Governance & Mass Media Dr. Inas A.Hamid

Media Effects on Governance The news media are sometimes called the fourth estate or the fourth branch of government. These terms identify the independent role of the media in reporting on the government. The media are a kind of watchdog on behalf of the citizens.

Medieval English and French societies were highly structured into classes of people called estate. Clergy Nobility The common people

After Gutenburg, the mass produced written word began emerging as a player in the power structure, but it could not be as part of one or another of the three estates. In time the press came to be called the fourth estate. This term is applied to all journalistic activity today. The news media report on the other estates.

Government-Media Relations Although government should not place restrictions on the press, the reality is that exceptions have evolved. Broadcast regulations Print regulations

Internet Regulations. The internet and all its permutations, including chat-rooms and websites, are almost entirely unregulated in terms of political content. The only inhibition on internet political content is through civil suits between individuals on issues like invasion of privacy.

Exercise What impact has the consolidation of ownership of the various media have on the assumption that the public can find a balance of diverse views on public issues?

Media Effects on Governance Agenda setting – Framing – Conflict – Scandals- Horse races . Media coverage shapes what we think about as well as how we think about it. This means the media is a powerful linkage between the government and how people view their government. A negative aspect is the trend of media to pander to transitory public interest in less substantive subjects, like scandals, gaffes and negative events.

Agenda Setting : the process through which issues bubble up into public attention through mass media selection of what to cover. Civil rights. The civil rights of American blacks were ignored for a long time. Then came news coverage of growing reform movement in the 1960s. That coverage including the way police treated peaceful black demonstrators got the larger public thinking about racial injustice. In 1964, congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which forbade discrimination. Without media coverage, the public agenda would not have included civil rights at a high enough level .

it is important to understand how issues go from being objective data to becoming social problems and then being subject to intervention efforts by a society. This process is called agenda setting.

The Three Agendas The public agenda: This comprises the general public’s perceptions of what is important Media agenda: This means what the newspapers are writing about, the TV networks covering, and the talk shows emphasizing. Policy agenda: This is heavily influenced by political perspectives, views of political leaders, positions taken by political parties, and input from consultants, lobbyists, and government bureaucrats.

Framing Selecting aspects of a perceived reality for emphasis in a mass media messages, thereby shaping how the audiences sees the reality. Media coverage shapes how people see issues. Scholars who analyzed Iraq war coverage concluded that the framing from combat zone was favorable to the American military and individual combat units. It included highly dramatic and photogenic stories. It did not include material from war protesters.

Journalists learn two things about conflict early in their careers: Most audiences like conflict. Conflict often illustrates the great issues by which society is defining and redefining its values.

Journalists know that most of their audiences like scandal stories. Scandal and gaffe stories build and audience which explained their increased coverage. Covering such news lead audiences to be less interested in covering issues of significance and led to more negative news being covered.

Horse Races An election campaign treated by reporters like a game – who's ahead, – who's falling back, – who's coming up the rail.

Assignment Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of reporting election campaigns news as a horse race.