Unit III: Political Parties, Media, and
Interest Groups
Chapter 6: Media
What role (s) do the media play in
American politics?
• “fair and balanced”?
• Liberal media?
• Conservative Media?
“Fox effect”? :
• Media is a propaganda tool
• What you watch= your information=how you will vote
Media Matters http://mediamatters.org/about
• Media watchdog group wrote a book “The Fox Effect: How
Roger Ailes Turned a Network into a Propaganda Machine”
• “The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting”
• http://www.gallup.com/poll/185927/america
ns-trust-media-remains-historicallow.aspx?g_source=media&g_medium=search
&g_campaign=tiles
• American trust in the media is at an all time
low! September 2015- Gallup Poll
People, Government and
Communication
• Communication: transmitting information from one group to
another
• Mass communication: distribute to a large, heterogeneous and
widely dispersed audience
• 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
Our focus: What role (s) do the media play in American
politics? Communication in its simplest form, but why kind of
communication? Who is controlling? What is the message?
People, Government and
Communication
• Mass media provide the major channels for twoway flow of communicaiton
• Media s the only linkage institution that focuses
on communication
• Political content can be transmitted trhough any
mass media
– Cold Case, 24, CSI….Swing Vote, Bullworth, Primary
Colors…
– CSPAN
– Music
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.
History of Media: Newspapers
•
During the American Revolution, initially controlled/operated by political parties (factions)
and advocated party causes and in small circulations
•
Early 1800s, technology created efficient, mass-production
•
•
–
Telegraph instant information from DC to the states
–
1860 Government Printing Office (GPO)
By the 1880s, newspapers were largely independent and had mass circulations (based on
technology advancing)
–
Increase in sensationalism and muckraking (Hearst and Pulitzer)
–
Partisanship of media based on owner, not readers
–
Common culture of free press established
On the decline since the 1960s, pressured by radio and television and now internet
–
Daily circulation has declined almost 50% since 1950
–
Daily newspaper with largest circulation: USA Today (2.3 million copies)
History of Media: Magazines
- Differ from newspapers in both frequency and nature of
their coverage
- Started during the Progressive Era for middle class repelled by
“yellow journalism” but concerned about political reform and the
progressive movement
- Have relatively small circulations and select readerships
- Often forums for opinion on key policy issues
- 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 twostep flow of communication
– Time , Newsweek , and U.S. News and World Report have
the largest news magazine circulations in the U.S.
History of Media: Radio
• Started in the 1920s
– NBC 1st radio network in 1926
• Made celebrities out of news personalities you
can hear and sense a “personality” on radio
– Live coverage was a novelty
– “Fireside” chats
• Today: change in purpose
– used for talk instead of news today
– Sometimes controversial based on views of owners=
bias
History of Media: Television
•
•
•
•
1900-1940: slow growth
After WWII: explosion
By 1960, 87% of US households had a television
Today, 98% of U.S. households have at least 1 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
Major change in the way news was presented
Advantage:
• Permits public officials to speak directly to the audience (just like radio) without their
remarks being filtered through editors and reporters
–
Reach voters directly without political parties, interest groups or editors of papers
Disadvantage:
- People can easily ignore a speech broadcast by either not listening or changing the station
- More expensive to buy air time than ad space
- Have to be more colorful to gain attention
History of Media: The Internet
-
Began in 1969 to transmit electronic mail for scientists
-
1991: scientists devised standardized system of encryprtion/transmission= World Wide Web
(WWW)
- January 1993  only 50 web sites
– Now  over 1 million sites and over a billion Web users
– Over 70% of Americans use the internet
•
mostly people under age 65
•
Tend to be highly educated and living in cities or suburbs (depends on access)
• Virtually every government agency and political organization has its
own website- communication?!!
•
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
Study Guide Stop
• What role does the media play in American
politics?
• Why are there so few restrictions?
• How much power/influence does the media
have?
• How has technology changed interactions?
• Can we trust the media to be fair?
Private Ownership: What effect
does that have on the
role/power/influence?
Consequences of Private ownership?
-Ensures that the news is selected for audience appeal
- US media has more political freedom than any other in the world
- Media is dependent on ads to cover costs/make profits
- Profit motive pressure to make news “entertaining”
Consequences of Private
ownership?
- Newsworthiness?
- Degree to which a news story is important enough to be covered by
the media
- Characteristics?
