition among media Mainstream media losing market share while online, ethnic, and alternative
media are growing. Market position
CNN: 27 percent of Democrats; 20 percent of Republicans Fox News: 29 percent of Republicans; 14 percent of Democrats
Ideological fragmentation is viewed as a negative trend by those who believe that the mass media are essential to providing the facts to educate the public about policies.