The Media
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Transcript of The Media
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The Media
Chapter 15
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In this chapter we will learn about
• The sources of our news
• The historical development of the ownership of the American media and its implications for the political news we get
• The role of journalists
• The link between the media and politics
• The relationship of citizens to the media
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Where do we get our news?
• Newspapers- Readership on the decline for all age groups. - Fewer newspapers than in many industrialized
countries- Only 7% of people read a national paper (USA
Today), and less than half (about 44%) read local papers
– Danger: Fewer investigative journalists to serve as a check on government
– Is blogging the same as investigative journalism?– Can newspapers survive on-line?
• Rebirth of the Globe-Democrat (closed presses 1986)• St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Pew Research
America's News Sources, 1993-2013
In Pew's 2013 survey, 50% said they use the internet as a primary source for news, up from 43% in 2011.
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Where do we get our news?
As of 2011 (turning point)more people get news from Internet or Social Media sites than newspapers or radio
Pew Research
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Where do we get our news?• The Power of Television
– Dramatically changed the way people
received their news– Led to narrowcasting– Has increased the importance of image– 69% of Americans watch T.V news; of that 69%,
roughly 51% watch local news; 39% watch cable news; 36% watch network news
– Walter Cronkite credited with helping the movement to end the Vietnam war• Cronkite on his reporting of the Tet Offensive• Cronkite on lessons from Vietnam
– Nixon wants to put the “screws” to CBS– Dan Rather and George Bush on-air showdown
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Where do we get our news?
• The Internet– Revolutionizing the way we get our news
– 20% report getting their political news from the Internet; this percentage is rising
– Blogs
– More interactive than other media
– News review Reddit
– Google News
– Yahoo News
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The early American press
• Extremely partisan– See anything by
Thomas Paine– Loyalist publications– Ben Franklin’s “Plain
Truth”;
“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”
• Lacked independence because they were dependent on parties for funding
• Jacksonian revolution led to appeals to mass audiences rather than elites in political parties
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Early media independence
• As more people learned to read, audiences grew.• The penny press (1833): cheap papers led to more
superficial content designed to appeal to mass audiences (new sensationalism, muck raking, and yellow journalism)
• Yellow journalism: after Civil War; appeal to mass audience led to sensational reporting
– Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines and sensationalized stories to sell more newspapers.
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The quest to sell more and more newspapers led to excesses that culminated with the Pulitzer-Hearst circulation war in the 1890s. The newspapers led such a hysterical attack against Spain that they helped precipitate the Spanish-American War. The US Maine exploded in Spanish-controlled Havana Harbor. Both Hearst’s New York Journal and Pulitzer’s New York World claimed that it was a Spanish attack on an American vessel. Historians have shown that the explosion was probably an accident.
Hearst Pulitzer
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The media today: concentrated corporate power
• Consequences of corporate ownership– Commercial bias: the tendency to make coverage
and programming decisions based on what will attract a large audience and maximize profits
– Reduced emphasis on political news, or at least non-sensational political news
– Conflicts of interest: The content of the news reflects the political opinions of the media owner.
– Infotainment: the effort to make the delivery of information more attractive by dressing it up as entertainment
– More tv / Internet outlets, fewer stories being covered (future of journalism)
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AOL/Time Warner
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Regulation of broadcast media
• The equal time rule: if a station allows a candidate for office to buy or use airtime, it must allow all candidates to do so– Not being followed by Fox / MSNBC
• The fairness doctrine: requires that stations give free airtime to issues that concern public and to opposing sides when controversial issues are covered– Not being followed in spirit
• The right of rebuttal: individuals whose reputations are damaged on air have a right to respond– Depends on shows; no longer standard
• The Telecommunications Act of 1996: abolished most limitations on station ownership, thus increasing possibilities for media monopoly
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Roles of journalists• Gatekeepers: those journalists who decide
what news gets covered and how• Disseminators: those journalists who confine
their role to getting the facts of the story straight and moving the story out to the public quickly
• Investigators: investigate government’s claims, analyze and interpret complex problems, discuss public policies
• Public mobilizers: develop cultural and intellectual interests of the public, set the political agenda, let people express their views
Note: There is a difference between bloggers and professionally trained journalists
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The growth of the Washington press corps
• The revolving door: the tendency of public officials, journalists, and lobbyists to move between public and private sector (media, lobbying) jobs
• The rise of the pundit: a observer and commentator on politics; may or may not have expertise in government or public policy
• Problem with increase in number and visibility of pundits: You have someone telling you how to interpret a speech or public problem (someone telling you what to think), rather than you thinking for yourself
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The shaping of public opinion by the media
• Agenda setting: influencing what issues are on the public agenda through the decision of what stories to cover
• Priming: influencing the public’s perception of certain people, events, and issues by the emphasis given to particular characteristics of them
• Framing: the process through which the media emphasize particular aspects of a news story, thereby influencing the public’s perception of the story
• Persuasion by professional communicators: the tendency for viewers to agree with trusted newscasters and expert sources
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The portrayal of politics as conflict and image
• Horse-race journalism: the media’s focus on the competitive aspects of politics rather than on actual policy proposals and political decisions
• Emphasis on image: the tendency of the media to focus on what people look like, what they sound like, and how an event is staged
• Scandal watching: the tendency of reporters to concentrate on developing scandals to the exclusion of other, possibly more relevant, news events
• Growing negativism, increased cynicism: the tendency of reporters to be cynical about politics and to focus on the negative aspects of politics
• Problem: reporters trained in writing / media, not political science, public administration, economics, history
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Consequences of emphasizing conflict and image
• An increase in citizen disaffection with politics• An increase in cynicism about politics and the media• New forms of media replacing older ones
– (Social Media as News Source and Opinion Forum)
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The citizens and the media• The new media:
– High-tech outlets that have sprung up to complete with traditional newspapers, magazines, and network news.• E.g. Huffington Post’s permanent
blogs
• Civic journalism:– a movement among journalists to be
responsive to citizen input in determining what news stories to cover
– Have to: competing with citizen blogs
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Can Political Satire Influence Elections and Public Opinion?
• SNL Tina Fey as Sarah Palin• Tina Fey word for word• Hulu Republican Debate Rick Perry
http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/299649• Vice Presidential Debate news coverage
2012• SNL Vice Presidential Debate 2012• Second Presidential Debate 2012