AP Government: Chapter Seven Mass Media and the Political Agenda

Government & Media http://www.drudgereport.com/ http://www.corante.com/mooreslore/archives/images/CNN-logo.jpg http://www.tifton.net/tifton_portal/FOX_20NEWS_20LOGO.jpg http://nytimes.com/ http://www.tvsquad.com/images/2005/05/NBC-logo-RGB-pos.jpg http://www.aiaonline.org/images/gloria_uploads/ktar-superstack%203x2%20(2).jpg http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

Definitions High Tech Politics: Politics in which the behavior of citizens and policymakers as well as the political agenda itself is increasingly shaped by technology Mass Media: Key part; TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and internet; Reach and profoundly influence not only the elites but also the masses Media Event: Staged primarily for the purpose of being covered Press Conferences: Presidential meeting with reporters

Opinion Leaders http://thebluesite.com/images/oreillymay312005.jpg http://www.wchstv.com/abc/gma/i/charliediane.jpg http://www2.rit.edu/brickcity/images/mainevents/Jon_Stewart.jpg http://images.amazon.com/images/P/006072305X.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Investigative Reporting Detective-like reporting methods to unearth scandals

Federal Communications Commission 1934 Congress created FCC to regulate use of airwaves Radio, TV, telephone, cable, satellite Congress uses its control over purse strings to influence commission

FCC Members

Media’s Influence 2/3 Americans subscribe to cable TV Narrow casting: focus on particular group; particular interest (C-SPAN, CNN, ESPN, etc) American media is free and independent when it comes to journalistic content, they are totally dependent on advertising revenues to keep their businesses going Major media in America are big business today and potentially the source of great profits

Massive Conglomerates Today’s media conglomerates control newspapers with over 80% of the nation’s daily circulation 4/5 newspaper subscribers now read a newspaper owned not by a fearless local editor but by a corporation headquartered elsewhere (many control TV and radio stations as well) News reporting is a business in America

Definitions Beat: Specific locations from which news often emanates Trial Balloons: information leaked to see what the political reaction will be Sound bites: 15 secs. or less on TV (of political speeches