W I L S O N 1 2 A

THE MEDIA

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

Who Governs• How much power do

the media have?• Can we trust the

media to be fair?

To What Ends• What public policies

will the media support?• How can we read the

media for persuasion and information?

NATURE OF THE MEDIA

• Politicians need them• Use them (less party)

• Great freedom in US• Freedom of Information

Act (FCC licensing)• Private ownership• Profit Driven• Bias

• Politicians fear them• Critical of them

• Great Britain• Official Secrets Act• Publicly owned

• French punishment• Italian ownership

PARTY PRESS

• Nature of the technology of the time• Highly partisan• Small circulation• Expensive• Elitist• Subsidized

POPULAR PRESS• Population Shifts• New technologies• Rotary press• Telegraph

• Mass readership• Profitable• Balanced• Sensationalized• Independent (even critical)

MAGAZINE OF OPINION• Yellow journalism• Trustbusting• Muckraking• Investigative reporting

• News services• National media corporations• Lighter News

ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM

• Radio/TV• Reach voters directly• Fewer stories• Shorter sound bites

• Many new outlets• Narrowcasting

THE INTERNET

• Ultimate in free market news• No control• No regulation• Unlimited opinion

• Candidate web sites• Back to grassroots?

TYPES OF NATIONAL MEDIA• Wire services• AP, UPI

• Network news • Evening • TV Magazines• Internet

• Cable • National Newspapers

ROLES OF NATIONAL MEDIA• Set the tone • Better paid• More liberal

• Gatekeeper• Issue selection

• Scorekeeper• Horse Race elections

• Watchdogs• Investigation

DEMOCRATIC?• Consider the following changes and

characteristics of media in America, then comment on media as an institution in politics.• Youth have moved away from political coverage• Network news now covered by affiliates• Media is big profit industry• 4-5 large corporate providers• Many satellite outlets• Unregulated, free internet• Independent of government