1. The Media Pearson Education, Inc. © 2008 American Government: Continuity and Change 9th Edition to accompany Comprehensive, Alternate, Texas, and Essentials Editions O’Connor and Sabato

2.  Linkage institution btwn ppl & gov’t  Major agent of information dispersal Hard news vs. soft news  Surveillance or accountability “Fourth Branch of Government”  Driven by PROFT MOTIVE – it is a BUSINESS “bottom line”, ratings, & audience share

3. The Evolution of News Media in the United States News media: media providing the public with new information about subjects of public interest

4.  1 st political papers run by parties Party papers replaced by Penny Press Profits: expanded readership, advertising  Financial independence from parties  Late 1800s: rise of yellow journalism, muckraking –> leads to calls for “objective”, professional journalism  Today: papers, magazines declining

6.  Allowed avg American to hear a politician, & politicians could mass communicate directly Today Reaches more than TV; can target specific audiences Revival in 80’s & 2000s – conservatives dominate airwaves (Limbaugh, Hannity)

8. Television News  First demonstrated in 1939  Expanded quickly  Network vs. Cable news  Comedy news programs Regular viewers of The Daily Show (Jon Stewart) were found to know more about world events than non-viewers even when education, party identification, watching cable news, etc. are taken into account.

9.  Became politically significant during Vietnam War  1950s: political commercials; 1960s: debates  Today, TV is the main source of news for most ppl –> growth of cable news  Voters increasingly reliant on commercials for info on candidates/issues Increased issue advocacy

10.  Rise of cable –> market segmentation –> narrowcasting Decrease in networks, news broadcasting  24 hour news = find stories to fill time  Growth of satire news – “infotainment” Daily Show, Colbert Report; SNL (not cable)  Cable has potential to bring the news to ppl as it happens

11.  Increased bias due to ability to identify audience  News is often less filtered  Increased profit demand (need for audience) = decreased journalistic standards  Increase of commentators; empty reporting

12.  Allows for amateur reporting Blogs (Huffington Post, Drudge Report) YouTube (amateur-captured clips, parody)  Reduced the role of print media  Easier access to foreign news  Articles tend towards commentary, more brief – less factual information

13. President Obama & YouTube Interviews

15.  Print media least regulated – gov’t generally can’t exercise “prior restraint”  Confidentiality of sources protected (shield laws)  Broadcasting more regulated (FCC) Consolidation; serving public interest Equal-time rule; right-of-reply rule

16.  Media is independent on what they can report, and totally dependant on ad revenues Private ownership –> focus on largest audience  Today, all national media are conglomerates Cross-ownership of media sources  Courts & FCC seem to reinforce trend toward consolidation  Criticism: lack of real competition; political orientation of media outlets

19.  Most dominant in presidential campaigns More media outlets = less impact of any one medium on outcome Candidates communicate directly via internet  Media influences choice of candidate Focus on personality; highlight missteps  Candidates need visibility to build name recognition, positive image, and votes Use photo ops, press events

20. Investigative Journalism: Looking for Scandals

21. The “Feeding Frenzy” Reporters focus on gaffe’s of candidate’s. In doing so, one story leads to the next which leads to the next. Entertainment TV also covers it. Examples: 1) Rick Perry’s gaffe.gaffe 2) Howard Dean’s yell. 3) Herman Cain’s gaffegaffe The Daily Show November 15: http://www.thedailyshow.com/full- episodes/tue-november-15-2011-mark- kelly

22.  Bushisms Bushisms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be6tunb Rcs8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be6tunb Rcs8  Howard Dean’s yell: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i- gYRAwM0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6i- gYRAwM0  Whole speech  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ME4 aCLb5nw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ME4 aCLb5nw Dave Chapelle (:32-1:10 be careful!)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy7Az BQoOZw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy7Az BQoOZw Jock Jams  Compilation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cay8GC9N8 ak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cay8GC9N8 ak