-
Potential impact
Sensationalism
Treatment to familiar people/life situations
Close-to-home character
Timeliness
- Stories are chosen to attract viewers/readers
- Market-driven journalism: both reporting and running commercials geared to a
larger target audience, defined by demographics
- Larger the audience, the higher profits
Consequences of Private
ownership?
- Local news= Market driven journalism
- More citizens watch local news than national
- “hook and hold” approach
- National news are now cogs in corporate
conglomerates
- All 3 major news networks have suffered huge
drops in viewership since the 1980s
- Infotainment: mix of information and diversion
oriented to personalities/celebrities, not linked to
day’s events or policy, “soft news”
How is the Local TV focusing our
news??
Concentration of ownership?
-Media owners make more money by
- Increasing audience
- Acquiring additional publications or stations
-Has been a decided trend toward concentration
of ownership in both print and media
- Risk: a few owners could control news flow to
promote personal political agenda (Fox Effect)
- # of independent news has declined
- Concentration not as much of problem in the
TV industry
Media Conglomerates- The Big 5
Study Guide Stop
• What role does the media play in American
politics?
• Why are there so few restrictions?
• How much power/influence does the media
have?
• How has technology changed interactions?
• Can we trust the media to be fair?
Government Regulation of the
Media-Broadcast
• Broadcast: most competitive and heavily
regulated by the government
• Technical and Ownership Regulation
• The Federal Radio Act (1927): public owned the
airwaves and private broadcasters could use them
only by obtaining a license from the Federal Radio
Commission.
Broadcast Regulation
– Federal Communications Act (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
– 5 members (nominated by POTUS) 5 year terms
– Removed only by impeachment and conviction
– Set social, economic and technical goals for communication
industry
– Deal with philosophical issues of regulation v. deregulation
• Has regulated broadcast and telephone for 70 years
Broadcast Regulation-Ownership?
• The Telecommunications Act of 1996
– Relaxed or scrapped limitations on media ownership,
• Set no national limits for radio ownership and relaxed local limits
• Eliminated limitations on the number of TV stations one may
own, as long as coverage does not extend beyond 35% of
the nationwide TV market
– Lifted regulations for cable systems
– Allowed cross-ownership of cable and telephone
companies
– Allowed local and long-distance telephone companies to
compete with one another and to sell television
services.
– Created a flurry of mega mergers (look to ownership
slide)
Government Regulation of the
Media-Print
- Print: least competitive and virtually free of
any regulation?!
- No license to publish
- Freedom to publish cannot be restricted in
advance (prior restraint)
- Near v. Minnesota (1931)
- Liable for what they publish in highly restricted
circumstances (we will discuss in Unit 5)
- New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
Print and Confidentiality
• Confidentiality of Sources?
Unless deemed necessary to properly conduct a
criminal investigation, the government can not
compel reporters to divulge information.
Branburg v. Hayes (1972)
Regulations on ContentPrint/Media
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
–
–
–
–
PRIOR RESTRAINT
NEAR V. MINNESOTA (1931)
NEW YORK TIMES V. US (1972)
1996: ATTEMPT TO LIMIT TRANSIMISSION OF “INDECENT”
MATERIAL ON THE INTERNET (WHAT IS OBSCENE??)
Additional Content Regulation-FCC
(not on print media)
• Fairness Doctrine: obligation of broadcasters
to provide fair coverage of all views on public
issues
– Repealed in 1987: belief that competition among
broadcasters would provide vibrant marketplace
of ideas
– Fear was that the FCC had overestimated public
demand for high quality news and public affairs
– Fox Effect and controversial broadcast radio
(conservative and liberal)
Additional Content Regulation-FCC
(not on print media)
• Equal Opportunities Rule: required any broadcast
station to make available an equal amount of time
under the same conditions to all political candidates
• Reasonable Access Rule: required all stations to
make their facilities available for the expression of
conflicting views from all responsible elements in the
community
– Both struck down in 2000: deregulation controversy
argument is that broadcast media should be as free as
print media
So… gov’t regulation is?
• Judicial
– cases
• Executive
– Appoints FCC
– White House press corps to communicate policy
• Legislative
– PBS
– Establish FCC
– Regulation of ownership
Study Guide Stop
• What role does the media play in American
politics?
• Why are there so few restrictions?
• How much power/influence does the media
have?
• How has technology changed interactions?
• Can we trust the media to be fair?
