By Loren Miller
The Early Days
Long before there was a United States, the news
media were active in colonial America.
Ben Franklin, in 1729, published one of the earliest
newspapers, the Pennsylvania Gazette.
Newspapers had relatively low circulation, due
partly to cost and partly because they were
available only in major cities.
The Penny Press
Beginning in the 1830s, the New York Sun began selling
newspapers for a penny copy rather than the standard price
of six cents—thus earning the label the penny press.
The price reduction was made possible by cheaper, faster
printing presses and it made the newspaper available to the
mass public.
The increase in circulation made it possible to hire larger
staffs of reporters.
The telegraph also aided newspapers by enabling reporters
throughout the country to quickly send stories home for
publication.
Yellow Journalism
The period after the Civil War saw the beginning of
yellow journalism.
This new type of newspaper reporting appealed to a
wider audience by using bold headlines,
illustrations, and sensational stories.
William Randolph Hearst helped to precipitate the
Spanish-American War by influencing public opinion
in favor of war.
“You furnish the pictures, I’ll furnish the war”
The FCC
The FCC was created in 1934 to regulate broadcast
media. At that time this meant radio stations and
subsequently included television stations, cable
TV, and other communication technologies.
A central concern was that one company might buy
enough stations to dominate the airways in an area.
This led the FCC to limit the number of radio and
television stations a company could own in a
community.
The FCC
In the late 1940s the FCC developed the “fairness
doctrine” which required TV and radio stations to
offer a variety of political views in their
programming.
Sunday morning talk shows and interviews
The FCC also created the “equal time” provision
which states that if a radio or television station
gives air time to a candidate outside its news
coverage, then it has to give equal time to other
candidates running for the same office.
Deregulation
After the development of cable TV, satellite TV and
the Internet many sources of information became
available to citizens. Hence, there was pressure to
deregulate.
Since 1996, the FCC has abolished most ownership
restrictions.
The trend now is concentration of media sources
and cross ownership where one company owns
several different kinds of media outlets in a
community.
News Corp
Fox Television Stations Film Companies
27 U.S. stations
Satellite and Cable
DirecTV
Fox News Channel
46 Other Cable Channels
20th Century Fox
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Television Studios
Blue Sky Studios
11 Other Film Companies
Newspapers
New York Post
Wall Street Journal
4 UK newspapers
20 Australian Newspapers
24 local U.S. newspapers
Books and Magazines
The Weekly Standard
Barrons
3 Other Magazines
2 Book Publishers
Other
Colorado Rockies
Hulu.com
18 websites
15 other businesses
The Media and the Electoral Process
Running a campaign for office is unthinkable today
without strong presence on the Internet, including
heavy use of social networking media.
At the same time, traditional media such as daily
newspapers and broadcast television and radio
remain vitally important to political parties and their
candidates for public office.
The Source of Your Political Information
How many candidates for president did you see
(face to face) in 2012? For U.S. senator? For the
U.S. House of Representatives?
-- If you didn’t see these people to form an opinion
about them and their views, then how did you learn
about them?
-- where did your political information come from?
-- 100 years ago people did not know much about
candidates for office, but they did know about
political parties
-- today, candidates have greater control over their
campaigns
Election of 1900
Note the prominent position of the party label
Let’s Check Out Some Television Ads From 2012
http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2012
The first is for Mitt Romney (“5 Trillion”)
The second is for Barak Obama (“Always”)
What’s missing from each commercial?
The Media
Sixty years ago, newspapers dominated the mass
media that affected American politics
-- people learned the new of the day through their
daily newspapers and in major cities multiple
newspapers competed with each other and morning
and afternoon newspapers were standard
Thirty years ago, three major networks dominated
television broadcasting
-- in 1980 42% of all television households in the
United States were tuned into the nightly news
broadcasts
-- in 2009 only 15% were tuned into the nightly news
The Media
While television remains the most important media
source in the political world, it is also true that the
Internet is assuming a greater role in American
politics
-- in 2010, 46% of Americans went online for news
three or more times a week
-- in 2010, 41% of Americans used the Internet as their
primary source for news
The web has passed newspapers as a main source
of news for Americans
-- this development is more pronounced among the
young and those with a college education
Percentage of Americans Who Regularly
Watch/Read/Listen
to News via Various Outlets
Local Television News
CNN
Daily Newspaper
Fox News
Network Evening News
MSNBC
Yahoo News
Google News
NPR
49
44
40
39
37
27
24
22
20
Pew Research Center, 2014
Partisanship
Average
Daily Show
NBC News
Al Jazeera
CNN
NPR
Colbert Report
New York Times
MSNBC
Washington Post
PBS
BBC
Huffington Post
More Liberal
Yahoo News
Wall Street Journal
CBS News
Google News
ABC News
USA Today
Rush Limbaugh Show
Sean Hannity Show
Glenn Beck Program
Fox News
Drudge
Report
More Conservative
2014
Media Sources for News
80
70
60
68
58
57 57
53
50
39
40
42
41
34
29
30
22
20
10
0
0
Television
Internet
Radio
Newspapers
1991
2004
2012
The Media
The number of blogs, where anyone can post political
commentary increases every day as does their readership
Almost any individual can produce and disseminate video
across the web
Almost everyone has a cell phone with a digital camera and
politicians know that they are never truly off the record (Mitt
Romney and the 47%)
Social networking sites have made it easier than ever for
individuals to disseminate information to potentially large
audiences
There is no doubt that the Internet has changed politics in
important and dramatic ways
“All my life, developing credentials to cover
my field of work, and now I’m up against a
guy named Vinny in an efficiency apartment
in the Bronx who hasn’t left the efficiency
apartment in two years.”