23.  In politics, media acts as Observer Watchdog Participant Agenda Setter Check on abuse of power  Gives little attention to implementation of policy  President is star of media Set the agenda; spin info; selectively leak info Relationship w/ White House Press Corps

24. How the Media Cover Politicians And Government  Communication between elected officials and public figures and media Press release: document offering an official comment or position Press briefing: relatively restricted session between a press secretary or aide and the press Press conference: an unrestricted session between an elected official and the press On background: information provided to a journalist that will not be attributed to a named source Deep background: information provided to a journalist that will not be attributed to any source Off the record: information provided to a journalist that will not be released to the public On the record: information provided to a journalism that can be released and attributed by name to the source

25. Covering the Presidency  President is the focus of the most media coverage Can summon the press at will FDR was the first to use the press conference as a means to shape public opinion and explain his actions.  Press Secretary: existed since Hoover’s administration President’s main disseminator of information to the press President gets the most coverage, but much of it is negative G.W. Bush record low number of press conferences  Strategy to control his image

26. The Nationally Televised Debate In the general election for the President, the National Televised debate is watched by millions. Often candidates appeal to the public by making their message personal: Joe the Plumber Moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pssv mgEWVqM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pssv mgEWVqM

27. Covering Congress  Size of Congress and its decentralized nature make it difficult for the media to cover it  Solve this problem by: Giving leaders most attention Key committee chairs command center stage. Local newspapers and broadcast stations normally devote some resources to covering their own representatives.  Coverage tends to be negative Focus on conflict May be part of the reason people view Congress so negatively  Investigative hearings may be televised

28. Covering the Supreme Court  Supreme Court remains a virtual media vacuum  Broadcast media ban in Court Use of audio recordings No cameras, but print and broadcast reporters have access to the Court

29.  Influence on public opinion significant, but not overwhelming Past: political leaders wielded more influence Now, media more aggressive in gathering info  Media now dictate what news is covered and how it’s treated Taken some control from parties & IGs  Media claim to speak “for the people” – politicians knowingly reliant on media

30. Limits of Media Influence on Public Opinion  Socialization: media competes w/ family, friends, peers, party ID  Selectivity: selective exposure and selective perception of news and sources  Fragmentation: increased # of sources, more tailored news

31. Methods of Media Influence  Gate-keeping: deciding what’s important Agenda-setting: est. priority for issues  Create attitude & behavior expectations Media an agent of political socialization Issue Framing: media’s “spin” of an issue  How an issue is framed can have policy consequences

32.  Too much focus on personality rather than positions on issues & policy? Better educated voter = less swayed by media  Focus on horse race/game of elections http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2011/10/horse_ra ce_politics_an_animation_of_the_2012_republican_campaign.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2011/10/horse_ra ce_politics_an_animation_of_the_2012_republican_campaign.html Use of sound bites keeps candidates from having to really talk about issuessound bites  Increasingly negative ads – does it turn voters off?

33. Media has more influence in determining outcome of primaries than general election – More likely to influence undecided voter Does election night reporting/exit poll info alter voter turnout? – Time zone fallout – Premature results reporting

34. The Public’s Perception of the Media  Public opinion of media is relatively critical.  Perceive media to be: Politically biased Roadblocks to solving problems Inaccurate in their reporting Unwilling to admit mistakes  Most still view the national news media as credible.  Terrorist attacks shifted public opinion positively for a period.  Value the watchdog role of the news media

35. Media Bias  1980s and 1990s argument that media were liberally biased because of the sheer number of journalists who leaned to the left.  Another argument focuses on corporate interests and the influence on what is covered.  Media critics: focus on national news media’s lack of skepticism regarding the invasion of Iraq  Recent media bias is intentional and a response to increasing fragmentation and competition among media Mainstream media losing market share while online, ethnic, and alternative media are growing. Market position  CNN: 27 percent of Democrats; 20 percent of Republicans  Fox News: 29 percent of Republicans; 14 percent of Democrats  Ideological fragmentation is viewed as a negative trend by those who believe that the mass media are essential to providing the facts to educate the public about policies.