“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom…
of the press…”
Origins of freedom of
the press:
• Influence of the
printing press
• Ideals of the
Enlightenment
• Pamphlets and papers
during the American
Revolution
Colonial-era printing press
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Traditional forms:
• Newspapers
• Concentration of
ownership
• Magazines
• Pamphlets
• Posters
Non-traditional forms:
• Radio
• Television
• Personalizes
communication to
masses, individualizes the
news
• Internet
• Technology gap
• Reliable?
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“Wikimedia” meet the need
for people to participate in the
news
Instantaneous, on demand,
and tailored to their liking
Sources are interactive so the
consumer can respond
directly to the provider
Information consumers can
also be information producers
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What impact will new media have on government leaders,
citizens, and policy?
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Will government officials listen more to the people? Will they
respond to calls for change? Will they replace negative actions
with better behavior?
Will citizens become more informed or more tolerant? Will they
feel that their voices are being heard? Will it be easier for them to
organize and take action?
Will policy itself reflect a broader consensus of the citizens and
not just private interests? Will new policies contain new and
different ideas? Will such policies actually improve the situation
or conditions under which people live?
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Television is unique
◦ Has the ability to reach millions of people and
provides almost all our political knowledge by
showing us a world larger than we know
◦ Power of Cronkite
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Is the media, however, unbiased and all
inconclusive, or selective?
Will we admire journalists the way we did
Cronkite?
Should the media be controlled?
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“I did not realize the importance of
communications and the overriding importance
of what is on the evening television news. If I am
not on, or there with a message, someone else is,
with their message.” Bill Clinton
“When I think of the millions of dollars that go into
one lousy 30-second television spot advertising a
deodorant, it seems to me unbelievable that we don’t
do a better job in seeing that presidential
appearances always have the best professional advice
whenever they are to be covered on TV.” Nixon
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Concentration and
centralization of
ownership
◦ A nationalization of news
occurring meaning less
variety of opinions and
information
◦ 6 major media companies
that own TV stations,
radio stations,
newspapers, magazines,
trade publications, movie
studios, and production
companies
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Narrowcasting
◦ Cable and internet
media catering to
specialized audiences
that further fragment
society
 Telemundo and
Univision for example
 ESPN, History Channel,
C-SPAN
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Columbia University
study found:
◦ 11% of time was taken
up with written or
edited stories
◦ The role of the reporter
was to talk, a lot
◦ Stories were repeated
without new
information
◦ Coverage was spotty,
ignoring many
important topics
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All in all, Cable news
was “talk radio on
television”
The idealism of the
potential of TV as a
medium is
disappearing; cable
is more about profit
and not about
prestige
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The media as the “fourth branch” of
government
Important benefits of a free press:
— Open expression of ideas
— Advances collective
knowledge and understanding
— Communication with
government representatives
— Allows for peaceful social
change
— Protects individual rights
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Entertainment
◦ Media outlets also tend to blur
between news and entertainment
(larger audience means more money)
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Informing the public
◦ Newsworthiness (again, money)
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Agenda setting
◦ Effect of policy entrepreneurs
New York World headline from the
Spanish-American War
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Lasswell’s social effects of media
◦ Surveillance-watchdog function “eyes and
ears to the world”
 Investigative journalism-how far can they go?
◦ Interpretation-civil rights movement, Iraq
war, representation of poor
 Bias
◦ Socialization-teaching facts and values
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Presenting a forum for the exchange of
ideas
Police drag
away a
civil rights
protester
President Nixon leaving the White
House after his resignation
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Measure Public Opinion
◦ Polling
 Random sampling
 Sampling error
◦ Criticisms
 Creates a bandwagon effect
 Forces politicians to change policies becoming followers and
not leaders
 Pollsters can elicit certain responses by how the question is
asked
 Do you favor keeping a large number of US troops in Iraq until
there is a stable government or bringing most of our troops
home in the next year.—Harris poll
 Do you think the US should keep its military forces in Iraq until
civil order is restored there, even if that means continued US
military casualties, or, do you think the US should withdraw its
military forces from Iraq in order to avoid further military
casualties, even if it means civil order is not restored there?-ABC/Washington Post poll
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The media tends to focus on the “horserace” and designating front-runners has a
negative effect on other candidates
◦ Also, how are candidates portrayed
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How much candidates spend on advertising
◦ @ $70 million spent on TV advertising and news
coverage of campaigns has shrunk increasing the
use of sound bites (which are shorter)
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The media, especially TV’s effect on a
candidate’s image
◦ Would Washington, Lincoln, FDR been elected if
their was TV then?
◦ Is image more
important then ideas?
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Radio as a tool for political communication
President Franklin Roosevelt’s “fireside chats” and
press conferences
Inventor of modern media politics
FDR giving
a “fireside
chat”
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“Eisenhower Answers America”
Opening shot of Eisenhower’s commercial
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The Nixon–Kennedy debates
President Kennedy and his use of television
— Facing his doubters
— Presidential press conferences
Ronald Reagan: “The Great Communicator”
Choreographed public appearances
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Attack advertising
 “Daisy Girl”: Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 presidential campaign
www.livingroomcandidate
.com
A shot of the
“Daisy Girl” from
LBJ’s 1964 ad
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Attack advertising
 Willie Horton:
George H.W.
Bush’s 1988
presidential
campaign
The “infomercial”
• Ross Perot’s 1992
presidential
campaign
Bush’s “Willie
Horton” ad
Perot
campaigning on
television
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Stories sponsored by government
agencies to inform the public
Use of trial balloons
◦ Announce upcoming
◦ Discredit political opponents
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News or propaganda?
GAO report
Columnists paid by government
agencies to endorse programs
Practice misleads American
public
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Freedom of press vs.
national security
◦ Accountability vs.
safety
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Right to privacy in
media
◦ Public figures vs.
private figures
◦ Cox Broadcasting
Corp. v. Cohn (1975)
 Releasing rape victim’s
name
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Libel laws
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Censorship?
◦ Actual malice toward
an individual
◦ FCC’s job
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Equal time rule
◦ Presidential debates
exclusion of 3rd
parties
◦ Fairness doctrinehurt AM radio talk
shows