1. Roles of the Media

2. Media’s Gatekeeper Role
Deciding what is “news”
setting the policy agenda, focus attention
focus on negative events: crime, disasters, scandal, conflict
TV news: biased toward stories that have good visuals
Feeding frenzy: an obsessive focus on gaffes/mistakes

3. Media Coverage

4. Scorekeeper Role
Scorekeeper Role: reporting on who is ahead, who is behind
The “horse race”: media obsession with poll results
focus more on strategy over substance

5. Media’s Watchdog Role Exposing wrongdoing and scandal
Before Watergate: cozy relationship b/t press and politicians (FDR, JFK)
After Watergate: adversarial (conflictual) relations—looking for missteps, cover-ups
Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, investigated a break-in at the DNC’s headquarters. Their stories linked it to senior officials in Nixon's White House.

7. “Character Issue”: Delving into personal life of public figures
Gary Hart
Bill Clinton
The former Colorado senator challenged reporters to back up rumors of his adulterous womanizing. “Follow me around. I don’t care,” he told reporters in May 1987, when he was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. “I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored.”

8. Gary Hart

9. Limits on the Media’s Impact: An Inattentive Public

10. Limits on Media Impact
Public apathy +/or perception of bias → many tune out news.
Polarized media →confirmation bias: finding news that “fits” with preexisting beliefs
Cognitive dissonance: People screen out or rationalize away unpleasant information

12. Media Bias Compared