the mass media & the political agendawhsjantoon.weebly.com/uploads/5/7/6/8/57682575/ch... ·...

10/31/2016

1

Copyright © 2016, 2014, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

7 Mass Media & the Political Agenda

Patrick Semansky/AP Images


The Mass Media & the Political

Agenda

Chapter 7

10/31/2016

2


Introduction • Mass Media:

– TV, radio,

newspapers,

magazines, Internet,

etc

• High-Tech Politics:

– Political agenda

increasingly shaped

by technology


The Mass Media Today • Effective communication thru

media is key to political

success

– Media Events: events

staged for media that look

spontaneous

• Media events can be staged

by almost anybody

– Image making & news

management is important,

especially for presidents.

10/31/2016

3


Development of Media Politics

• Introduction

– News media wasn’t always

important

– Press Conferences:

• Meetings of public officials w/

reporters

• Franklin Roosevelt held over 1,000

– Investigative Journalism:

• in-depth reporting to unearth

scandals, scams & schemes putting

reporters & politicians opposite each

other

– Coverage of presidential

candidates has become less

favorable


Print Media • Newspapers & magazines

• “Yellow journalism”:

– Sensational style of reporting characterized newspapers @ turn of century

• Pecking order among newspapers

– has largest impact

• Newspaper & newsweekly circulation has declined

10/31/2016

4


Broadcast Media • Television & radio

• Brought govt & politics

into peoples’ homes

– Vietnam War

• Politicians’ appearances &

mannerisms more

important

– Kennedy-Nixon presidential

debate


Gov't Regulation of Media • Federal Communications

Commission (FCC) regulates the

use of airwaves in three ways:

1. Prevent near monopoly

control of market

2. Reviews performance of

stations

3. Issues fair treatment rules

for politicians

10/31/2016

5


Broadcasting to Narrowcasting • Rise of Cable News

Channels

– Narrowcasting: • Media programming on cable

TV or Internet focused on 1 topic & aimed at a particular audience

– e.g., C-SPAN (politics)

– Report news as it happens & offer many choices


• Potential to inform Americans about politics

• Internet is purposive

– People choose what to learn

• Americans generally disinterested in politics

– Blogs provide additional information about news stories.

Impact of the Internet

10/31/2016

6


• Small # of TV stations are publicly owned in America

• Independent in what they can report, but totally dependent on advertising revenues

• Chains:

– Massive media conglomerates

• Account for over 4/5ths of nation’s daily newspaper circulation

• Also control broadcast media

Private Control of the Media


Reporting the News • Finding the News

– Beats:

• specific locations from which news

frequently emanates, such as

Congress or the White House

– Trial Balloons:

• Intentional news leak for purpose

of assessing political reaction

– Reporters & their sources

depend on each other—one for

stories, the other to get them

out

10/31/2016

7


Reporting the News


10/31/2016

8


Presenting the News • Superficial describes most

news coverage today

• Sound Bites:

– Short video clips of

approximately 10 seconds

• Major TV networks devote

less time to covering political

candidates


Bias in the News • Many people believe news is

biased in favor of one point of

view

– Generally is not very

biased toward a particular

ideology

• News reporting is biased

towards what will draw the

largest audience—good

pictures & negative reporting

10/31/2016

9



Reporting the News

10/31/2016

10


The News & Public Opinion • TV news can affect what

people think is important

– Agenda-setting effect

• Media influence criteria by which public evaluates political leaders

• Some stories or events can be made more important, others less important, depending on their coverage


Media’s Agenda-Setting Function • Policy Agenda

– Issues attract serious attention

of public officials & other people

actively involved in politics at

time

• Policy Entrepreneurs

– People who invest their political

“capital” in an issue to get it

placed high on governmental

agenda

– Use media to raise awareness

of issue

10/31/2016

11


Understanding the Mass Media • Media & Scope of Government

– Media as watchdog restricts

politicians

– New proposals are met w/

skepticism which restricts

scope of government, what it

can do

– If media identifies a problem, it

forces government to address

it, which expands the scope of

government


Understanding the Mass Media • Individualism & Media

– Candidates run on their own by appealing to people on television

– Easier to focus on one person like the president, than groups, e.g., Congress or the courts

• Democracy & Media – “Information is fuel of democracy.”

• But news provides more entertainment than information; it is superficial.

– News is a business, giving people what they want.

10/31/2016

12


Summary • Media shape public opinion on political

issues & influence policy agenda.

• Broadcast media have replaced print media over time.

• Narrowcasting & the Internet are further shifting media.

• Seeking profits, media are biased in favor of stories with high drama.

the mass media & the political agendawhsjantoon.weebly.com/uploads/5/7/6/8/57682575/ch... ·...

Documents