Chapter 12: The Media

Journalism in American Political History The National Period Newspapers were partisan. Journalists were commonly on government payrolls.

Journalism in American Political History The Popular Press The telegraph (in 1848) introduced the Associated Press. This led to papers being non-partisan.

Journalism in American Political History The Popular Press Sensationalism Led by Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Targeted the middle class citizen as well as immigrants. Pulitzer Hearst

Journalism in American Political History Magazines The middle class was repelled by “yellow journalism.” National magazine covered many topics, including politics.

Journalism in American Political History Electronic Journalism Radio and television become major tools of politics. Sound bite In 1968, the average sound bite was 42 seconds. In 2000, the average sound bite was 7.3 seconds.

Journalism in American Political History The Internet Half of all American use the internet to get political information by 2008.

Journalism in American Political History The Internet Uses Raise money. Organize people. Opinion polls. Criticize opponents. Mobilize local followers. Target campaigners and make contact.

The National Media The front page of the Times serves as a model for the broadcast of the evening news.

The National Media Roles of the Media Gatekeeper: Influences what subjects become national political issues. Scorekeeper: Decides who wins or loses events in Washington. Watchdog: Decides which candidates to be critical of.

Rules Governing the Media Anything goes so long as the evidence is “clear and convincing” and it was not printed maliciously with “reckless disregard” for the truth. Equal Time Rule is an FCC rule that states if a broadcaster sells time to one candidate; it must sell equal time to the other candidate.

Rules Governing the Media Campaigning Target markets today are easily reached by television. Horse-race journalism is news coverage that focuses on who is ahead rather than on the issues.

President Ford falling. Bias in the Media? The majority of the media is liberal and tend to be secular. Neutral Routine stories are events regularly covered by reporters. Feature stories are those that are not regularly covered. Insider stories are events that are not usually made public. President Ford falling.

Bias in the Media? Newspapers today tend to reflect the bias of their readers. Selective attention occurs when the media only pays attention to the stories that its viewership believes in.

Government & the News Government Manipulation Trial Balloons occur when the government leaks information to the media to test public reaction on a possible policy. Loaded Language is used to manipulate or persuade viewers without actually making a clear argument.

Government & the News Public Reaction Adversarial Press is the tendency of the national medial to be suspicious of officials and eager to reveal unflattering stories about them. Most Americans dislike biased journalism. Woodward & Bernstein were the journalists who broke open Watergate.

Government & the News Sensationalism Intrigue sells. Intense competition between news groups.

Government & the News Government Constraints on Journalists On the record: the reporter can quote the official by name. Off the record: what the official says cannot be used.

Government & the News Government Constraints on Journalists On background: what the official says can be used but not attributed to him or her by name. On deep background: what an official says can be used but not attributed to anybody, even an anonymous source.