1. Role of Press in a Democracy
Democracy can’t function without informed, critical citizens
The press is the main informer of the public
A free nation requires a free press
The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
Finley Peter Dunne

2. The Press as Watch Dog
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. –Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787
The information of the people at large can alone make them the safe as they are the sole depositary of our political and religious freedom. --Thomas Jefferson to William Duane, 1810

3. The Press as Attack Dog Vicious press coverage is nothing new.
Contemporary treatment of candidates, even in the blogosphere, is pretty mild.
Jefferson lamented that a man who reads nothing at all is better informed that a man who reads only newspapers.

4. The Press as Lap Dog

5. An Informed Electorate
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. --Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816.

6. Media Consolidation and Its Impact
A business model for news
The dangers of concentration (CJR)
The Big Five, an American keiretsu
Fear of offending those in power
MSNBC and firing Phil Donahue
PEW study on killing stories (2000)

7. Media Consolidation and Its Impact
PEW study of reporters, editors, executives
1/3 say stories that "hurt the financial interests” of owners/advertisers go unreported.
41% have avoided or softened stories.
FAIR study of investigative reporters:
70% say advertisers had "tried to influence the content”.
60% say advertisers tried to kill stories.

8. The More you Watch the Less you Know
False Beliefs
Fox
CBS
NBC
ABC
CNN
NPR/PBS
Print
WMD 33 23 20 19 11 17
Al Qaeda 67 56 49 45 48 16 40
Int’l Support 35 28 27 24 5
None 29 39 77 53
1 or more 80 71 55 61 47
PIPA/KN Survey 2004

9. The More you Watch the Less you Know(2010 Pew Study)
True Beliefs
Fox
CNN
NPR
O’Reilly
PBS
Daily Show/
Colbert
National Average
Name Sunnis 32 38 49 43 46 50
Identify Libby 29 36 44 45
Identify Putin 41 51 53 54 52
U.S. War Dead 58 60 66 64 67 59 55
Overall 35

10. Democracy Now! Clip Fairleigh Dickinson study

11. The 2008 Election and Blame for the Sub-Prime Crisis
Fannie, Freddie, and the CRA did it!
Larry Kudlow, George Will, Charles Krauthammer, Neil Cavuto, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Bill O’Reilly
Narrative—the government forced banks into poor lending practices to aid the disadvantaged.
At best misleading, at worst a lie.

12. The 2008 Election and Blame for the Sub-Prime Crisis
What the narrative ignores
The CRA applies only to FDIC institutions
84% of all sub-prime loans come from private non-CRA institutions (Argent, American Home Mortgage, Countrywide, CitiMortgage,Wells Fargo Home Mortgage)
Fannie and Freddie don’t lend, they securitize
Fannie and Freddie’s shares of the home loan market dropped from

13. News as Entertainment Fluff and style replace substance
News as story telling—media narratives
Catering to viewer preferences
Debate as theater
The myth of balance

14. The Myth of Balance Every issue has two equal sides
Fairness involves giving equal time to both sides
We report, you decide

15. The Patron Saint of News Junkies