Brian Williams, NBC News
Not all bloggers are like “Vinny”.
Many bloggers have backgrounds
very similar to traditional journalists,
and have a wide following.
538.com
The Daily Kos
Hugh Hewitt
(Liberal)
(Conservative)
The Impact of the Internet
It is more difficult for politicians to control their
message and content
Twenty years ago, politicians had a pretty good
idea of what sources their constituents would turn
to for news
-- national politicians were concerned about the major
networks
-- statewide politicians concentrated on local outlets,
television stations and major newspapers
-- local politicians hoped for television coverage but
tried to ensure that the local press covered them
adequately
The Impact of the Internet
Today’s politicians try to find an audience wherever it might
appear
Candidates appear on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
Candidates have elaborate websites and produce video and
other content specifically for websites like YouTube,
Facebook and Twitter
Candidates participate in conference calls with popular
bloggers
The media environment is so fragmented that media
consultants worry about where to communicate a message
just as much as they worry about what the message is to
communicate
% Who Learn About Campaigns
From Comedy Shows
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
18-29
30-44
45-64
Age
65+
The Media
Prior to the 1970s, reporters covered the news. Today,
candidates for office take actions in order to be covered by
the media—and preferably covered in their own terms.
Politicians try to structure the ways in which they appear on
“free media” outlets.
-- Saturday Night Live; The Colbert Report; Leno, Letterman
or O’Brien (Bill Clinton on Arsenio Hall Show, 1992)
-- there is some evidence that politicians raise more money
after appearing on these shows
“Paid media” is used to present the message as they define it
in a way most likely to impact the intended audience.
Paid Media
Paid commercials for political campaigns come
from three sources:
-- candidates and their campaigns
-- the political parties
-- interest groups
Two categories of television advertisements:
-- spot advertisements
-- under one minute in length; colorful and polished
-- longer advertisements
-- often thirty minutes in length (infomercials)
-- many consultants believe that the attention span
of people is too short for these to be effective
Purpose of Advertisements
Once a candidate has achieved viability,
advertisements are used for one of two purposes:
-- either they are intended to convince people to vote
for the candidate
-- positive ads
-- or they are designed to denigrate an opponent
-- negative ads
Why use negative or attack ads?
-- candidates believe that these techniques are
effective
-- do negative campaigns keep qualified people
from seeking elective office?
-- do negative campaigns turn off voters?
Campaign Advertising
Organization
Spending (millions)
Candidates
Obama Campaign
Romney Campaign
Parties
RNC
DNC
Republican
Groups
American Crossroads
Restore Our Future
Americans For Prosperity
Democratic
Groups
Priorities USA
Planned Parenthood
Service Employees Union
Negative Ads (%)
$ 333
147
82
91
30
23
100
100
128
77
35
97
81
100
39
3
2
100
100
73
Politicians View of the Media
“You can’t live with ‘em’ . . . .
Politicians complain frequently about:
-- how unfairly they are treated by the media
-- how difficult it is to talk about issues
-- how paid advertising presents distorted images
-- how they wish they could talk about issues at
length, not in sound bites
Their actions tell a different story:
-- every politician has a press secretary whose job is
to guarantee that the politician is seen frequently in
the media
Politicians View of the Media
Every campaign has a press secretary who is
charged with the care and feeding of journalists
covering the campaign.
-- candidates treat the press well so that journalists
are inclined to treat them favorably
-- press secretaries want to influence the substance of
the stories that are reported (the proper “spin”)
Every campaign hires political consultants to
design and place effective advertisements.
None of this sounds like politicians who cannot
stand the media.
Politicians View of the Media
“ . . . . you can’t live without ‘em’
Elected officials need to communicate with large
numbers of people
-- mass media (free and paid) are the only effective
means of doing this
The problem is one of balance:
-- should private matters from their past be raised in a
campaign?
-- alleged instances of infidelity (Clinton, 1996)
-- tax returns (Romney, 2012)
-- medical records (McCain, 2008)
Managing the News
Campaign organizations attempt to manage the
news to present their candidates in the most
positive light.
-- campaign managers choose a single theme to
emphasize each campaign day (taxes, the
environment, crime)
-- if the candidate and the members of the candidate’s
team address the same issue and only that issue, the
news media will likely focus on that issue
The campaign selects an eye-catching visual
backdrop to emphasize the theme of the day.
Managing the News
Campaign managers carefully brief the candidates
to stick to the campaign script.
-- each speech includes one or two carefully worded
phrases that can be used as sound bites
-- “Read my lips, no new taxes” (G.H.W. Bush, 1988)
-- “Obamacare” (Romney, 2012)