Chapter 15
The News Media
I.
II.
The Evolution of Journalism in the United States
i. Journalismii. Fourth branch of governmentiii. Anti-Federalists and the pressiv. Early partisan pressv. Landmarks of the American news media (Table 15.1)vi. Washington’s condemnation of the pressvii. Penny pressviii. The sensational and the scandalousix. Yellow journalismx. Muckrakingxi. Role of corporate profitxii. Electronic media supplants newspapers and magazinesThe U.S. Media Today
a. Print Media
i. Increase in number of journalists covering Washingtonii. Decline of newspaper circulation and readershipiii. Newspaper chains and decline in competitionb. Radio and Television
i. Advent of radio in early part of Twentieth Centuryii. Franklin Roosevelt and “fireside chants” –
iii. Rise of right-wing radio in mid-1980siv. Importance of televisionv. TV versus printvi. Role of cable televisionvii. Niche journalismviii. C-SPANix. Local television news growth and lack of substancec. The Internet
i. Rise of Internet as source of news and informationii. Traditional news media on Internetiii. U.S. government on Internetiv. Alternative media on Internetv. Al-Jazerrad. National Influence of the Mediai. What precludes nationally united print medium in U.S.ii. The six major national newpapersiii. The five major television networks-
III.
iv. National news magazinesv. Conservative, moderate, liberal news magazinesvi. The news generation gap (Table 15.3)How the Media Cover Politicians and Government
a. How the Press and Public Figures Interact
i. Press releaseii. Press briefingiii. Press conferenceiv. On backgroundv. Deep backgroundvi. Off the recordvii. On the recordviii. Media manipulation by politiciansix. Politicians by-passing national news mediab. Covering the Presidency
i. First among equals branches in coverageii. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the bully pulpitiii. Role and history of presidential press secretaryiv. Conflict between reporters and white House over what becomes newsv. Negative coverage of presidencyvi. George W. Bush and reluctance to face the Pressvii. Scott McClellanc. Covering Congress
i. Why it is difficult for news media to survey Congressii. News media focuses on three groups in covering Congress1. –
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iii. Negative coverage of Congressiv. Coverage of investigative committee hearings:
1. McCarthy2. Enron and WorldCom3. Abu Ghraibd. Media Coverage of Local Electionsi. News media impact on local electionii. Effect of increasing nationalization of media chains on local election coverageiii. Difficulty of candidates for local office to get coveragee. Investigative Journalism and the Charter Issue
i. Watergate scandalii. Public perception of the press after Watergateiii. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein-
IV.
V.
iv. Voters who get their political information form television as opposed to print
and candidate traits and issue positionsv. Effect of press assumptions on the character trend in reporting:
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vi. Libelvii. New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)viii. Actual malicef. Media Bias
i. “media bias”ii. Characteristics of reportersiii. Corporate bias of the mediaiv. Failure of national media to question the Bush administration’s false claims of
weapons of mass destruction and tied to terrorism before Iraq invasionv. Effect of increasing fragmentation and competition in media on biasvi. Ideological fragmentation of mediavii. Ideological Web sites on the Internetviii. Blogs and bloggersix. Effect of candidate personality on media biasx. Politicians change “bias” as a political polyxi. Celebrity status of media and biasThe Media’s Influence on the Public
i. Effect of media on the publicii. What limits ability of news media to sway public opinioniii. Media effectsiv. How media-influenced changes might occur:
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a. Increasing Use of Experts
i.
What influences use of expertsii.
What impact experts have on shaping American’s viewsiii.
What guarantees of reliability of experts?The Public’s Perception of the Media
i. Low public confidence in news mediaii. Credibility rating s for national news mediaiii. Credibility of TV versus print mediaiv. Top problems facing journalism (Table 15.4)
VI.
v. Fox News versus CNNvi. Nonprofit organizations research on mediaGovernment Regulation of the Electronic Media
i. Two reasons for unequal treatment of print and broadcast mediaii. 1996 Telecommunications Actiii. FCCiv. 2003 changes by FCC allowing media corporations to own more of different
kinds of media in a given marketv. 2003 changes by FCC allowing “duopoly” or “triopoly”vi. FCC increase of limits on total national audience a corporation may reachvii. Effects of deregulationviii. Opposition to deregulationa. Content Regulationi. Content regulationii. Equal time ruleiii. 2000 FCC rules and court decision on requiring broadcasts to give candidates
chance to respond to personal attacks and political endorsements by a stationiv. Fairness doctrinev. Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC (1969)
vi. Reagan’s FCC abolishes fairness doctrinevii. Reagan veto of new fairness doctrine billb. Efforts to Regulate Media Practices
i. Prior restraintii. Pentagon Papersiii. New York Times v. U.S. (1971)
iv. 1991 Gulf War and “Vietnam Syndrome”v. 2003 Iraq invasion and “embedded” journalistsvi. Demise of freedom through corporation consolidation of media outletsc. Efforts to Regulate Media Practices Around the World
i. Media in dictatorshipsii. Media in constitutional democraciesiii. Media in Middle Eastiv. BBCv. D-notice-