1. Sept 18 – Gov – The Media Agenda: Quick-write The Role of the Media
The Press Corps
Class Discussion – Master of Spin
The Role of the Internet
Homework:
Complete Chapter 7 reading and study guide
Take out:
Pen/Pencil
Notebook
Master of Spin Article
Questions for discussion

2. Johnson’s “new politician”
In 1969, President Johnson famously said to a reporter, “You guys have given us a new kind of politician.”
Explain this quotation
Is that good or bad?

3. Vote:
UNDER FDR: according to Sam Donaldson, “Many reporters saw themselves as an extension of the government, accepting, with very little skepticism, what government officials told them.”
Is this idea democratic or undemocratic?
Explain

4. Questions to Consider: The Role of Media
What SHOULD the role of media be in a democratic society?
Is their role to encourage democracy?
…To create an informed citizenry?
Has American mass media become too powerful?
Has the media’s impact on public opinion and political outcomes consistent with the concepts of limited government and balance of power?
Is there any democratic way to hold mass media organizations accountable for their behavior?

5. So what? Do we need the media, or are we better off without it?
What are the alternatives?

6. The Press Corps
/white-house-press-corps
The Press Corp: Work full time at the White House to cover the president
Summoned once or twice a day to the press room for briefings

7. Helen Thomas worked for the United Press (UPI) for 57 years
She covered every President of the United States from Eisenhower to Obama
Traditionally, Thomas sat in the front row and asked the first question
Thomas was the only female print journalist to travel to China with President Nixon during his historic trip in 1972
January 2003, following a speech at a Society of Professional Journalists banquet, Thomas told an autograph-seeker, "I'm covering the worst president in American history."
She was not called upon during a press conference for the first time in over four decades. She wrote to the President to apologize.
During the Bush administration, Thomas was moved to the back row during press conferences
When asked why she was seated in the back row, she said, "they didn’t like me...I ask too mean questions."
On July 1, 2009, Thomas commented on the Obama administration's handling of the press, "we have had some control but not this control. I mean I'm amazed, I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and you have controlled..."
also said that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press as much as President Obama.

8. Class Discussion: Master of Spin
How did Mike McCurry manage to maintain the confidence of the White House press corps while at the same time “spinning” news stories in a positive way?
Are White House efforts at “spin control” legitimate in a democratic society, or do they undermine the American political system?
Do such efforts compromise the media’s role as a bulwark against government?
When does the White House cross the line between acceptable “spin” and unacceptable deception?