Topic: Media

Warm Up: Why do you think a free media is so important to an ideal democracy?

Mass media Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, internets

Print Media Broadcast Media

Print Media

Broadcast media

Image is everything 60% of Presidential campaigns funds were spent on TV ads.

Are ads the best way to get information? George Bush Political Commercial Bill Clinton Political Commercial

Press Conferences

Do you think FDR could elected today?

Kennedy v. Nixon (1960)

Reporters used to stay out of personal lives of politicians

That all changed in the 1960s-1970s

Vietnam War

Watergate

Watergate (Woodward and Bernstein)

Investigative Journalism In depth detective work that uncovers scandals of elected officials. It puts journalist at odds with politicians

Lewinsky Scandal

Adversarial relationship with the government A watchdog of politicians. 4th branch of government

FCC Regulate the airwaves

What is news? Who decides what is news?

Television The most popular form of media is television. Hundreds of millions of Americans watch television and it is their sole source of the information. But news television stations only have a limited time to broadcast their stories (2-3 minutes per story). Some argue that this is not enough time to get meaningful insights and analyses of a story. Others argue that because of the demand and cost of airtime, short stories are the only way to present the news.

Technology and the Media Smart phones, the internet, online news websites, twitter have allowed the average citizen to have access to more information at a faster rate than ever before. Some argue this is a positive thing: people are much more informed on what is going on in society and the actions of their government. Others argue that too many people have access to the internet and can spread false stories which can lead to a misinformed public.

Television as a business Television is a billion dollar business. The main purpose of networks is to make a profit. It is a ratings game. The higher a network’s rating, the more advertisers will pay to be on that network. Because of this, networks control what stories they want to report in the news. Many people argue that news stations select which stories to report on based on the viewers it will attract.  

Bias in the Media Some media news stations are biased towards a specific political party. MSNBC favors the democrats and liberals, FOX favors the republicans and conservatives. This can impact the way that these news stations report the news. People watching these news stations might believe they are hearing unbiased, fair information; but this is often not the case.

Air time for candidates News stations do not give equal air time to each candidate. Some primary nominees receive little media attention at all and so cannot get their message across to the American people. Other candidates that are more appealing to the public and drive viewer ratings higher receive more media attention. The candidates who receive more media attention are much more likely to win an election. Some have argued that each candidate should receive free and equal air time on the major television networks. Others have argued that would be too expensive and every candidate is not a legitimate candidate.

Political Campaign Commercials During Presidential Campaigns, television is flooded with commercials either supporting or opposing a candidate. Sometimes these advertisements are created by candidate themselves and sometimes they are created by the PACs. These are 30-60 second bits with very little actual information on the candidates and their policy beliefs. Even though these ads are short, they can be extremely effective in deciding an election.