Politics and the Media (POLS 328) Professor Jonathan Day

Outline 1. Attendance Sheet 2. Radio, Television, Internet 3. Weird News – the sensational has always been around 4. Discussion Questions

Radio It took a series of inventions, just like the newspaper: Discovery of electromagnetic waves (Maxwell and Hertz) Turning those waves into codes (Marconi) Transforming human speech into codes (Forest and Fessenden) Original use was private communication, Harry Davis decided it should be broadcast “First Commercial Radio Broadcast: the Harding-Cox presidential election returns on KDKA in Pittsburgh, November 2, 1920” (Stephens, 2007, p. 269)

Television The first television broadcast was two 15 minute newscasts daily to a tiny audience in New York in 1941 by CBS Picture quality was originally so poor that you could barely make out the image. They didn’t have cameras stationed anywhere, so the image used when reporting about Pearl Harbor was a U.S. flag blown by a fan in the studio.

Internet 1969 – the first word to be sent between computers was supposed to be “login” 1998 – the Drudge Report breaks the news about the Lewinsky scandal

Radio  Television  Internet

Weird News 1. A report that there exists a two legged lamb 2. A man was strangled and his limbs were removed and the limbs were hung out on the street 3. An eyewitness account that a fish ate a crocodile 4. A husband complains to his wife that he has great stomach pains and an hour after that he gave birth to a girl.

Weird News 5. The people of one location are reported to have tails 6. An 85 year old builds 131 foot cathedral himself 8. An elephant can say a few human words 7. A man impersonates another long-missing man to the man’s friends and to the man’s wife

Weird News 1. A report that there exists a two legged lamb (2011) 2. A man was strangled and his limbs were removed and the limbs were hung out on the street (1590) 3. An eyewitness account that a fish ate a crocodile (2011) 4. A husband complains to his wife that he has great stomach pains and an hour after that he gave birth to a girl. (1601)

Weird News 5. The people of one location are reported to have tails (1493) 6. An 85 year old builds 131 foot cathedral himself (2011) 8. An elephant can say a few human words (2011) 7. A man impersonates another long-missing man to the man’s friends and to the man’s wife (1560)

85 year old builds cathedral himself

Talking Elephant

Two Legged Lamb

Crocodile Eating Fish

Discussion Questions Should we restrict any news from being dispersed? A person’s history, military information, national security documents… Why does the government want to control the news?

Discussion Questions What has hurt the newspapers more: Television or the Internet? Why does radio continue to prosper, despite having television and the internet?

Next Class What is News? What is Media? What is Politics?