1. U.S. and Texas Politics and Constitution The News Media I March 3-5, 2015
J. BRYAN COLE
POLS 1336

2. What is the Mass Media?
Mass media: “affordable communications technologies capable of reaching an extensive audience” (p. 125)
Note the kinds of media that can fall under this broad definition

3. Types of News Media
Traditional
Newer Forms

4. Types of News Media
Traditional
Newer Forms

5. What functions do the news media perform in a democracy?

6. What functions do the news media perform in a democracy?

7. Important Implications
Public opinion is enormously dependent on the news media
Courts fiercely protective of freedom of the press, i.e. no prior restraint (journalists do not have to obtain permission from the government before printing a story, etc.)

8. The News Media and Democracy
Helps keep public informed
Holds the government accountable, beyond just checks and balances
Example: Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
Trailer for All the President's Men

9. Fact Checking Many fact-checking websites have emerged in recent years
Example: Politifact

10. Overall Impact of the News Media
Walter Lippmann
Many observers have feared that the media is a form of propaganda, i.e. it reaches millions of Americans and tells them what to think
“Where all men think alike, no one thinks very much” (Walter Lippmann)
Is this true? What powers do the media possess?

11. The American news media can tell everyone what to think.
Strongly agree
Somewhat agree
Somewhat disagree
Strongly disagree
Not sure

12. Selective Exposure
Occurs when people deliberately ignore those news sources with which they disagree
Becoming increasingly common in the early 2000s

13. Selective Exposure Made Easy
Liberal News Sources
Conservative News Sources
New York Times
MSNBC
Nation
Huffington Post
Talk radio (e.g. The Bill Press Show, The Stephanie Miller Show)
Wall Street Journal
FOX News
National Review, Weekly Standard
Drudge Report
Talk radio (e.g. The Rush Limbaugh Show, Glenn Beck Radio Program)

14. None One Two Three Not sure
Of your three biggest news sources, with how many do you generally agree?
None
One
Two
Three
Not sure

15. Selective Perception
Definition: tendency to discount information that is
inconsistent with one’s prior predispositions in
favor of information consistent with what one
already believes
Often occurs subtly
Selective Perception Among Voters

16. Motivated Reasoning
Definition: interpreting news in a manner that’s consistent with your prior beliefs
Done much more actively than selective perception
Example: An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore documentary about global warming)

17. Agenda Setting
The news media don’t tell us what to think; they just tell us what to think about
Even in the age of the 24-hour news cycle, journalists have to make difficult choices about what stories to cover and which ones to neglect
Chicken/egg dilemma
Do the media decide what to publicize first?
Or do they just cover events/issues that are already on our minds?

18. Example: Civil Rights Movement

19. Agenda Setting and Polling
Predictably, the presentation of polling results is one way by which agenda setting occurs
Consequences of Agenda Setting (including as it relates to polling)

20. Framing
Framing: stating of an argument in such a way as to emphasize one set of considerations and deemphasize others
Deals with how the media cover a news story
Example: Proposed KKK rally on campus

21. Framing Example: A Proposed KKK Rally at OSU
Freedom of Speech
Public Safety
Headline: Ku Klux Klan Tests OSU's Commitment to Free Speech
“How far is OSU prepared to go to protect freedom of speech?”
Headline: Possible Ku Klux Klan Rally Raises Safety Concerns
“Can campus police prevent a riot if the KKK comes to town?”
From: Nelson, Thomas E., Rosalee A. Clawson, and Zoe M. Oxley “Media Framing of a Civil Liberties Conflict and Its Effect on Tolerance.” American Political Science Review 91(3):

22. Priming
Priming: what occurs when the media affect the standards people use to evaluate political figures or the severity of a problem
Example: George H. W. Bush and the end of his presidency
Effects of short attention spans

23. Effects of Changes in the News Media
"News Wars' on Frontline (PBS Documentary), February 2007
We will watch two sections (from Part 3):
“A New Definition for What’s News”
“Info Snacking”