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.