1. The Media

2. The News An account of obtruding events Types
Timely, dramatic, compelling
Types
Broadcast
Cable
Newspapers
News magazines
Internet sites

3. Historical Development
Era 1: Partisan Press
Gazette of the U.S. v. National Gazette
Era 2: Penny Press
New York Sun
Telegraph
Rotary press
Price goes from six cents to a penny
Circulation  Advertising  Less partisan

4. Historical Development
Era 3: Yellow Journalism
Hearst’s New York Journal v. Pulitzer’s New York World
Era 4: Objective Journalism
Facts and fair
Adolph Ochs—New York Times
Radio emerges in 1920s
Federal Communications Act
Equal time restriction
TV shows in the 1950s
Fairness Doctrine

5. Historical Development
Era 5: The New Era
Here comes cable
Privately owned
No Fairness Doctrine
What effect?
Internet
Low cost of entry

6. Functions News media acts as a gatekeeper
Doesn’t shape opinions...just perceptions
Signaling
Common-carrier
Watchdog
Partisan

7. Signaling Alert the public Up to traditional media largely
Agenda setting
Not what we think, but what we think about
If it bleeds it leads…
Still need to attract an audience
Need fresh stories…hard events
Novelty

8. Watchdog
Expose officials who violate accepted legal, ethical, or performance standards
“No prior restraint”
Hard to win libel suits
Failed during McCarthy
Watergate
Abu Ghraib

9. Common-Carrier
Serve as a conduit through which political leaders of both parties can communicate with public
More than half of national news comes from DC
Presidency gets most coverage
Partisan neutrality
Sound bites…the person doesn’t matter most
The game of politics
Framing

10. Partisan Acting as advocate for a particular point of interest
Newspapers side editorially with R
Broadcast news typically neutral
But have a preference for the negative
Talk shows are conservative mainly
Rush v. Olbermann v. Maddow
NPR
Daily Show and Colbert
Internet leans liberal
Mobilize, interact, the long tail

11. Attention to News We used to have an inadvertent news audience
Then we got cable
News is disproportionately older
Age gap in news and information
Emergence of soft news

12. For Thursday Read chapter 6 and all 4 course reader documents
What are Gitlin’s issues with the American media?
What is the role of the free press in the propaganda war between the U.S. military and the Taliban?
How has the scholarship of public opinion changed over time?
Why does the heart win when it comes to elections?