1. The News

2. Why does the press matter? How does the press affect public opinion?
Priming: the news influences which issues we judge to be the most important issues of the day.

3. Ranking of most important issue facing America: Iyengar and Kinder, Experiment 1
Before experiment
Inflation
Pollution
Unemployment
Energy
Civil Rights
Defense preparedness

4. Ranking of most important issue facing America: Iyengar and Kinder, Experiment 1
Before experiment
Inflation
Pollution
Unemployment
Energy
Civil Rights
Defense preparedness
After experiment
Inflation
Defense preparedness
Pollution
Unemployment
Energy
Civil Rights

5. Why does the press matter? How does the press affect public opinion?
Priming: the news influences which issues we judge to be the most important issues of the day.
Framing: the news can influence how we see the issues
who should we sympathize with?
what is the real issue?

6. Is there only one kind of “bias”?

7. What about bias? Where is it evident?

8. What about bias? Where is it evident?
Story choice
Placement
Headlines
Framing
Photographs

9. Election coverage: Biased toward political junkies
Who’s ahead and who’s behind
Sound bites (less than ten seconds!)
Stories with good visuals, conflict, drama

10. Is there a partisan bias?
Journalists are partisans
Economic incentive is to sell to as many people as possible
There is room for a profitable niche partisan market

11. Good sources of news?
PBS—is the news less sensational or less “partisan” when you take away the profit motive?
Google/Yahoo/MSN???
TV vs. newspaper?

12. Daily show: news advertising
Daily show: fact checking and cnn
Daily show: what the news covers