Politics in America. The Mass
Media
“Media are extensions of human beings and
affect our outlook and attitudes, our feelings
about culture, schools, politics, studies, moral
values, societal norms. They can totally disrupt
our social existence and equilibrium.”
-Marshall McLuhan (1964)
Politics in America. The Mass Media
I. Introduction
A. Politics—the struggle over who gets what,
when and how—is largely carried out in the
Mass Media. That is the case b/c what we know
about politics comes to us largely thru the mass
media—which we define very soon.
B. Unless we ourselves are admitted to the
White House Oval office or the committee
rooms of Congress or dinner parties at foreign
embassies, or unless we ourselves attend
political rallies or distant battlefields, we must
rely on the media to tell us about politics.
I.
Introduction, cont.
C. Few of us also have the opportunity to personally evaluate
the character of those who run for higher office or to learn about
their views on public issues by speaking with them face to face.
Instead we learn about such people and events from the mass
media
D. The reality is that GREAT POWER derives from the control
over information—WHO knows what definitely helps to shape
WHO GETS WHAT.
E. So despite what members of the media might say, it not
only reports on the struggle for power in society; they are
themselves participants in those struggles, which is why the
media has long been referred to as America’s 5th branch of
govt...WHY do people call it this?
F. Given that the media is such an impt institution, it is critical to
examine it as an institution—today we only briefly scratch the
surface
II. Definitions & Types of Media
A. Definitions of Mass Media
1. Burns et al: “Means of communication
that reach the mass public. The mass media
includes newspapers and magazines, radio,
television (broadcast, cable, and satellite), films,
recordings, books, and electronic
communication”
2. Dye: “All means of communication with
the general public, including television,
newspapers, magazines, radio, books,
recordings, motion pictures, and the internet”
II. Definitions & Types of Media
B. 3 types of Mass Media
1. Print Media: communicate information
through the publication of words and
pictures---newspapers, books, magazines
2. Broadcast Media: communicate
information electronically through sounds
and images---TV, Radio, and Motion Pics
3. Group Media: are communications
technologies such as the internet. They are
the result of the technology revolution and
are used extensively in politics
II. Definitions & Types of Media
C. Categorizing the Mass Media
1. Newspapers: newspapers have been around
since the dawn of our country and were originally
organs of the political parties but now are independent,
privately owned, for-profit businesses
a. Despite competition from other
mediums—esp. radio, tv, and more recently group
media—Americans still read newspapers in fairly
significant #s:
b. according to Dye, “over 70% of the adult
pop (or about 63M nationwide) read one or another of
the nation’s 1,600 daily newspapers
i. 3 largest: (1) WSJ = 1.7M; (2) USA
Today = 1.6M; (3) NYT = 1M
ii. Ntl Enquirer = 4M
iii. Only 58 cities and towns have 2
or more competing daily papers under separate
ownership (competition and concentration)
II. Definitions & Types of Media
C. Categorizing the Mass Media
2. Magazines: have smaller
circulation but are perhaps more
influential b/c political/opinion
elites read them and then
communicate the ideas to mass
audiences
a. big ones are Newsweek
(3.2M circulation), Time
(4.6M), and US News (2.3M)
II. Definitions & Types of Media
3. Radio: before TV the dominant mass media and
made celebrities out of news personalities. Now:
more a forum for talk than for live coverage of
things. Still an important national news medium
which many predicted would be replaced by TV. It
hasn’t.
a. 99 of 100 households own radios and
more than 9 of 10 households listen to the
radio everyday—largely in their cars
b. people get entertainment, facts, and
interpretation on the radio from radio hosts
like Rush Limbau, Matt Drudge, Al Franken,
and Janeane Garofalo among others
II. Definitions & Types of Media
4. TV: grew explosively after WWII and is now the dominant
mass communication medium. Most people get their
political news from TV news, especially local news
broadcasts–
a. According to media expert Doris Graber, TV is
the MOST powerful medium of communication and is
the 1st TRUE mass communication medium
b. Virtually every home in the US has a TV
c. research indicates that TV news commentary is
probably the SINGLE greatest influence on public
opinion and according to polling TV is “the most
believable” source of news
d. about 2/3 of all American households have
cable TV which is a big reason for the decline in
viewing of the 3 old Ntl TV newtworks—NBC, CBS,
and ABC
e. avg tv newstory lasts about 1 minute and also
devotes far more time to the President than to
Congress or the Supreme Court
II. Definitions & Types of Media
5. Internet: increasingly more important and
the newest of the media. The internet is so
impt now that many news stories appear
on the WWW before they appear in
newspapers and newsmags and radio
a. Newest, most important news
oriented internet innovation is the
BLOG, or "weblog".
b. Best place to see examples of this
phenomenon is The Drudgereport—
let’s take a stroll to his site…
III. The Real Media Biases
“Media are extensions of human
beings and affect our outlook and
attitudes, our feelings about
culture, schools, politics, studies,
moral values, societal norms.
