1. American Democracy Now, 4/e
Chapter 10: The Media
American Democracy Now, 4/e

2. The Media Where Do You Stand?
Which technology or media source would you find hardest to give up?
a. Cell phone d. Landline telephone
b. e. Television
c. Internet
Source: “Info on the Go: Mobile Access to Data,”
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 2

3. The Modern Media
Traditionally, we have easily recognized the media: our hometown newspaper, the local television news, and the cable news networks.
But defining the media today is trickier: do tweets from your mayor, blog posts from your roommate, or Facebook posts from your mom count as media?
We must differentiate between media outlets that distribute unverifiable or opinion-based information and those that disseminate verifiable information.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 3

4. The Modern Media The media exist in various forms today, including:
print media such as newspapers and magazines;
the electronic media, which traditionally means radio and television;
the new media, usually thought of as being associated with the Internet and cellular technology, including websites and social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and photo- and video-sharing platforms such as Instagram and YouTube.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 4

5. The Political Functions of the Media
The media perform these political functions:
provide political information;
Interpret events and policies and set the national policy agenda;
provide a forum for political conversations;
socialize children to the political culture
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 5

6. Providing Information
The media, particularly the electronic media, are the primary source of information for most individuals.
Media critics especially fault the television networks for injecting entertainment into news shows.
They dub this combination infotainment.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 6

7. Interpreting Matters of Public Interest and Setting the Public Agenda
The media help people to comprehend and interpret matters of public interest and to make informed decisions about public policies.
This process often begins with media framing—setting a context that helps people to understand important events and matters of shared interest.
The media also help to shape the public agenda —public issues that most demand the attention of government officials.
The media commonly influence the setting of the public agenda by priming —using their coverage to bring particular policies on issues to the public agenda.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 7

8. Trust and Confidence in the Mass Media
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 8

9. Providing a Forum for Conversations About Politics
Historically, information flowed from the media to the people.
A notable exception has been the letter to the editor.
The advent of talk radio gave listeners one of their first regular opportunities to express their views publicly. Television took note, and call-in shows became common fare on cable television stations.
But no other medium has expanded the ability of people to communicate their views to the degree that the Internet has.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 9

10. Socializing Children to Political Culture
The media also socialize new generations to the political culture.
For young children, television remains the dominant medium for both entertainment and socialization.
TV-viewing toddlers receive regular messages about important cultural values. Shows such as Sesame Street and Barney send powerful messages about the value of diversity in society.
What is American Idol if not a televised election?
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 10

11. The Press and Politics: A Historical View
Historically, the media have played an essential role in setting the political agenda and shaping public policy.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 11

12. The Early Role of the Press
From the 1790s to the 1830s, the press served primarily as a vehicle for the leaders of political parties, who expressed their opinions through newspapers known to reflect their particular viewpoints in reporting the news.
By the 1830s, the environment had changed.
New technology made possible the penny press.
The field of journalism flourished.
The 1830s was the first time advertising became part and parcel of the newspaper business.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 12

13. Yellow Journalism and Muckraking
Throughout the last part of the nineteenth century, newspapers competed vigorously with one another for ever-greater shares of readership.
The term yellow journalism has come to signify an irresponsible, sensationalist approach to news reporting.
The most famous example of the impact of yellow journalism came with both Hearst’s and Pulitzer’s support of the United States’ entry into the Spanish-American War (1898).
Hard on the heels of the Spanish-American “newspaper war” came the era of muckraking.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 13

14. A Widening War for Readership
Increased competition has had several effects on the newspaper industry.
Newspaper readership has steadily declined, particularly the audience for printed local newspapers.
The Pew Media Center reports that since 2000, combining circulation and advertising revenue, the newspaper industry has shrunk by 43 percent.
Increasingly today, newspapers are making an effort to profit from providing information to readers via the Internet.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 14

15. A Widening War for Readership
Large cities are now likely to have smaller weekly publications targeted to specific demographic audiences.
In 2012, more than one-third of all newsroom supervisors were women, as were more than 40 percent of all layout and copy editors and reporters.
Minority journalists are much more likely to be employed at larger-circulation newspapers.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 15

16. Number of Newspapers Continues to Decline
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 16

17. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 17

18. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 18

19. The Media Go Electronic: The Radio and Television Revolutions
From the time of the first U.S. radio broadcasts in the early 1920s, radio allowed listeners to hear news in real time.
Radio also altered the relationship between politicians and their constituents, because it enabled listeners to hear the voices of their elected leaders.
Television further revolutionized that relationship by making it possible for people to see their leaders.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 19

20. How Radio Opened Up Political Communication
FDR’s Fireside Chats
During the golden age of radio—the period from the early 1920s through the early 1960s—radio was the dominant form of electronic entertainment.
Although political and news radio programming remained popular during the 1950s and 1960s, radio generally took a backseat to television during that era.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 20

