AP GOVERNMENT
Chapter 10
The Media
HISTORY of the MEDIA
 In
the early years, news traveled
slowly
 Newspapers were politically
sponsored
 “Managed
news”
 Is that democratic?
 The
high-speed rotary press and
telegraph led to mass-readership
 Associated Press (AP) was
established in 1848
 Urbanization in the mid 1800’s
helped the growth of newspapers
 Yellow
Journalism
 Sensationalistic, irresponsible
news reporting
 Spanish-American War

http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html
 EX.
National Enquirer, The Star
ELECTROMAGNETIC
SIGNAL
 Nov
2, 1920 – Presidential race b/t
Harding and Cox was transmitted
 Nov 15, 1926 – NBC premiered
 1952 National Convention coverage
helped Eisenhower
MEDIA FUNCTIONS
Entertainment
Reporting the News
Identify Public Problems
1.
2.
3.
1.
4.
5.
6.
Examples?
Socializing New Generations
Providing a Public Forum
Making Profits
Mass Media
 Newspapers,
magazines, radio,
television, films, recordings, books,
and electronic communications
 News Media -the part of mass media
that reaches the news
 Ex. 60 Minutes, Larry King, Crossfire,
20/20
Television
 Average
person watches 4.3 hours a
day – most influential
 Relies on pictures to entertain viewers
 Everyone uses tv to their advantage
 Issue Ads by Interest groups
 Around-the-clock news (CNN, Fox)
 Narrowcasting
– broadcasting to
a small sector of the population
Different cable channels – CSPAN
 Network TV’s share of
viewership has declined to about
55%
Three types of TV coverage:
1.
2.
3.
Advertising ($$$)
Management of news
Campaign debates
*why are news management and debates
good types of TV coverage?
Any ad
remembered by
the public
WORKS!
Radio
 Continues
to reach more households
than tv
 Talk radio
 Satellite radio picking up listeners
 ADVANTAGE
is nation-wide
Newspapers
 Declining
but still reach about 56
million Americans
 Different papers “specialize” while
others deal with “general interests”
 #1 paper by popularity? By
circulation?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_in_the_United_States_by_circulation
World Wide Web
 Fastest
growing source
 Over 1 billion documents on the web
 Who monitors its’ accuracy and
content?
Changing Role of News
In the beginning, news sources did not last
long …why?
 They became political mouthpieces
 Jacksonian Era - press shifts from elite
readers to large masses. What was the
effect?
 1900’s—news sources should be objective.
Is it?

Media allowed politics to reach more
Americans
 Fireside chats with FDR
 Debates (Kennedy v. Nixon)
 24-hour news coverage
 Source of investigation (The Pentagon Papers,
Watergate)
 Fairness Doctrine (FCC)…no longer in
place. Good or Bad?

Factors that Limit Media
Influence
Political socialization (family, peers…)
allows us to “filter” news
 Selective attention - filter…see what we
want and disregard the rest
 Selective perception - filter…agree with
what we want and refute the rest
 Recall and comprehension - importance
vs. catchy?

National Press: 3 ROLES
Gatekeeper – press calls attention to certain
issues, the media sets the subjects that
politicians must address
 Scorekeeper – keeps track of/creates
reputation for presidential candidates
(election coverage = horse race)
 Watchdog – to investigate
candidates/political officials

Image Making
 Media
creates a politican’s image
 Can be good or bad
 Examples?
Government Regulation
 Newspaper
– virtually no regulation
 Radio and TV – must have license and
adhere to regulations
 No “prior restraints” (Pentagon
Papers)
 Lawsuits if material is libelous or
obscene
Radio & TV Regulations
Equal Time Rule – station must be willing
to sell equal time to all candidates
 Right-of-Reply Rule – If a person is
attacked on air, then person has a right to
reply
 Political Editorializing Rule – If a
broadcaster endorses a candidate, then the
other candidate has the right to reply

Confidentiality of Sources
 Supreme
Court upheld the right of the
govt to compel reporters to divulge
information in criminal investigations
Types of Stories
 Routine
Stories – public events
covered by media (pres takes a trip)
 Feature Stories – public events that are
not usually covered but found
newsworthy for some reason
(controversial court ruling)
 Insider Stories – not public
information (investigative reporting)
Adversarial Press
Suspicious of govt and looks to find
corruption, dishonesty, &/or illegal
activities
 Is it caused by a mistrust of govt?
 People do not like this type of press so
why does it prevail?
 Growing # of people distrust the media
 Side effect – negative advertising
