1. Interest Groups/Media 4/26/2012

2. Clearly Communicated Learning Objectives in Written Form Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: – discuss and critically analyze political events in the United States government – students will be able to identify and explain the role of informal institutions and their effect on policy.

3. Office Hours and Readings Pages 130-151 Office Hours – None Today – Monday 10-2

4. The Media and Politics

5. The Role of the Media It is profit driven Reporting the news Setting the Agenda

6. Gatekeepers Key people who control what we watch Help to shape political priorities Driven by profit

7. What gatekeepers use The authority of the source The Amount of Controversy The importance

9. PROVIDING US WITH POLITICAL INFORMATION

11. Where we get Political Information

12. The Type of Media Matters Television is the most important The internet is the fastest, but has the most bias

13. We Would Rather Watch Mistakes Bad SushiSushi People Falling People A great collectioncollection Rick Perry

14. Newspapers and Magazines Newspapers – Provide more information and Detail – Very few cities have multiple papers anymore Magazines- vary in content and quality

15. The Decline of Old media

16. THE MINIMAL EFFECTS MODEL Does the media really matter

17. The Minimal Effects Model The Fall Campaign is not that important Most people have made up their mind

18. Spurious/Minimal effects model We do not seek out political information We have selective/exposure perception We rarely make major changes

19. Who is influenced the most Those with the least political attention Those without stable party identification Elections can swing if it is close

20. HORSE RACE COVERAGE How the Media Makes things exciting

21. Horse Race Coverage What is it? What does it contain Why?

22. The Latest Polls

23. The Electoral College Map

24. The keys to horse race coverage Polling Perception No issues

25. Component I: Categorizer Sorts the candidates into winners and losers Creates an Image for the candidate

26. Component II: Expectation Setter Puts odds on the candidates You want to be at the top… duh But it isn't as good as you might thinkthink

27. Component III: Mentioner You want the media to notice you Not all press is good press Mentions mean money and votes

28. Component IV:Winnowing The Press Winnows (narrows) down the candidates Attention is on Iowa and NH Frontloading is the results

29. Type of Coverage in 2008 Primary

30. Horse Race Dominates 2008 General