The Future of the Media  The printed daily newspaper as we know it in decline  More and more people access news and information via the Internet  Important questions:  Is democratic accountability threatened by the loss of newspapers?  Is web-based journalism democratizing? 2

People, Government, and Communications  Mass communication transmits information to large audiences  Mass media do the communicating  Print media  Broadcast media  Media has important role  Information from government to citizens  Information from citizens to government 3

Audiences of Selected Media Sources 4

Magazines  More specialized news than daily newspapers  Can influence attentive policy elites  Two-step flow of information then influences mass opinion  However, circulation also has declined 5

Radio  Regular radio broadcasting began as local broadcasts in 1920  Coast-to-coast broadcasts first heard in 1937  More than 13,000 licensed stations today  Audiences continue to grow  News and talk radio popular 6

Television  First major broadcasts in 1940; color and coast-to-coast broadcasts in 1951  In 2009, U.S. had over 1,300 commercial and 300 public television stations  Around 99 percent of homes have TV  TV has biggest news audience after Internet 7

The Internet  Majority of government agencies and political organizations have websites  Private citizens operate websites and blogs on politics and public affairs  Rapid way to transmit information and mobilize public opinion  Major stories starting to originate on blogs; many authors consider selves journalists 8

Compared With What? 9

Private Ownership of the Media  In U.S., private ownership of media taken for granted  China has Internet police to prevent “subversive content”  In some countries, print media privately owned but broadcast media run by government  U.S. has only about 300 public TV stations and 400 public radio stations 10

Private Ownership of the Media 11

The Consequences of Private Ownership  Private media ownership means more political freedom, but also dependence on advertising revenues  When looking at overall coverage, media functions more for entertainment than news  Criteria for newsworthiness is audience appeal 12

Getting the News: Consider the Source 13

Market-Driven Journalism  Larger audiences earn higher advertising rates  Outside agency determines market share of shows for broadcast media  So, news broadcasts and commercials are targeted for viewing audiences, both national and local  Major news organizations like CBS, ABC, and NBC are part of larger corporations  Must make a profit 14

Government Regulation of Media  Although privately owned, mass media regulated by government  Broadcast media more regulated than print media  Technical regulations  Ownership regulations  Content regulations 15

Regulation of Content  The First Amendment prohibits Congress from abridging freedom of the press  Federal courts have decided many cases defining how far freedom of the press extends in various areas  Most news allowed, except for strategic information during wartime  FCC initially designed to ensure radio and TV served the public interest  Fairness doctrine and equal opportunity rule 16

Regulation of Content  Fairness doctrine repealed in 1987  U.S. Court of Appeals struck down rules regulating political endorsements and personal attacks in broadcast media  Print media not subject to restrictions  Some advocate deregulation of broadcast media 17

Functions of the Mass Media for the Political System  Reporting the news  Interpreting the news  Influencing citizens’ opinions  Setting the agenda for government action  Socializing citizens about politics 18

Reporting the News  News media reports on important political events with journalists on location  Washington, D.C. has largest press corps  Media relationships with president controlled by the Office of the Press Secretary  Opportunities include news conferences, press releases, “background information,” “off the record” comments, and “photo opportunities” 19

Interpreting and Presenting the News  Media executives, news editors, and reporters function as gatekeepers of news flow and validity  Personification makes news more understandable  Rise of Internet has made more views available  More information available, but no gatekeepers to check validity of content 20

Media Coverage of Elections  Personification of political news encourages horse race journalism  Most Americans want more coverage of issues  Changing poll numbers and “media events” considered more newsworthy 21

Where the Public Gets Its News  Newspaper most important source until 1960s, then TV  Today, 65 percent of Americans name TV or cable news networks as primary news source  Newspapers 14 percent  Internet 11 percent  Multiple sources used by many, including late-night talk shows 22

What People Remember and Know  Although 80 percent of public access news media each day, most retain little  National survey in 2009 found respondents could only answer five of 12 questions about current events correctly  Those who rely on TV retain less than those who read print media  Some media researchers believe TV is behind low level of citizen knowledge about public affairs 23

Figure 6.5 Gagging on Late-Night TV 24

Influencing Public Opinion  Difficult to measure extent of media’s influence on public opinion  Does the media create public opinion by its reporting of events?  Studies on specific areas, such as pretrial coverage of serious criminal cases, show significant influence 25

Setting the Political Agenda  Most scholars see media’s greatest influence in its ability to identify issues needing government attention  Media can force government to address unpopular or unknown issues  Some issues, such as crime, disproportionately covered  Public also influences media coverage 26

Setting the Political Agenda  Politicians eager to influence media coverage  Public opinion  Opinions of attentive elites  Presidents sometimes “go public” to advance a political agenda 27

Socializing the Citizenry  Young people politically socialized via media’s entertainment function  Media reinforces dominance of existing culture and order  Today, messages about government very different than in past  Media has contradictory roles in process of political socialization 28

