1. Chapter 9 The Media © 2009, Pearson Education Fiorina, Peterson, Johnson, and Mayer New American Democracy, Sixth Edition

2. © 2009, Pearson Education Development of the Mass Media Mass media –Forms of communication that are technologically capable of reaching most people and economically affordable to most –Have existed for less than two centuries –Political power related to control of information Early newspapers weeklies –No reporters –They basically printed anything and everything

3. © 2009, Pearson Education The Partisan Press and the Penny Press As party politics developed, so did the parties’ relationships with newspapers –Most were one-sided –Printed the party line –Until the Civil War, almost all newspapers were partisan many received subsidies or patronage from the party’s supporters

4. © 2009, Pearson Education The Partisan Press and the Penny Press Technological improvements made it easier to publish newspapers –Penny Press –Sensationalism—sells papers –Still partisan

5. © 2009, Pearson Education Newspapers and Magazines 1865–1920 Publishers began to see that they need not alienate potential readers with highly partisan offerings. –Partisanship became relegated to the editorial pages. Yellow journalism Pulitzer and Hearst –Involvement in the declaration of war against Spain Magazines — the first major national medium –McClure’s –Cosmopolitan –Munsey’s –Later Collier’s and the Saturday Evening Post –Aimed at larger national audience of middle- class, educated readers Muckraking

6. © 2009, Pearson Education Radio 1920 – three important characteristics of U.S. radio –licensing system –importance of advertising –emergence of national networks

7. © 2009, Pearson Education Television The first public demonstration of television took place at the N.Y. World’s Fair in 1939 May, 1949 – 6 percent of Americans owned a television set. –Less than half of the public had ever seen a television program –Ownership jumped to 45 percent in 1952 and to 90 percent in 1959

8. © 2009, Pearson Education The Contemporary Scene Television –99 percent of all households in U.S. have at least one television –The network system had dominated, but has declined dramatically due to UHF and cable Newspapers –Decline in number of cities with more than one newspaper –Spread of chain ownership Radio –Not dominant, but popular –Growth of talk radio (satellites allow for transmission of one program to hundreds of stations) Magazines –As a news source, they are increasingly marginal –Growing in numbers, but few focus on government and politics. However,Time and Newsweek rank in the top 20.

9. © 2009, Pearson Education New Media Beginning in the 1970s Cable and satellite TV, VCRs, fax, e-mail, and the Internet – the media that have grown out of the technological advances of the past few decades Will people use this new media to seek out political information? New media may lead to small number of activists being very informed, while Americans in general are actually less knowledgeable about politics Decentralized the ownership and control of media How will all of this change American politics?

10. © 2009, Pearson Education What Information Sources Do Americans Rely on? Tough question to answer –We encounter different media during our day –Most people say television when asked directly TV has been the public’s main source of information since in the 1960s –But how much attention do they pay to this information; how much is retained? –Halo effect –News not well-defined concept

11. © 2009, Pearson Education What Information Sources Do Americans Rely on?

12. © 2009, Pearson Education What Information Sources Do Americans Rely on?

13. © 2009, Pearson Education Media Effects? 1940s spread of radio danger to democracy? War of the Worlds and mass panic Hypodermic model –direct and powerful capacity of the media to put ideas into people’s heads Minimal Effects School

14. © 2009, Pearson Education Agenda Setting Agenda setting –Occurs when the media affect which issues and problems people think about, even if the media do not determine what positions people adopt –Salience CNN effect –Purported ability of TV to raise a distant foreign affairs situation to national prominence by broadcasting vivid pictures

15. © 2009, Pearson Education Priming and Framing Priming –Occurs when the media alter the standards people use to evaluate political figures Framing –Occurs when the media induce people to think about an issue along particular lines, as opposed to others

16. © 2009, Pearson Education Socialization The media may play a role in socializing individuals. –Ex: sex and violence on television –Not clear how this influences American politics –Could account for the widespread concern over crime or increasing acceptance of sexual practices once considered deviant Concerns over portrayal of government and minorities, particularly African Americans –X-Files, 24 examples. Leadership corrupts. Good guys always rogue agents. –stereotyping minorities on TV

17. © 2009, Pearson Education How Strong Are Media Effects? Effects, like agenda setting, framing and priming, depend on both the characteristics of the audience and the nature of the information Those who are uninterested in and uninformed about politics are most susceptible to agenda setting Partisans are inclined to think in terms of issues at the core of their party’s concerns Can have impact but it depends on –Who is being reached –What is being covered

18. © 2009, Pearson Education Media Biases Modern journalists present themselves as objective Supposed to report events and conflicts accurately so that voters can make informed judgments Yet many observers believe that the media do skew the news –Ideological bias, spin –Selection bias –Professional bias

19. © 2009, Pearson Education Media Biases

20. © 2009, Pearson Education Media Biases

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22. Prospects for Change News media are private, profit-making enterprises Respond to public demands Like to change only if public demands such change

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24. The Media and Electoral Politics Transmit information about problems and issues This information helps voters make their choices. But does media bias cause media coverage to fall short of the ideal?

25. © 2009, Pearson Education Campaign Coverage This is an area where the media are criticized heavily –Charge: The media provide little coverage of policy issues –Charge: The media concentrate on issues such as character at the expense of genuine policy and expertise issues –Charge: reporters intermediate too much

26. © 2009, Pearson Education The Conventions Since 1972, and the stabilization of presidential nominations, conventions have lessened in importance Media coverage has dropped –The more the party managers tried to package their message to please television, the less the major networks were interested –Now the convention coverage venues are cable and the Internet

27. © 2009, Pearson Education The Presidential Debates No other campaign events earn the ratings that the presidential debates earn First televised debates were in 1960 –Nixon and Kennedy –Radio listeners thought Nixon won; TV viewers thought Kennedy won Studies show that performance in the debates can sway the undecided voter

28. © 2009, Pearson Education Media Coverage of Government Media coverage of government is similar to that of campaigns From the news media perspective, government and the work it does is pretty dull For that reason, there is relatively little news coverage of it When they do cover government –Emphasis is on president –Emphasis is on conflict –Emphasis is on the negative The response: officials have exaggerated the problem