1. Chapter 7: The Mass Media and The Political Agenda I.The Mass Media Today II.The Development of Media Politics III.Reporting the News IV.The News and Public Opinion V.Policy Entrepreneurs and Agenda Setting VI.Understanding the Mass Media

2. I. The Mass Media Today: how American politicians choreograph their messages through the mass media. A.Mass Media 1.Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and other means of popular communication. B.Media Events 1.Events that are purposely staged for the media and that are significant just because the media are there.

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4. II. The Development of Media Politics A.The Print Media B.The Emergence of Radio and Television C.Government Regulation of Electronic Media D.From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: The Rise of Cable and Cable News E.The Impact of the Internet F.Private Control of the Media

5. II. The Development of Media Politics A.The Print Media 1.Yellow Journalism – Sensational style of reporting characterized newspapers at the turn of the century. 2.Chains - Groups of newspapers published by media conglomerates and today accounting for over four-fifths of the nation’s daily newspaper circulation.

6. II. The Development of Media Politics B.The Emergence of Radio and Television 1.Brought government and politics into peoples’ homes with events like the Vietnam War. 2.Politicians’ appearances and mannerisms more important like events such as the Kennedy-Nixon presidential debates.

7. II. The Development of Media Politics C.Government Regulation of Electronic Media 1.The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the use of airwaves to (1) prevent near monopoly control of market, (2) review the performance of stations, and (3) issue fair treatment rules for politicians.

8. II. The Development of Media Politics D.From Broadcasting to Narrowcasting: The Rise of Cable and Cable News 1.Narrowcasting - Media program on cable TV or Internet that is focused on one topic and aimed at a particular audience. 2.Cable TV news channels can bring the news to people and political leaders as it happens.

9. II. The Development of Media Politics E.The Impact of the Internet 1.Internet facilitates communication about politics in every conceivable direction. 2.Potential to inform Americans about politics. 3.Internet is purposive – People choose what to learn about. 4.Blogs provide additional information about news stories.

10. II. The Development of Media Politics F.Private Control of the Media 1.Media is independent in what they can report, and totally depend on advertising revenues. 2.Primary objective is getting the biggest possible audience. 3.Chains – Massive media conglomerates that account for over 80% of the nation’s daily newspaper circulation.

11. III. Reporting the News A.Finding the News B.Presenting the News C.Bias in the News

12. A.Finding the News 1.Beats – Specific locations from which news frequently emanates, like Congress or White House. 2.Trial Balloons – An intentional news leak for the purpose of assessing political reaction. 3.Reporters and their sources depend on each other for stories and to get them out. III. Reporting the News

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14. III. Reporting the News B.Presenting the News 1.Superficial describes most news coverage today. 2.Sound Bites – Short video clips of approximately 10 seconds. 3.Major TV networks devote less time to covering political candidates.

15. III. Reporting the News C.Bias in the News 1.Many people believe the news is biased in favor of one point of view. 2.Generally is not very biased toward a particular ideology. 3.News reporting is biased towards what will draw the largest audience, such as good pictures and negative reporting.

16. IV. The News and Public Opinion A.The media can affect what Americans think about. 1.By increasing public attention to specific problems, the media influence how the public evaluates political leaders. 2.By emphasizing one event over others, the media can have an effect on how the public evaluates specific events.

17. V. Policy Entrepreneurs and Agenda Setting A.Policy Agenda 1.Issues that attract the serious attention of public officials and other people involved in politics at the time. B.Policy Entrepreneurs 1.People in or out of government who invest their political “capital” in an issue they want on the policy agenda.

18. VI. Understanding the Mass Media A.The Media and the Scope of Government B.Individualism and the Media C.Democracy and the Media

19. A.The Media and the Scope of Government 1.Media as watchdog restricts politicians. 2.New proposals are met with skepticism which restricts scope of government, what it can do. 3.Media reports problem and force government to address it, which expands the scope of government. VI. Understanding the Mass Media

20. B.Individualism and the Media 1.Candidates run on their own by appealing to people on television. 2.Easier to focus on one person like the president, than groups, Congress, or the courts.

21. VI. Understanding the Mass Media C.Democracy and the Media 1.“Information is the fuel of democracy.” 2.But news provides more entertainment than information; it is superficial. 3.News is a business, giving people what they want.