Evaluating the Media in Government  Some believe news filtered through ideologies of media owners, editors, and reporters  Reporters tend to be liberal (32%) rather than conservative (8%)  Editors and owners more conservative  Talk radio dominated by conservatives 29

Partisanship and the Credibility of the News 30

Evaluating the Media in Government  In general, incumbents receive more news coverage than challengers  Political bias in coverage depends on the party in power  Media may also be biased in the way news stories reported 31

Contributions to Democracy  Most political communications from government to citizens through media  News reporters tend to be critical of politicians, serving watchdog function  Media polls enable reporting of public opinion on major issues  Necessary for majoritarian model of government 32

Effects on Freedom, Order, and Equality  Media has played important role in advancing equality  Media coverage of civil rights movement critical to its success  However, media resists government efforts to use it to promote public order  What is balance between free press and national security? 33

The Advertising License to do business  Before advertising became prominent, the price of a newspaper had to cover the cost of doing business.  With the growth of advertising, papers who attracted ads could be sold below production costs. This placed papers who lacked advertising at a disadvantage.  “The advertisers’ choices influence media prosperity and survival.  As a result, working class papers and a more radical press are at a disadvantage.

The Influence of Advertisers  Large corporate advertisers will rarely support programs with serious criticisms of corporate activities, environmental degradation, and interconnections between military and industry.  Advertisers will also avoid programs with serious complexities and disturbing controversies that may interfere with the ‘buying mood’ of its readership/audiences.  This dependence on advertising dollars, therefore, translates into less critical content being printed or aired, resulting in articles and programs, which are culturally and politically more conservative.

“TABLOID” TV  Instead of critical documentaries, ‘Discovery’ and ‘National Geographic Television’ programs feature adventure and travel type shows which invite viewers to escape into exotic landscapes and scenarios.  News programs are becoming increasingly ‘tabloidizised”, in their “relentless search for a nightly extravaganza of chaos, conflict, confrontation, and controversy (Fleras, p. 47)

Constructing News Images  “Seeing is believing”; “The camera never lies”— are clichés which draw attention to popular beliefs and apparent faith in observation and visual representation.  However, camera positioning and angle, picture framing and lighting, image selection, photographic retouching, digital image manipulation, editorial cropping and final juxtaposition can all radically change or even invert the sense of depicted scenes—’the camera can lie”.

Signifier (shot) Definition Signified (meaning) Close-up  Close-up  Media shot  Media shot  Long shot  Long shot  Full shot  Full shot  Face only  Face only  Most of body  Most of body  Setting and characters  Setting and characters  Full body of person  Full body of person  Intimacy Intimacy Personal relationship Personal relationship Context, scope, public distance Context, scope, public distance Social relationship Social relationship

Signifier (film/video) Definition Signified (meaning) Pan down  Pan down  Pan Up  Pan Up  Zoom in  Zoom in  Fade in  Fade in  Fade Out  Fade Out  Cut  Cut  Wipe  Wipe  Camera looks down Camera looks down Camera looks up Camera looks up Camera moves in Camera moves in Image appears on blank screen Image appears on blank screen Image screen goes blank Image screen goes blank Switch from one image to another Switch from one image to another Image wiped off screen Image wiped off screen Power, Authority Power, Authority Smallness, weakness Smallness, weakness Observation, focus Observation, focus Beginning Beginning Ending Ending Simultaneity, exitement Simultaneity, exitement Imposed conclusion. Imposed conclusion.

Sports is now a mass consumer spectacle This is a bit different from the time when ‘gentleman amateurs’ played for fun and it was not taken too seriously Times have changed. We now have a ‘golden triangle’ between the media, sport and sponsors Sport Media Sponsorship

The ‘Golden Triangle’  There is no doubt that sport, the media, which in turn means sponsorship is linked  In all sports with strong media links, professionalism is a reality  Sports have had to change their rules, format and scheduling in order to meet the demands of TV companies and sponsors

Sports and the Media  Sports are becoming increasingly commercialized  We are getting the ‘win at all costs ethic  The stakes are high, so winning is vital  This can intensify ethical problems such as corruption, cheating, violence and drug abuse, which are highlighted by the media

THE REAL ISSUE  HOW CAN SPORT RETAIN ITS TRUE NATURE AND VALUES WHILE BENEFITING FROM THE MONEY OFFERED BY COMMERCIALISM?

WHAT HAS HAPPENED? 19 th Century sport was seen as a valuable experience in its own right 20 th Century sport became part of the entertainment industry Now just a branch of the advertising industry?

QUESTIONS  Has money corrupted sport or has the media saved sport from economic disaster?  Has sport benefited from its relationship with the media?  Has sport been manipulated for the sake of the sponsors, advertisers and passive armchair spectators, at the expense of the paying spectator?