unit iii: political parties, media, and interest groups chapter 6: media

Unit III: Political Parties, Media, and Interest Groups

Chapter 6: Media

Chapter 6

• Mass Media: the means employed in mass communication; often divided into print media and broadcast media

– Print Media: communicate information through the publication of words on paper; daily newspapers and popular magazines

– Broadcast Media: communicate information electronically, through sounds and images; radio, television and the Internet

Chapter 6

• Political content can also be transmitted through other mass media, such as music and motion pictures

Cold Case, 24, CSI….Swing Vote, Bullworth, Primary Colors…

http://politicsstudio.wetpaint.com/page/Media+Introduction

History of Media:

The growth of the country, technological inventions, and shifting political attitudes about the scope of government as well as trends in entertainment have shaped the development of the news media in the United States.

Newspapers

– On the decline since the 1960s, pressured by radio and television

– Daily circulation has declined almost 50% since 1950

– Daily newspaper with largest circulation: USA Today (2.3 million copies)

Magazines

Differ from newspapers in both frequency and nature of their coverage

– Have relatively small circulations and select readerships

– Most likely to influence attentive policy elites : leaders who follow news in specific policy areas

– Elites then share their information with their followers in the two-step flow of communication

– Time , Newsweek , and U.S. News and World Report have the largest news magazine circulations in the U.S.

Television

• In 2007, 98% of U.S. households had television• 1300 commercial and 300 public television stations• The three broadcast networks still have huge audiences, but millions of viewers have drifted to cable news and the Internet

Can you say Comedy Central??

The Internet

January 1993 only 50 web sites– Now over 100 million sites and over a billion Web users

– Over 70% of Americans use the internet, mostly people under age 65

– Private citizens have begun their own web sites on politics and public affairs

• Blogs: a form of newsletter, journal, or blog of thoughts for public reading, usually devoted to social or political issues and often updated daily

• Have had dramatic effects on news reporting

• Bloggers have been given the same protections as other journalists

How do people get their news??

Top 25 nations with access to Internet

Ownership!

• Most Americans would regard government ownership of the media as an unacceptable threat to freedom

The Consequences of Private Ownership• Private ownership gives the news industry in the U.S. more

freedom than any other in the world• Private ownership ensures that news is selected for its

audience appeal• Media are dependent on advertising revenue to cover costs and make

a profit • advertising rates are tied to audience size

Ownership

• Another consequence is that in terms of sheer volume, the entertainment content of mass media in the U.S. vastly overshadows the news content.

• The primary criterion of a story newsworthiness is the degree to which a news story is important enough to be covered in the mass media.

How is the Local TV focusing our news??

Ownership

• Market-driven Journalism is defined as reporting news and running commercials geared to a target audience defined by demographic characteristics.

Ownership cont.

• Local news epitomizes market-driven journalism

• National news broadcasts have suffered severe loss of audience

– The networks have succumbed to providing infotainment

– Infotainment : a mix of information and diversion oriented to personalities or celebrities, not linked to the days events, and usually unrelated to public affairs or policy; often called soft news.

Concentration of ownership

http://politicsstudio.wetpaint.com/page/Media+Consolidation



Regulations on ownership

1927: The Federal Radio Act, which declared that the public owned the airwaves and private broadcasters could use them only by obtaining a license from the Federal Radio Commission.

Regulations on Ownership

• Federal Communications Act of 1934 : created the Federal Communications Commission– Federal Communications Commission : an independent federal agency that regulates interstate and international communication by radio, television, telephone, telegraph, cable and satellite

• Regulatory commission insulated from political control by the president or Congress

• Mandate: serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity�

– Telecommunications Act of 1996 changed the laws the FCC oversees

Regulations on Ownership

• The Telecommunications Act of 1996, which – Relaxed or scrapped limitations on media ownership, – Set no national limits for radio ownership and

relaxed local limits, – Lifted regulations for cable systems and allowed cross-ownership of cable and telephone companies, and

– Allowed local and long-distance telephone companies to compete with one another and to sell television services.

Regulations on Content

1st Amendment prohibits Congress from abridging the freedom of the press

• “Press” has come to mean all media

• Exception to press freedom: publication of strategic information during wartime

Content Regulation-FCC (not on print media)

• Fairness Doctrine (repealed 1987 Reagan)

• Equal Opportunities Rule (struck down in 2000)

• Reasonable Access Rule (struck down in 2000)

So… gov’t regulation is?

• Judicial– cases

• Executive– Appoints FCC– White House press corps to communicate policy

• Legislative– PBS– Establish FCC– Regulation of ownership

Five Specific Functions of Mass Media

1. Reporting the news-Institutional coverage

POTUSa. Press Secretaryb. News releases (prepared)c. Daily news briefingsd. “on background”e. “off the record”f. News conferencesg. Staged events


1. Reporting the news-Institutional coverage

Congressa. Congressional reportsb. Press releasesc. C-SPANd. “leaks”


2. Interpreting and Presenting the News- Gatekeepers-media executives,news

editors, and prominent reporters who direct the flow of news (which event to report) defining the news for public consumption

a. Internet has no gatekeepers thus no constraints on content


2. Interpreting and Presenting the News

-Time Limitations impose severe constraints on broadcasting (TV-1minute)

-TV hypothesis

a. TV is to blame for the low level of citizen knowledge about public affairs

b. People with high cognitive skills read newspapers!


2. Interpreting and Presenting the News-Campaign Coverage

a. Horse race journalism: focuses on whose ahead instead of national issues

b. Hoopla excitement and media eventsc. real issuesd. candidate charactere. polling resultsf. common man interviews


2. Interpreting and Presenting the News-Where public gets their news

a. prior to 1960: newspapers, after TV… today 3/4 of public get their news from TVb. More people interested in local newsc. Believability of networks and news anchors has erodedd. Most do not absorb the news they read or hear (2000)

- 61% Dick Cheney- 48% Sec. of State- 29% Sec. of Defense


3. Influencing the news- Most feel media strongly influence public

opinion (or even create public opinion)- 2000 election- early call for Bush to win

(post election Gore-sore loser)


4. Setting the Agenda-Political agenda: a list of issues that people identify as the gov’t need to know

a. Diff. between Kennedy and Clintonb. Crime- “if it bleeds it leads”c. Economy- spin may be determined

by stations leaningsd. Politicians influence media

coverage (Sunday)


5. Socializing citizens about politics- Radio- old message (crime doesn’t pay- TV- criminals are caught and punished- Today- police as criminals, institutional

corruption- Contradictory roles

a. Promote popular support of gov’t (celebrate holidays, hero b-days)

b. Erode public confidence (extramarital affairs, investigative reports)

Is the Media Biased?

1. The sides of the biased argumenta. Reporters tend to be liberal

b. Owners tend to be conservative

c. Editors tend to be conservative

d. Talk radio tends to be conservative

e. Strongest media bias towards incumbent officeholders

f. Different media may reflect different views

Contributions to Democracy?

1. Watchdog journalism: Media improves accuracy of communication between government and citizens by scrutinizing public and business institutions’ misconduct

2. Connect government and citizens through sophisticated polling techniques

Freedom, Order and Equality?

1. Media has helped to advance equality2. Media resist attempts to infringe upon

freedom of press to promote public order

- public supports a free press in theory but wavers in practice

- Media’s interests in reporting whatever they wish, whenever, may erode gov’t effort to maintain order

unit iii: political parties, media, and interest groups chapter 6: media

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