21. Talk Radio: Talking the Political Talk
Radio began to emerge from the shadows of television in the 1970s and 1980s.
Those decades brought a renaissance of sorts for radio, as the medium saw tremendous growth in talk radio —a format featuring conversations and interviews about topics of interest, along with call-ins from listeners.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 21

22. Talk Radio: Talking the Political Talk
In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) repealed the fairness doctrine.
Since the law’s repeal, partisan radio programming has grown dramatically.
Today roughly 10 percent of all Americans remain faithful talk radio listeners.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 22

23. Television and the Transformation of Campaigns and Elections
TV has been the centerpiece of U.S. home entertainment for a long time.
Hundreds of channels compete for audience share, ending the previous dominance of the three major networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS.
Viewership of nightly network news broadcasts on ABC, CBS, and NBC plummeted between 1996 and 2008.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 23

24. Television and the Transformation of Campaigns and Elections
Narrowcasting refers to the practice of aiming political media content at specific segments of the public, divided according to political ideology, party affiliation, or economic interests.
This has also brought the rise of media segmentation targeted at specific audiences, like Telemundo.
Being telegenic, or looking good on TV, has become almost mandatory today for serious political candidates.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 24

25. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 25

26. Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 26

27. Convergence and Consolidation
Increasingly, we are likely to see convergence —the merging of various forms of media (newspapers, television stations, radio networks, and blogs) that share resources or perform the same task.
Increasingly, corporations are seeking to become universal providers of all our digital needs. Thus consolidation occurs—the phenomenon of large corporations buying smaller ones so that there are fewer and fewer companies’ products available.
The number of corporations responsible for supplying the majority of news to Americans has shrunk from 50 in 1983 to six today.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 27

28. Media Consolidation
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 28

29. The Proliferation of News Sources and Greater Scrutiny
The rise of cable stations and the Internet have fundamentally changed politics by increasing the number of sources Americans get their news.
This trend results not only in narrowcasting but also in greater scrutiny of government officials and public policy.
The portability of cellular technology has also contributed to Americans’ consumption of news.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 29

30. Blogs: The New Penny Papers?
Today blogs have become an important component of how individuals communicate and convey information, and how media outlets keep us informed.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 30

31. The Media Where Do You Stand?
Do you think news and opinion Web sites and blogs favor one of the two major parties, or are there about equal numbers of news and opinion sites favoring each party?
a. Favor Democrats
b. Favor Republicans
c. About equal for each party
d. Don’t know
Source: “Internet’s Broader Role in Campaign 2008,”
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 31

32. Biased Media? Media critics today are everywhere.
All of them claim that both print and electronic media exhibit bias in their reporting, in their selection of what issues to cover, and in favoring one side of an issue (or one politician) over another.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 32

33. The Question of Ideological Bias
A long-standing complaint is that the media— particularly big-city newspapers—evidence a liberal bias.
Many conservatives point to studies indicating that a majority of newsroom reporters identify themselves as liberal or Democrat.
But studies conducted by various political scientists refute the idea that journalists’ personal viewpoints tinge the content of the news in a liberal way.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 33

34. The Public’s View on Media Bias
In a survey, 46 percent responded that they thought the news media were too liberal.
37 percent said they thought the media were “just about right” ideologically.
13 percent said they believed the news media were too conservative.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 34

35. Public Opinion of Ideological Media Bias
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 35

36. The Issue of Corporate Bias
Most professional journalists hold journalistic objectivity to be important, and that principle well serves the interests of the large corporations that dominate the U.S. media industry today.
Given the corporate nature of today’s media, neutrality is generally a guiding principle.
Critics on the left argue that these corporate structures create their own bias and that this bias has altered what is considered news and how that news is covered.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 36

37. The Media Where Do You Stand?
How much trust do you have that newspapers, TV, and radio report the news fully, fairly, and accurately?
a. A great deal of trust
b. A fair amount of trust
c. Not very much trust
d. None at all
Source: “Republicans Remain Deeply Distrustful of News Media,”
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 37

38. Regulation of the Media: Is It Necessary?
The government regulates and controls the ownership of radio and television stations through the independent regulatory agency known as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), founded in 1934.
Most of the FCC’s rules have concerned ownership, such as the number of outlets a network may own.
Some regulations, however, govern the content of radio and television programming, attempting to ensure that only “decent” content is on the airwaves.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 38

39. Regulation of the Media: Is It Necessary?
Media also are regulated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which opened the communications markets to telephone companies.
It presented new options for consumers, as individual companies began to offer a suite of services, from local and long-distance telephone service, to Internet access, to cable and satellite television.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 39

40. Regulation of the Media: Is It Necessary?
With the combination of all of these services under single companies, large corporate conglomerates have increasingly gained control of the media.
The advent of these media titans has given rise to concerns about whether this type of control will deter balanced reporting of the news and unbiased presentations of issues.
Copyright © 2015 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education. 40