Chapter Twelve
The Media
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The Media
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Old Media: books, essays, pamphlets,
newspapers, magazines
New Media: newspapers, television, radio,
World Wide Web
Most people’s knowledge of politics comes
from the media, especially the Internet
Laws and understandings in the U.S. give the
media substantial freedom
There is a long tradition of private media
ownership in U.S.
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Journalism in American Political
History (4 Stages)
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The Party Press:
• Various factions/parties created, sponsored,
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and controlled newspapers to further their
interests.
Circulated among political/social elites
Examples: National Gazette, National
Intelligencer, Washington Globe
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Journalism in American Political
History (4 Stages)

The Popular Press:
•
•
•
•
Changes in society and technology made possible
self-supporting, mass readership daily newspapers
Creation of Associated Press (AP) in 1848 to transmit
similar stories across the nation
Creation of the Government Printing Office (GPO) in
1860
Use of sensationalism in news stories-known as
“yellow journalism”; made popular by William
Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.
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Journalism in American Political
History (4 Stages)

Magazines of Opinion:
• Dislike of “yellow journalism” led to era of
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reform led by “muckrakers” like Ida Tarbell,
Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair, etc.
Various national magazines emerged to fulfill
people’s interests.
Examples: Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Weekly,
Cosmopolitan
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Journalism in American Political
History (4 Stages)

Electronic Journalism:
• Radio arrives in 1920s, television in the late
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•
1940s
Represented a change in how news was
gathered and disseminated
Politicians gradually realized the importance
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Electronic Journalism and the
Internet
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Shorter sound bites on the nightly news
make it more difficult for candidates and
officeholders to convey their message
• 1968-42 seconds; 2000-7.3 seconds
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Politicians now have more sources—
cable, early-morning news, news
magazine shows
40% of American households access the
Internet
• Internet is the ultimate free market in political
news and many trust it for all information
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Table 12.1: Decline in Viewership of
the Television Networks (ABC, CBS,
NBC are the “Big Three” Networks)
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Figure 12.1:
Percentage
of
Newspaper
Readers
Ages 18–34
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Newspapers
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Number of daily newspapers has
declined significantly
Number of cities with multiple papers
has declined
Subscription rates have fallen as most
people get their news from television
and/or the Internet
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Role of the National Press
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Gatekeeper: influences what subjects
become national political issues and for
how long
Scorekeeper: tracks political reputations
and candidates
Watchdog: investigates personalities and
exposes scandals
See pgs. 295-296
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Rules Governing the Media
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Ironically, the least competitive medianewspapers-are the least regulated
while the most competitive media-radio
and television-must have gov’t licensing
and obey gov’t regulations
The First Amendment has been
interpreted to mean that no gov’t can
place “prior restraint” or censorship on
the press except under narrowly defined
circumstances
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Rules Governing the Media
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After publication, newspapers or magazines
may be sued for libel, obscenity, and/or
incitement to commit an illegal act
The Supreme Court allows the government to
compel reporters to divulge information in court
if it bears on a crime
Radio and television broadcasts are licensed
and regulated by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC)
•
Licenses are renewed every 7 years for radio and
every 5 years for television
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The Media and Campaigns
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Equal access for all candidates under
the equal time rule
Rates no higher than the cheapest
commercial rate
Now stations and networks can sponsor
debates limited to major candidates
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Landmark Cases
The Rights of the Media
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Near v. Minnesota (1931)-freedom of press
applies to state gov’ts, so that they cannot
impose prior restraint on newspapers.
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)-public
officials may not win a libel suit unless they can
prove that the statement was made knowing it
would be false or with reckless disregard of its
truth.
Miami Herald v. Tornillo (1974)-a newspaper
cannot be required to give someone a right to
reply to one of its stories.
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Media Bias
See pgs. 298-302!
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Members of the national media are
generally more liberal than the average
citizen
Conservative media outlets have
become more visible in recent years
Talk radio is predominantly conservative
Journalistic philosophy is that the news
should be neutral and objective
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Influence on the Public
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Selective attention: people remember
or believe only what they want to
Newspapers that endorsed incumbents
gave them more positive coverage, and
voters had more positive feelings about
them
Press coverage affects policy issues that
people think are important
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Figure 12.2: Public Perception of
Accuracy in the Media
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Coverage of Government
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The president receives the most
coverage
Gavel-to-gavel coverage of House
proceedings since 1979 and Senate
sessions since 1986 (C-SPAN)
Senatorial use of televised committee
hearings has turned the Senate into a
presidential candidate incubator
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The Adversarial Press
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Adversarial press since Vietnam,
Watergate, Iran-contra
Cynicism created era of attack
journalism
Adversarial media has made negative
campaign advertising more socially
acceptable
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Sensationalism
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Intense competition among many media
outlets means that each has a small
share of the audience
Sensationalism draws an audience and
is cheaper than investigative reporting
Reporters may not be checking sources
carefully because there is such
competition for stories
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Government Constraints on the
Media
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Reporters must strike a balance between
expressing critical views and maintaining
sources
Governmental tools to fight back:
numerous press officers, press releases,
leaks, bypass the national press in favor
of local media, presidential rewards and
punishments
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