Mr. Blahnik
AP Government
Ch. 12 Media Homework
18 points
The Media Chapter 12
1. Describe the evolution of journalism in U.S. political history and indicate the
differences between the party press and the mass media of today.
2. Demonstrate how the characteristics of the electronic media have affected the
actions of public officials and candidates for national office.
3. Describe the impact of the pattern of ownership and control of the media on the
dissemination of news. Show how wire services and TV networks have affected
national news coverage. Discuss the impact of the national press.
4. Discuss the issue of media bias and how this bias might manifest itself. Assess
the impact of such bias on the electorate.
5. Assess the impact of the media on public opinion and on the functioning of
government institutions. Explain why a free press is a critical component of the
American democratic system of government.
11 points
Adversarial press
Background
Blog
Equal time rule
Feature story
Horse-race journalism
Insider story
Loaded language
Routine story
Selective attention
Sound bite
Trial balloon
Associated Press
Attack journalism
Fairness doctrine
Gatekeeper
Off the record
On the record
White House Press Corps
FCC
“yellow Journalism”
Freedom of Information Act
Explain the structure of the media before and after the Internet revolution. What has
changed? What has remained the same?
Is media coverage of political events better thanks to the Internet? Or do you think the
influence of blogs and the proliferation of web news sources have degraded the quality of
news coverage?