Development of Mass Media

How did the media develop? Linkage Institutions Mass Media How did the media develop?

Early Media Mass Media

Mass Media History The Party Press There was no daily media when the Constitution was written The parties created their own newspapers to further their interests 100 These were essentially communication tools for the political and commercial elite, like The Federalist Papers Federalists started The Gazette of the United States and Democratic Republicans started The National Gazette to spread news and ideas about politics.

Daily newspapers began spreading in cities in the mid 1800s. Mass Media History Early Newspapers Those early papers were too expensive & hard to make to reach wide audiences Daily newspapers began spreading in cities in the mid 1800s. 100 From that point, the masses had access to political information from sources other than the political parties. Daily newspapers made political officials much more aware of their relationships with the public.

Mass Media History Roosevelt FDR really transformed the role of the president into that of a regular communicator with the public He first implemented “press conferences” weekly at the White House in order to keep reporters, and the public, informed 100 He began to try to influence reporters to keep certain information away from the public, and also attacked reports that he said were inaccurate. Overall relations were good, because he was giving them more access than reporters had before

Mass Media History Good relations The press did not challenge the president or other government officials Reporters tended to see themselves as the mouthpiece of the government 100 They conveyed information to the public and accepted what the government told them without questioning it. This relationship lasted until the 1960s when Vietnam changed the role of the press

The press reported what the government told them about the Vietnam War Mass Media History Pentagon Papers The press reported what the government told them about the Vietnam War Someone at the Pentagon leaked a classified report to the New York Times 100 They published it – despite the govt. trying to prevent them, and the public was informed the govt had been lying about the success in Vietnam The media gained more public trust than the govt and the public began to distrust the government

Modern Media Mass Media

Changing Relationship Mass Media Modern Changing Relationship After Vietnam and Watergate, the press became more likely to challenge lawmakers This led to a more adversarial relationship between press and policy makers Media learned that government skepticism earned public trust and that it was successful in attracting an audience Modern reporters assume that politicians rarely tell the whole truth and they have to find the truth in the politicians’ spin

Mass Media Modern Investigative Journalism Reporting to discover scandals related to policy makers Leads to adversarial relationship with political officials This generates more attention from the public, which helps the media This leads the public to distrust the policy makers

Mass Media Modern Coverage of Candidates Coverage of presidential candidates has become increasingly negative Less focus on issues has led to more candidate driven coverage This makes candidates less favorable to the public This makes public officials complain about the media coverage

Mass Media Modern TV & Radio TV & radio in the 1900s have displaced the role of the print media Radio ownership became common in the 1930s Television ownership became common in the 1960s For the first time, people have been able to see and hear political officials

Mass Media Modern TV Impact Nixon/Kennedy debates in 1960s changed the job of candidates Reporting during the Vietnam War changed the way people view decision makers & the government 15% of the population watch the nightly news daily Anchors have come to be seen as a regular part of interacting with the government

Mass Media Modern Cable News Three major networks NBC, CBS, and ABC were all broadcasting Their was little competition & no other options so they chased the widest audiences possible. Cable TV began to spread in the late 1980s to most homes CNN became the first network devoted exclusively to 24 hour coverage of the news

Mass Media Modern Cable News Cable channels tend to narrowcast – chase a smaller, more specific audience Narrowcasted channels allow people to ignore news if they choose Those that want news about the government have many choices to find it Since there are more options, there are fewer people overall who remain informed about politics.

Mass Media Modern Cable News CSPAN – a channel focused on covering the House of Representatives CSPAN2 - a channel focused on covering the Senate FoxNews – tries to appeal to a more conservative audience MSNBC – tries to appeal to a more liberal audience.

The Internet Mass Media

Mass Media Internet The Internet Access to the internet began to spread to the public in the mid 1990s. The main impact has been facilitating more communication between all policy makers and linkages This has transformed every aspect of politics, from campaigning and fund raising to the presidency Now, most Americans get their political news from internet sources

Blogs were an important step in the fusing of opinion and information Mass Media Internet Blogs “a series, or log, of discussion items on a page of the World Wide Web” Blogs were an important step in the fusing of opinion and information Blogs allowed anyone to report information & share political opinions without the barriers to entry of traditional journalism They’ve played an important role in investigative journalism, uncovering scandals such as the Bill Clinton / Monica Lewinsky affair

Mass Media Internet Criticism Blogs don’t use the traditional ethics or standards of traditional media Since the internet requires a person to act to find information, it exacerbates selective exposure problems Just now, people are examining the role of “fake news” and the internet’s role in spreading political information

Bigly Ideas Beliefs & Behaviors

Investigative journalism Mass Media Wrap Up Positive coverage Investigative journalism Cable News Impact of the Internet Focus on these things: