Good afternoon students.
James Madison here. Even
though some of my fellow
Founders and I were not big
fans of pure democracy, we
did feel that a free press was
essential for keeping an eye
on government and checking
its excesses. One thing that
led to our concerns about
freedom of the press was the
John Peter Zenger case of
1735.
Zenger Case
Tried for libel in
New York in 1735
simply for writing
against government
policies. A local
jury acquitted him.
Because of the Zenger case
and some other concerns, we
incorporated the following
words into the United States
Constitution in the First
Amendment: “Congress shall
make no law . . .abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the
press; . . .” We were
committed to a free media.
Students, I am the late Walter
Cronkite. A democracy ceases to
be a democracy if its citizens do
not participate in its governance.
To participate intelligently, they
must know what their government
has done, is doing and plans to do
in their name. Whenever any
hindrance, no matter what its
name, is placed in the way of that
information, a democracy is
weakened, and its future
endangered. This is the meaning
of freedom of the press. It is not
just important to democracy, it is
democracy.
Thank you President
Madison and Mr. Cronkite.
Hello, students. I am
conservative commentator,
Rush Limbaugh. Colonel
Simoncini asked me to
discuss the media with you.
The news media in the U.S. has
become the most powerful influence
on people and, therefore, the
government.
Uh, Rush, isn’t it true that
some people call the media
the “fourth branch of the U.S.
government” or the “fourth
estate?”
That’s true, Jon, because
the media has such a great
effect on lawmakers,
presidents and governors.
The problem is that it is a
branch that has no
constitutional checks or
balances.
OK then Rush. And isn’t one of
the issues about the media that
our Constitution guarantees a
free press, but not a
responsible one?
Exactly, Jon. And while
some TV, radio and print
media reporters are very
responsible, some are not
and have flat lied in print or
on the air.
Janet Cooke, Washington Post,
“Jimmy’s World,” 1980-1981
Jayson Blair,
New York Times,
36 articles—quotes
and details fabricated
Colonel, I know that Jon and
I have several questions you
want us to go over with the
students. But don’t you want
to do something else first?
That’s right, Rush. Let’s take a
brief look at some significant
events in the history of
American journalism.
American Journalistic History
The Penny Press—newspapers available to all
Helped elect William Henry Harrison in 1840
Telegraph—led to the
development of the Associated
Press
Thomas Nast—the first truly
crusading
journalist
American Journalistic History
Yellow Journalism and the Spanish American
War (Hearst and Pulitzer)
“You provide the
pictures, I’ll provide
the war.”
Rush, that historical stuff is
interesting. But why has the
modern media in which you
and I both work become so
popular and powerful?
Real simple, Jon. Television
revolutionized politics and
American life in general. Heck,
TV news people are major
personalities—and they have
been since the 1960s.
From the 1950s:
Edward R. Murrow (CBS)
From the 1960s-1970s
Chet Huntley
Walter Cronkite (CBS)
& David
Brinkley (NBC)
Today:
Brian
Williams
NBC
Scott
Pelley
CBS
Plus many others
Diane
Sawyer
ABC
Megyn
Kelly
CNN
American Journalistic History
Today’s major newspapers:
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Washington Post
Wall Street Journal
Minority Newspapers
Sensationalist newspapers (The National Enquirer)
News Magazines
Talk radio
The Internet
So Rush, can you give some
examples about how American
politicians have used the media
to their advantage or not used it,
to their detriment?
Certainly, Jon. I’ll do that
on the next page.
The first president to effectively use
the electronic media was Franklin D.
Roosevelt with his Fireside Chats
during the Great Depression and
World War II.
John Kennedy
took
advantage
of his wit,
good looks &
charm with weekly televised press
conferences
Lyndon Johnson often watched the
three dinner hour news broadcasts
(NBC, CBS and ABC) at the same
time to measure what the people
heard and thought.
Ronald Reagan, known as the
Great Communicator, used his
training as an
actor to win over
the American
people on TV. He
also began what
has become a
tradition among
presidents: a
weekly, Saturday
morning, radio address to the people.
Richard Nixon, however, essentially
hated the news media and during
the Watergate scandal, many in the
media took delight
in helping bring
down his
administration.
Rush and Jon, that’s a little bit
about the history of American
Journalism, including how
famous politicians have used
the media. Now, let’s get into
the questions.
Thanks, Colonel. All right,
students, I would like one of you
to tell me how effective you
believe the American news
media has been in serving as a
watchdog over government.
OK, that’s good. How about
someone else tell me how
effective you believe the
American news media has
been in clarifying electoral
choices.
Good point, Jon. HRJ is
the tendency of media to
cover campaigns by
emphasizing the relative
standings of candidates
in polls rather than the
issues they decide.
Rush, sometimes
members of the media
can be downright lazy.
For example, there is
horse-race-journalism.
OK, that’s good, too. Someone
else evaluate how the media
provides policy information to
the people.
Right now, Simoncini wants you to form into
small groups to discuss what EACH of you
discovered when you read an online blog.
Give the site, the blogger, what the blogger
said, and what you thought about it.
The most popular
medium for news today is
television. One reason is
the proliferation of TV
news channels like CNN,
MSNBC, CSPAN and
political talk shows on TV
and radio, such a my
show every day from 9:00
a. m. until 12:00 p.m.,
and don’t forget prime
time news TV,
like 60 Minutes.
Yeah, boy!
Not to
mention
comedy
shows that
focus on the
news.
American television consumption
today
Average adult male: 29 hours/week
Average adult female: 34 hours/week
U. S. households with at least 1 TV: 99%
Average TVs per U. S. household: 2.24
U. S. households with 3 or more TVs: 66%
Between the 1950s and mid-1980s,
most Americans (90%) obtained television news from
the major networks. Since the mid-1980s, evening
news viewership has dropped to about 50% of
Americans. Other means now include the Internet
and cable news shows
Newspapers—many more older people than younger
people (difference of 30 percentage points)
So, Rush, I hate to ask this,
but are TV and radio now
considered the best sources of
news in America?
No, they aren’t, John. TV and
radio may be the most
popular forms, but many
experts agree that
newspapers and news
magazines, like Time and
Newsweek, provide the most
in-depth news reporting.
How has the Internet changed American politics?
Candidate home pages
Mobilizing citizens behind a candidate or cause
Fund raising
But, remember the Internet has
limitations.
First, much of the rich and diverse
information on the Internet only
reaches small and fragmented
audiences and usually only has an
impact when and to the extent they can attract the
attention of the mainstream news media. The most
visited hard-news sites are those that are run by
traditional media organizations. What seems on the
surface to be a fantastic expansion in the amount of
political news in reality is an expansion in the number of
ways in which the news is distributed.
Firms that dominate the media
Newspapers: Gannett, Newhouse
and McClatchy
Magazines: Time Warner
Television: General Electric,
Disney, News Corp.,
and Viacom
Here I am in uniform to ask why
is so much news coverage
uniform?
Same sources for news
Purchases of headlines from a
handful of providers
AP supplies most of the main
national and international stories
for newspapers
Infotainment
Coverage of
politics and
government has
been crowded
out by coverage
of crime, sports,
weather, lifestyles,
and other
audience-grabbing
topics.
•Most coverage: assigned to predictable events long
before they happen
•Woodward and Bernstein
articles are rare
•Most reporters get their
stories quickly and
efficiently from press
conferences and press
releases that officials
write
Spin
Reporters often have to depend on official sources,
which means that government officials are
sometimes able to control what journalists report
and how they report it
Controlling Coverage of Military Operations
Enemies watch TV also—don’t want to put the lives
of American military personnel in jeopardy
Press pools
Embedded journalists
•Informal rules of journalism:
•Explicit interpretations by journalists are avoided
•Cannot directly expose lies
•Cannot identify events as staged
•Experts are selected partly for reasons of
convenience and audience appeal
Barry McCaffrey
You know, Rush, I pride myself
and my show for being objective.
But haven’t many in the media
been accused of lacking
objectivity or even having bias in
presenting their stories?
You hit that one on the head, Jon. In
2009, 60% of Americans believed
the news media was biased while
only 18% believed it was objective.
Can any one of you students give
Colonel Simoncini definitions of
objectivity and bias?
That’s right-on, Jon.
And, Rush, bias is
personal judgment or
prejudice. Of course,
neither John nor I are
biased.
OK, Rush, objectivity
is the ability to report
both sides of an
issue without bias.
But, gentlemen, remember
there is little or no systematic
evidence that reporters
personal values regularly
affect what appears in the
mainstream news media.
•Commitment to objectivity
•Owners et al: conservative
Right now I need one
student to discuss each of
the five prevailing themes
in political news.
•Nationalism
•Approval of the American economic system
•Negativity and scandal
•Infotainment
•Limited, fragmented and incoherent political info
Rush, let’s take a moment to
go outside of the text. People
like me like an unrestrained
media. But didn’t the media
have more restraint in the old
days?
Very true, Jon. Back in the
early ’60s, many in the news
media knew that President
Kennedy had extramarital
affairs and said nothing.
Nowadays, well, everything
goes.
Rush, you, Simoncini and I
know the answer to this but I
wonder how many students
can tell us when all that
restraint changed?
Good! Yes, most experts say
that the Watergate scandal in
1972-1974 changed the media.
They found that Americans like
scandal and will pay to hear
about it. After all the media is
big business and who gets the
best stories makes the most
money.
In the late 19th and early
20th centuries, the Yellow
Journalists played a major
role in agenda setting.
Today the topics that get
the most coverage in the
media at a given point are
the issues that people tell
pollsters are the most
important problems facing
the nation.
Students, I am Ted Turner,
the founder of the Cable
News Network (CNN). What
is the CNN effect?
When the media decide to highlight a human
rights tragedy in real time, political officials feel
compelled to act. One scholarly study indicates
that media choices about foreign policy stories
shape what presidents pay attention to.
Students, I am NBC Nightly News
anchor, Brian Williams. Media
framing, or our interpretations of
stories, affects how people think
about political problems and how
they assign blame. Little things such
as the words we choose to say or
how we pause between words or
how we emphasize words play a
major role in how people interpret
what is going on. Indeed, we have
considerable power and influence.
Students, Chief Justice
John Roberts, once
again. What is prior
restraint?
Only under the most pressing circumstances
of danger to national security can the
government engage in prior restraint—the
power to prevent publication of material to
which the government objects.
Some laws governing licensing of the airwaves
Radio Act of 1927
Communications Act of 1934 (FCC)
Telecommunications Act of 1996
This has been an interesting
discussion, Rush. Early on you
noted that if the media is the 4th
branch of government it does not
have any checks. I disagree.
Doesn’t the FCC check the
media?
Yes, I agree, John. The Federal
Communications Commission,
established in 1934, does maintain
some watch over fairness and equal
time within the media. But in many
other ways mentioned before, there
really are few checks on the media.
And let’s not forget that
the FCC also has little, if
any, control over the
Internet. The Internet has
fewer controls about
fairness, equal time and
other factors. And they
are getting very powerful.
In fact, the Internet is
slowly strangling the
newspaper industry.
So, here is the bottom line:
there is a love-hate
relationship between
public figures and the
media. Politicians need the
media to get their message
to the voters, but dislike it when the
media “oversteps their bounds.”
Politicians will go out of their way
to court the media, but will always
be careful in what they say.
Rush, let’s not forget
that it’s not just the
news media that has
an effect on opinion
and, in some cases,
legislation. Movies,
radio and TV shows
can also influence
opinion.
Exactly, Steven. As you
know, TV characters like
mine, and shows like Will
and Grace, have made
some people more open
to gays and lesbians.
Also, the
1970s CBS
sitcom, All In
The Family
changed the
attitudes of
many people about several
social issues, such as bigotry.
Yes, and don’t forget that
movies I have made like
Fahrenheit 9/11, Roger and Me,
Sicko, and Bowling For
Columbine have influenced both
a lot of public opinion (making
me rich) as well as helped
initiate some legislation. We in
the entertainment media can be
quite persuasive and powerful!
Michael Moore