1. The Media and Politics:
Constant Evolution

2. Media ARE Plural
From the word “medium” = way of delivering information
Different outlets
Different formats
Different audiences
All of this affects the content

3. Format I -- Books and Magazines
Very small (but influential) audience
Doesn’t reach as many people
Much more in-depth
Magazines/Journals:
Narrow audience, but larger than books
Newsweeklies have a larger “activist” base

4. Format II -- TV & Newspapers
Mass media -- Large audience
Power of imagery
Recent years = rise of cable news cycle (24 hours a day)
“narrowcasting”
“Talking Heads”
Newspapers
Few national newspapers
Collectively, large audience, but readership has been shrinking rapidly
Many local newspapers are dying out

5. Format III- Radio and Internet
Homogenization of programming
News content is rare; mostly, tidbits of information
Exception = National Public Radio (NPR)
Talk radio
Internet:
More people turning to the web for their news
Especially, young people
Political blogging
“narrowcasting” becomes “slivercasting”

6. Roles of the Media What is “newsworthy”?
Media as political “watchdogs”
Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward = Watergate scandal
Media as a 4th branch of govt
Can help set the agenda
Ultimately, the media is a business
They want to make money!
Selling ads, getting viewership/readership

7. Media Today
The media uses politicians and insiders for info and vice versa (ongoing relationship)
Access --leaks, background sources, trial balloons
Politicians will do press releases, hold media events/news conferences
Image is all important

8. Free & Critical Press 1st Amendment -- Freedom of the Press
Public has a right to know, esp. in a democratic republic
Pentagon Papers in 1971
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
Limited scope of libel
Had to show “actual malice”
Extended to any “public figure” in Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1987)

9. The Future Many newspapers are dying out
Small, independent papers have been bought out
People turning to the internet
Dependence on TV and political blogs for their info
Many worry that serious journalism has taken a real hit

10. How did the 2016 Presidential Election affect future use of media?
What is the public’s level of trust in the media?

11. PRESSTHINK, a project of the Arthur L
PRESSTHINK, a project of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University, is written by Jay Rosen

12. Why??? Is this a positive or negative trend?
Is there a way we as a society can change it if it’s negative?