They can totally disrupt our social
existence and equilibrium.”
-Marshall McLuhan (1964)
III. The Real Media Biases
A. Many conservatives argue that the mass
media has a pronounced “liberal” bias. I
would say that Marshal McLuhan is
probably closer to the truth: that is, the
“media” has the power to transform “our
outlooks and attitudes” and since it is a
product of human action and thought, there
are probably biases.
B. Research (by Graber, Dye, Bagdikian,
McLuhan, etc) shows that the most
significant media biases are toward
(1) sensationalism; (2) negativity; (3)
investigative reporting; and (4) “liberalism”
C. Let’s take a look at each in a little detail
III. The Real Media Biases
1.
Sensationalism: Economic interests of the mass
media—the need to capture and hold audience
attention—creates a bias toward “hype” in the
selection of news, its presentation, and its
interpretation—ie stories that are “sensational” in
nature
a. to attract viewers in other words—on a very crowded
TV “dinner plate”—the media bias the news toward
violence, conflict, scandal, corruption, sex, scares of
various sorts, and the personal lives of politicians and
celebrities…Q: Can you think of examples?
b. News is unfortunately thus selected for its emotional
impact on audiences
c. As James Fallows (The Atlantic Monthly) nicely put it,
the media has a “right now” complex which forces it to lurch
from story to story in search of sensational stories that will
“capture” and “hold” audiences
III. The Real Media Biases
2. Negativism: The media are also
biased toward BAD NEWS or the
negative. According to Graber, bad
news attracts larger audiences than
good news. In fact, bad-news stories
on TV outnumber good-news stories
by at least 3 to 1
a. good news gets little attention
while bad news (“if it bleeds it
leads”) dominates
III. The Real Media Biases
3. Investigative Reporting: the professional
environment of reporters and editors predisposes
them toward an activist style of journalism once
dubbed muckraking (work by Ida Tarbell and
Uptain Sinclair are examples), defined by Dye as
“journalistic exposes of corruption, wrongdoing, or
mismanagement in govt, business, and other
institutions”
a. Especially since journalists “discovered” that
elected officials lied to them on a fairly regular basis
during the LBJ and Nixon administrations,
journalists have taken this “muckraking” or Public
watchdog” role—in which many feel their primary
duty is to focus attention on problems and deficits,
failures and threats
III. The Real Media Biases
4.
Liberalism: The political values of the news media (esp. the
big 3 networks, CNN, the major ntl newspapers) are,
according to Dye, Graber, Burns and just about everyone
else who examines this question, decidedly “LIBERAL”
a. Graber suggests that: “economic and social
liberalism prevails, as does a preference for an
internationalist FP, caution about milt intervention, and some
suspicion about the ethics of established institutions”
b. The media elite—executives, producers, reporters, and
anchors—are moderately liberal or left-leaning in their
political views. 1 study of news executives reported that 63%
described themselves as “left-leaning”
c. Newsmakers describe themselves as either
“independent” (45%) or Democrat (44%); very few (9%) admit
to being Republican
d. However, if you are looking for more conservative
news medium check out AM talk radio, FOX News on cable
TV, newspapers like the WSJ and Washington Times, and
Mags like the Weekly Standard and Ntl Review
e. YOU be the judge...
V. Questions about the Media
A. Newsgathering Habits:
1. How many read the newspaper
regularly?
a. Sports section only?
b. Comics only?
c. Political news of any kind?
d. Other favorites?
V. Questions about the Media
2. How many of you watch TV
news regularly?
a. how often?
b. Which channels?
c. Which newscasts?
d. Favorite topics?
V. Questions about the Media
3.How many of you listen
to news radio?
a. Which stations?
b. Which hosts?
c. Why?
V. Questions about the Media
4. How many of you use
internet to gather
political info?
a. Which sites?
b. Why?
V. Questions about the Media
5. Are there any of you who
don't really follow the news
at all?
a. If you are doing nothing
why not?
b. If you are using other
sources, what are they?
V. Questions about the Media
6. What are the consequences of
all this behavior on:
a. Your voting behavior?
b. Your public involvement?
c. On your ability or lack
thereof to participate in political
issues