The Media
Chapter 15
In this chapter we will learn about
• The sources of our news
• The historical development of the ownership of the American media and its implications for the political news we get
• The role of journalists
• The link between the media and politics
• The relationship of citizens to the media
Where do we get our news?
• Newspapers- Readership on the decline for all age groups. - Fewer newspapers than in many industrialized
countries- Only 7% of people read a national paper (USA
Today), and less than half (about 44%) read local papers
– Danger: Fewer investigative journalists to serve as a check on government
– Is blogging the same as investigative journalism?– Can newspapers survive on-line?
• Rebirth of the Globe-Democrat (closed presses 1986)• St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Pew Research
America's News Sources, 1993-2013
In Pew's 2013 survey, 50% said they use the internet as a primary source for news, up from 43% in 2011.
Where do we get our news?
As of 2011 (turning point)more people get news from Internet or Social Media sites than newspapers or radio
Pew Research
Where do we get our news?• The Power of Television
– Dramatically changed the way people
received their news– Led to narrowcasting– Has increased the importance of image– 69% of Americans watch T.V news; of that 69%,
roughly 51% watch local news; 39% watch cable news; 36% watch network news
– Walter Cronkite credited with helping the movement to end the Vietnam war• Cronkite on his reporting of the Tet Offensive• Cronkite on lessons from Vietnam
– Nixon wants to put the “screws” to CBS– Dan Rather and George Bush on-air showdown
Where do we get our news?
• The Internet– Revolutionizing the way we get our news
– 20% report getting their political news from the Internet; this percentage is rising
– Blogs
– More interactive than other media
– News review Reddit
– Google News
– Yahoo News
The early American press
• Extremely partisan– See anything by
Thomas Paine– Loyalist publications– Ben Franklin’s “Plain
Truth”;
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”
• Lacked independence because they were dependent on parties for funding
• Jacksonian revolution led to appeals to mass audiences rather than elites in political parties
Early media independence
• As more people learned to read, audiences grew.• The penny press (1833): cheap papers led to more
superficial content designed to appeal to mass audiences (new sensationalism, muck raking, and yellow journalism)
• Yellow journalism: after Civil War; appeal to mass audience led to sensational reporting
– Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines and sensationalized stories to sell more newspapers.
The quest to sell more and more newspapers led to excesses that culminated with the Pulitzer-Hearst circulation war in the 1890s. The newspapers led such a hysterical attack against Spain that they helped precipitate the Spanish-American War. The US Maine exploded in Spanish-controlled Havana Harbor. Both Hearst’s New York Journal and Pulitzer’s New York World claimed that it was a Spanish attack on an American vessel. Historians have shown that the explosion was probably an accident.
Hearst Pulitzer
The media today: concentrated corporate power
• Consequences of corporate ownership– Commercial bias: the tendency to make coverage
and programming decisions based on what will attract a large audience and maximize profits
– Reduced emphasis on political news, or at least non-sensational political news
– Conflicts of interest: The content of the news reflects the political opinions of the media owner.
– Infotainment: the effort to make the delivery of information more attractive by dressing it up as entertainment
– More tv / Internet outlets, fewer stories being covered (future of journalism)
AOL/Time Warner
Regulation of broadcast media
• The equal time rule: if a station allows a candidate for office to buy or use airtime, it must allow all candidates to do so– Not being followed by Fox / MSNBC
• The fairness doctrine: requires that stations give free airtime to issues that concern public and to opposing sides when controversial issues are covered– Not being followed in spirit
• The right of rebuttal: individuals whose reputations are damaged on air have a right to respond– Depends on shows; no longer standard
• The Telecommunications Act of 1996: abolished most limitations on station ownership, thus increasing possibilities for media monopoly
Roles of journalists• Gatekeepers: those journalists who decide
what news gets covered and how• Disseminators: those journalists who confine
their role to getting the facts of the story straight and moving the story out to the public quickly
• Investigators: investigate government’s claims, analyze and interpret complex problems, discuss public policies
• Public mobilizers: develop cultural and intellectual interests of the public, set the political agenda, let people express their views
Note: There is a difference between bloggers and professionally trained journalists
The growth of the Washington press corps
• The revolving door: the tendency of public officials, journalists, and lobbyists to move between public and private sector (media, lobbying) jobs
• The rise of the pundit: a observer and commentator on politics; may or may not have expertise in government or public policy
• Problem with increase in number and visibility of pundits: You have someone telling you how to interpret a speech or public problem (someone telling you what to think), rather than you thinking for yourself
The shaping of public opinion by the media
• Agenda setting: influencing what issues are on the public agenda through the decision of what stories to cover
• Priming: influencing the public’s perception of certain people, events, and issues by the emphasis given to particular characteristics of them
• Framing: the process through which the media emphasize particular aspects of a news story, thereby influencing the public’s perception of the story
• Persuasion by professional communicators: the tendency for viewers to agree with trusted newscasters and expert sources
The portrayal of politics as conflict and image
• Horse-race journalism: the media’s focus on the competitive aspects of politics rather than on actual policy proposals and political decisions
• Emphasis on image: the tendency of the media to focus on what people look like, what they sound like, and how an event is staged
• Scandal watching: the tendency of reporters to concentrate on developing scandals to the exclusion of other, possibly more relevant, news events
• Growing negativism, increased cynicism: the tendency of reporters to be cynical about politics and to focus on the negative aspects of politics
• Problem: reporters trained in writing / media, not political science, public administration, economics, history
Consequences of emphasizing conflict and image
• An increase in citizen disaffection with politics• An increase in cynicism about politics and the media• New forms of media replacing older ones
– (Social Media as News Source and Opinion Forum)
The citizens and the media• The new media:
– High-tech outlets that have sprung up to complete with traditional newspapers, magazines, and network news.• E.g. Huffington Post’s permanent
blogs
• Civic journalism:– a movement among journalists to be
responsive to citizen input in determining what news stories to cover
– Have to: competing with citizen blogs
Can Political Satire Influence Elections and Public Opinion?
• SNL Tina Fey as Sarah Palin• Tina Fey word for word• Hulu Republican Debate Rick Perry
http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/299649• Vice Presidential Debate news coverage
2012• SNL Vice Presidential Debate 2012• Second Presidential Debate 2012