Functions of the Mass Media for the
political system
Summarized into 5 functions
- Reporting the news
- Interpreting and presenting the news
- Influencing public opinion
- Setting the political agenda
- Socializing the citizens (agent)
Reporting the News
• News: an important event that has happened within the last 24 hours
• Washington DC has the largest press corps of any city in the world (nearly
7,000 Congressionally accepted reporters
– White House correspondents rely heavily on information from POTUS
staff
– Reporters routinely receive stories through news releases, briefings
and conferences
• Reporters are expected to observe rules associated with news given “on
background” and “off the record”
• Most news about Congress comes for press releases by the members
• CSPAN provides live coverage of House and Senate proceedings
• News coverage may be affected by “pack journalism”: the tendency of
journalists to adopt similar viewpoints toward the news simply because
they hang around each other and exchange information
Reporting the NewsLeaks?
•
America’s government is the leakiest in the
world
–
Bureaucracy, Congress, POTUS, etc (staff)
Thousands of employees that hired, not elected!!!
Why do leaks happen?
•
We have separate institutions that must
share power, each branch of government
competes with the others to get power!
–
•
Use press to advance projects; make other side
look bad
Freedom of Speech and Press
–
•
We do not have many topics that can not be
discussed/printed
Political Culture of Mistrust increasing
mistrust?
–
Adversarial press: suspicious of government and
eager to find story to win honor, prestige and
money
Interpreting and Presenting the News
Private ownership and little to no regulation on
media interpretation and presentation
flexibility
- Gatekeepers: media executives, news
editors, and prominent reporters who direct
the flow of news
-
Expected to uphold standards of careful
reporting and principled journalism
Internet has no gatekeepers thus no constraints
on content
Interpreting and Presenting the News
• The Media can not communicate everything!!
- Time Limitations impose severe constraints on
broadcasting
- Average TV story lasts 1minute
• TV news devotes more time to the POTUS than to
Congress or the USSC
– Personify issues for purpose of audience appeal (USSC is
not a person or inline with public opinion usually)
– Personification of Congress distorts its essential
character too many to follow
Interpreting and Presenting the
News
• Campaign Coverage
– Personification leads to horse race journalism
• Horse race journalism: election coverage that focuses
on whose ahead instead of national issues
• Campaigns often stage media events: situation so
“newsworthy” that the media has to cover it
– Hoopla excitement and media events
•
•
•
real issues v. candidate character
polling results
common man interview
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 TV
– b. More people interested in local news
– c. Believability of networks and news anchors has eroded
- More and more Americas are getting news online
and from multiple sources
Interpreting and Presenting the
News
• What do people remember and know?
– Most do not absorb the news they read or hear (2000)
-
61% Dick Cheney
48% Sec. of State
29% Sec. of Defense
– TV hypothesis: belief that TV is to blame for the
low level of citizen knowledge about public affairs
• One to Two minutes fragments
• Abstract issues in personal terms
• Discourage respect for different opinions because it
tends to emphasize drama and conflict
Influencing the news
-
Most feel media strongly influence public
opinion (or even create public opinion)
It is difficult to determine the extent of such
influences because the media is the primary
source of most political information
Media can have a dramatic effect on
particular events
-
-
2000 election- early call for Bush to win (post
election Gore-sore loser)
Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Setting the Agenda
• Media’s greatest power is its ability to set the
political agenda
– Political agenda: a list of issues that people identify as the
gov’t need to know
• Can force the government to confront issues buried in the
scientific community
• Can move government to confront difficult social issues
• Can also keep items on the agenda that may no longer needs as
much attention
•
•
•
Varying correlations between media coverage and the public’s interest, depends
on issues
Ability to define the news makes politicians eager to influence coverage
Media are also a network for communicating among attentive elites
Socializing citizens about politics
• Young people acquire political values through
entertainment function of media
- Radio- old message (crime doesn‘t pay
- TV- criminals are caught and punished
- Today- police as criminals, institutional corruption
• Some argue media is reinforcing the dominance of existing
cultures and social order
- Contradictory roles
a. Promote popular support of gov’t (celebrate holidays,
hero b-days)
b. Erode public confidence (extramarital affairs,
investigative reports)
Evaluating the Media in
Government
• Is the media biased?
– The sides of the biased argument
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Reporters tend to be liberal
Owners tend to be conservative
Editors tend to be conservative
Talk radio tends to be conservative
Strongest media bias towards incumbent officeholders
– 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 equality
2. 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
Study Guide Stop
• What role does the media play in American
politics?
• Why are there so few restrictions?
• How much power/influence does the media
have?
• How has technology changed interactions?
• Can we trust the media to be fair?