Chapter Twelve The Media

The Media Old Media: books, essays, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines New Media: newspapers, television, radio, World Wide Web Most people’s knowledge of politics comes from the media, especially the Internet Laws and understandings in the U.S. give the media substantial freedom There is a long tradition of private media ownership in U.S.

Journalism in American Political History (4 Stages) The Party Press: Various factions/parties created, sponsored, and controlled newspapers to further their interests. Circulated among political/social elites Examples: National Gazette, National Intelligencer, Washington Globe

Journalism in American Political History (4 Stages) The Popular Press: Changes in society and technology made possible self-supporting, mass readership daily newspapers Creation of Associated Press (AP) in 1848 to transmit similar stories across the nation Creation of the Government Printing Office (GPO) in 1860 Use of sensationalism in news stories-known as “yellow journalism”; made popular by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer.

Journalism in American Political History (4 Stages) Magazines of Opinion: Dislike of “yellow journalism” led to era of reform led by “muckrakers” like Ida Tarbell, Lincoln Steffens, Upton Sinclair, etc. Various national magazines emerged to fulfill people’s interests. Examples: Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Weekly, Cosmopolitan

Journalism in American Political History (4 Stages) Electronic Journalism: Radio arrives in 1920s, television in the late 1940s Represented a change in how news was gathered and disseminated Politicians gradually realized the importance

Electronic Journalism and the Internet Shorter sound bites on the nightly news make it more difficult for candidates and officeholders to convey their message 1968-42 seconds; 2000-7.3 seconds Politicians now have more sources—cable, early-morning news, news magazine shows 40% of American households access the Internet Internet is the ultimate free market in political news and many trust it for all information

Table 12.1: Decline in Viewership of the Television Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC are the “Big Three” Networks) Insert table 12.1 (formerly table 10.1 in 9e)

Figure 12.1: Percentage of Newspaper Readers Ages 18–34

Newspapers Number of daily newspapers has declined significantly Number of cities with multiple papers has declined Subscription rates have fallen as most people get their news from television and/or the Internet

Role of the National Press Gatekeeper: influences what subjects become national political issues and for how long Scorekeeper: tracks political reputations and candidates Watchdog: investigates personalities and exposes scandals See pgs. 295-296

Rules Governing the Media Ironically, the least competitive media-newspapers-are the least regulated while the most competitive media-radio and television-must have gov’t licensing and obey gov’t regulations The First Amendment has been interpreted to mean that no gov’t can place “prior restraint” or censorship on the press except under narrowly defined circumstances

Rules Governing the Media After publication, newspapers or magazines may be sued for libel, obscenity, and/or incitement to commit an illegal act The Supreme Court allows the government to compel reporters to divulge information in court if it bears on a crime Radio and television broadcasts are licensed and regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Licenses are renewed every 7 years for radio and every 5 years for television

The Media and Campaigns Equal access for all candidates under the equal time rule Rates no higher than the cheapest commercial rate Now stations and networks can sponsor debates limited to major candidates

Landmark Cases The Rights of the Media Near v. Minnesota (1931)-freedom of press applies to state gov’ts, so that they cannot impose prior restraint on newspapers. New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)-public officials may not win a libel suit unless they can prove that the statement was made knowing it would be false or with reckless disregard of its truth. Miami Herald v. Tornillo (1974)-a newspaper cannot be required to give someone a right to reply to one of its stories.

Media Bias See pgs. 298-302! Members of the national media are generally more liberal than the average citizen Conservative media outlets have become more visible in recent years Talk radio is predominantly conservative Journalistic philosophy is that the news should be neutral and objective

Influence on the Public Selective attention: people remember or believe only what they want to Newspapers that endorsed incumbents gave them more positive coverage, and voters had more positive feelings about them Press coverage affects policy issues that people think are important

Figure 12.2: Public Perception of Accuracy in the Media

Coverage of Government The president receives the most coverage Gavel-to-gavel coverage of House proceedings since 1979 and Senate sessions since 1986 (C-SPAN) Senatorial use of televised committee hearings has turned the Senate into a presidential candidate incubator

The Adversarial Press Adversarial press since Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-contra Cynicism created era of attack journalism Adversarial media has made negative campaign advertising more socially acceptable

Sensationalism Intense competition among many media outlets means that each has a small share of the audience Sensationalism draws an audience and is cheaper than investigative reporting Reporters may not be checking sources carefully because there is such competition for stories

Government Constraints on the Media Reporters must strike a balance between expressing critical views and maintaining sources Governmental tools to fight back: numerous press officers, press releases, leaks, bypass the national press in favor of local media, presidential rewards and punishments